The Closing Of Earth Central and Other Hub sites.

[Don. Edwards]

Hey Everyone,
I am sad to say that I will not be doing any further work on Earth Central or the other Celestia Hub sites. I had several things to upload, such as the new sites themselves, the new Seasonal Earth textures and cloudmaps. But since the server has been hacked back in November I have waited in vain to see my account reopen. I messaged Chris about this but never heard back. It is possible that with the server going up and down so much during the month of December that the message simply did not get through. But Chris does know that the Shatters.net server is the sole home of the sites and as long as the personal storage section remains down so do the sites. I do find it interesting that Chris made certain that another personal site that is hosted on the server was up ASAP but I wasn't even given a second thought.
So I hate to say I will probably be bugging out for quite a while until I find my own storage solution, and I am I finished relocating my personal residence.
I have all the files and will be holding on to them in the mean time.
Please do not pester me about uploading the files to the Celestia Motherload. These are my textures and as such I hold the copyright and want to hold control of how they are presented to the world. I know this sounds like it is coming out of left field but for the amount of time I put into making these textures I think keeping control of them is a small thing to ask for.
So as things stand do not expect to see much if anything from me for several months. If I have a chance I may be able to pop in and see what?€™s going on but as a whole I just need a break to do other things. I could go into more detail but I don?€™t think delving into the problems in my personal life belong here in this forum.
So to everyone you has supported over the years I say a big thank you and hope to see you some time in the future if all pans out.

Don. Edwards

[t00fri]

Don,

I am really sorry to learn all this! Last weak Grant left Celestia for good, now you are also taking a "long break" at least. Selden has health problems for quite a while to come...

All this is really NOT a good sign for the future of Celestia.

Anyhow, I wish you would become active again soon....

Bye Fridger

[Bob Hegwood]

It is possible that with the server going up and down so much during the month of December that the message simply did not get through.

Don,

Just so you know about it, I tried to contact you through your MSN
e-mail addresses at least 5 different times, and with no replies from you. I
also left you a PM on this forum to which you also did not reply.

Sounds to me like the problem with e-mail is at your end, not Chris's...

Thanks very much for the excellent textures, and I also will miss your work.

I can't say that I'll miss you though since I can never communicate
with you anyway.

Don't take these comments the wrong way please... I'm just saying that
I think the e-mail problem is at YOUR end.

Take care, Bob

[Dollan]

It's a shame, but certainly not a harbringer of doom for Celestia

I'll certainly miss seeing Don's work, and I would have enjoyed the chance to actually play with some of it, but life and Celestia goes on. There are plenty of excellent contributors to the program (with, of course, all due respect to Don), and I doubt the program will become unpopular -- at least until the time comes when it is no longer updated, hopefully in a distant future!

Be well, Don, and I hope things turn out for the better for you.

Best wishes....

...John...

[Don. Edwards]

Bob,
I have been actively watching my email account for the past 3 months and have no messages from anyone. The last private message I got was from Walton Comer about converting my 16k cloudmap into a VT. I can expect that a certain number of messages were lost during the server outage. But my email account has a copy of every email I receive and there has been nothing from you in there. The only thing I can think of you have been trying to get me through and old email address that is long dead.
I just checked my profile and I see it is showing an old email address, sorry that was my fault. I looks like MSN has closed that email account anyway.
The newer account that was posted on the Earth Central site was
donald_edwards_38@msn.com

Fridger,
Thanks for the kind thoughts. Part of my reason for taking this break is health related as well. I am not ashamed to admit to it, but I have been fighting clinical depression for over six years and it just doesn?€™t seem to get any better. My job situation here in Oregon is not helping this problem. I looking into going into a treatment program to help me get things straitened out. I just need time to get all this solved. I am homeless, jobless, and things at this point are just not getting any better.

As I said I am hoping to be back in some form, hopefully by summer. By then I am hoping everything will be worked out and I will be able to post the textures I have made.

Don. Edwards

[Bob Hegwood]

The newer account that was posted on the Earth Central site was donald_edwards_38@msn.com

Don,

The e-mail address you've listed above IS the address I have listed
for you in my contacts folder, and it is the address I sent 5 messages to
last month.

The private message I left to you here on the forum could very well have
been lost due to the happy hackers, but (Honest to God!) I sent you five
different e-mails to your msn address.

Like I said, the problem seems to be at your end.... Either that, or my e-mail
account with Earthlink just doesn't like an MSN address? <shrug>

At any rate, I hope you feel better. Believe me, I know about not feeling
well.

Take care, Bob

[Evil Dr Ganymede]

All this is really NOT a good sign for the future of Celestia.

While it's often sad to see people leave a project, remember that people aren't obliged to stay in what is a voluntary project - especially if real-life priorities become more important.

Of course, NEW people can eventually come in to replace those who have left, which can be a good thing. What Celestia needs now is new developers (especially on the programming/development front) who will have as much enthusiasm and dedication as those who have left recently. Either those will rise from the ranks, or new ones will come in from outside.

Either way, it's not the end of the world for Celestia. I can't believe that people were thinking that the same developers would stay on forever.

Be that as it may - good luck Don, I really liked the work you did.

[Michael Kilderry]

I agree with the Evil Dr.

I think that Celestia would go on even if Chris Laurel left the project, the other developers would just take over. Celestia is just too popular now to end easily.

Michael Kilderry

[maxim]

Don,

I'd like to see you coming back as soon as possible. Don't forget that!

maxim

[John Van Vliet]

3 years ago almost no one that is hear was hear.
there only a few "old timers " around and fairly soon
some of the new ones will be "old timers"

[Don. Edwards]

I have had a change of heart on a few things. I will be leaving Earth Central and the other Hub sites up as they are for now. I will probably go ahead and update the sites with the newer versions and textures as soon as I get settled into the new house and we can get a cable modem set up. I can't give any kind of time frame on this as financial resources are going to be streched pretty thing for a few months I think.
As for the time away from the Celestia Forum. I will have to take this on a day to day, week by week basis and see how things are progressing for me personaly, and on the job front. I really do not want to go but I have got a few other things going on that need to be taken care of first. When that is done I should be able to get back to some normal activity.
So just bare with me on this everyone.

Thanx again for the kind thoughts and words everyone. It really does make a difference for me. I am haning in there as best as I can.

Don. Edwards

[fsgregs]

Don, great news that you will be able to visit the forum and keep your site running.

You are a great and talented contributor. Thanks for all your work.



Frank

[Psykotik]

I have all the files and will be holding on to them in the mean time.
Please do not pester me about uploading the files to the Celestia Motherload. These are my textures and as such I hold the copyright and want to hold control of how they are presented to the world. I know this sounds like it is coming out of left field but for the amount of time I put into making these textures I think keeping control of them is a small thing to ask for.

I don't mean to be rude, especially since I've made an extensive use of your textures, since many years.

But your point of view is very suspicious, breaking the spirit around Celestia. I don't want to be the "bad guy", attacking you when you leave, but I have to admitt I don't feel very comfortable with your desire to control that textures. In my mind, it belongs to Celestia users...

Anyway, hoping to see you back soon. Take care.

[rthorvald]

But your point of view is very suspicious, breaking the spirit around Celestia. I don't want to be the "bad guy", attacking you when you leave, but I have to admitt I don't feel very comfortable with your desire to control that textures. In my mind, it belongs to Celestia users...

I don??t like this view. Anyone with eyes can see that Don has put an absolutely incredible amount of work and talent into those textures. There should be no doubt that he owns his own work - he??s just kind enough to share it with you and me.

So, Don, thank you for sharing it. In my view, your work is pure art, and one of the very best contributions to the program, and i really hope you continue to share it... And that everything works out well for you!

Regards,
Runar

[selden]

Psykotik,

While many people share your feelings, please remember that all artists' works are protected by copyright unless the creators explicitly state otherwise. Don's creations are his. He can do with them what he wants.

[Psykotik]

Runar, Don's work is fantastic, I think I've been explicit enough. However, it doesn't matter how good it is.

Selden, I know that, but I had to state my feeling about that conception.

[TERRIER]

Don,

Glad to see that you are keeping your websites open.
I hope that things work out well for you sooner rather than later, and that we will be seeing more of your work in the near future.

regards,
TERRIER

[Don. Edwards]

Ok everyone,
This internet connection I am using going down in a day or two. So I will be probably be out of touch for a while. This weekend is the big move. We got the house the house early so we are taking advantage of the opportunity to go a week ahead of schedule.
So I will be back when we have an internet connection and we all get settled. We have allot of work ahead of us.
Talk to everyone ASAP.

Don. Edwards