From the Editor

The long story? Well, let me put this in perspective.

I've been with OS/2 eZine almost from the very beginning. My first column, a review of Object Desktop 1.0 for OS/2, appeared in the December 1995 issue -- the second issue ever. I contributed fairly regularly from then on: I kept writing, started a comic strip, and eventually, through a series of field promotions, wound up where I am now.

Writing for this magazine has always been, for everyone involved, a labor of love and a service to the OS/2 community. Even back when we were getting paid for our work, it was never any more than a token gesture of appreciation for our contributions. Today, OS/2 eZine is a strictly volunteer effort. Any issue you see happens because a bunch of us take time away from our paying jobs and our private lives.

Come December, I'll have been doing this for five years.

Volunteer work can take a tremendous toll on a person, and burnout is always waiting just around the corner. I've been fighting burnout since 1998. Since I took over the magazine from Chris Wenham in October of 1999, I've been running on nothing but willpower and sheer stubbornness.

That can only last for so long.

I've come to the realization that I can't do this any more, at least not for a while. I'm doing too much in my spare time, and something needs to go, and it has to be this. Trying to put together eZine every month, gather articles from contributors, and contribute my own articles to boot is too much for me to handle -- many people will notice that for the last four or five months I have tried, and failed, to post a review of Midi Station Sequencer. I've been working on it for a long time, and I've never had the time to finish it. It's stayed at about 85-90% complete, and hasn't budged an inch more.

I think it's important to know when your presence is causing more harm than good, and I think I'm getting to that point. I don't have the time to put into OS/2 eZine that I need to have. I don't have the time to track down and work with contributors, I don't have the time to meet with potential advertisers, and I don't have the time it takes to set up each issue. I'd hoped I would, but I don't.

So the 16 January 2001 issue will be my last. I'm waiting until then in order to give us time to find a new Editor-in-Chief -- but I will be leaving at that point, whether a new one has been found or not.

I'm not happy about this. I tried to think of any number of ways where I could stay on. I even considered taking out a business loan in order to be able to devote my energies to eZine full time, but it simply isn't practical at this point. It distresses me that I have to part ways with this site, after all the years I've put into it, but the mantle needs to pass to someone who has the time, energy, and yes, the skill to run OS/2 eZine properly.

So OS/2 eZine is looking for a new Editor in Chief. If you're interested, contact me at wrightc@dtcweb.com. We'll talk.

Meanwhile, I apologize for the relatively scant content in this issue.