Today was a very sad day. Gentoo lost a good friend. The FOSS community as a whole lost a good friend. Rob Levin (/nick lilo) of the Freenode project passed away this morning. My heart is heavy from the news, and I still can not believe it. It probably will not hit me for a while yet.
Rob was, to Gentoo and to me, personally, a very good friend. Not only was he helpful to the extreme (and graciously so), he watched out for us. Freenode has been Gentoo’s IRC home since Gentoo’s inception, and Rob’s hospitality toward us was one of the major reasons for that. Any issues Gentoo faced, it felt like Rob faced with us.
His passing a big loss to Gentoo, to Freenode, to FOSS. Rob, I miss you already.
His wife Debbie and his son Benjamin survive him. If you would like to leave a note for them, please head on over to the freenode site. I would personally prefer people to send his family some help. Please see the freenode site for how to do that.