A RISC OS usergroup founded in 1989 has decided to close down because too many people have "drifted away". Members of the Bristol Acorn and RISC OS user group voted at an EGM on May 31 to wind up the club.A statement on their website said: "The ups-and-downs to which we have been accustomed in the last years have done little to maintain a positive attitude amongst the RISC OS-using populace.
"More and more people have drifted away from the platform to the point where BARUG now finds it impossible to justify its continued existence."
The group has previously entertained many visiting companies from all corners of the RISC OS scene, and maintained a regularly updated newsletter.
The club added: "BARUG's demise, however, does not represent the demise of the RISC OS platform nor of the membership's enthusiasm for the platform. Rather, they feel that what BARUG was formed to do, share information and help users with problems, is now largely more conveniently done elsewhere."
The group was formed 17 years ago, in the same year that Acorn launched RISC OS 2 and the A3000.
While paying tribute to and thanking those who contributed to BARUG over the years, the club believed RISC OS was "far from dead and buried".
They said: "When BARUG started, the Acorn computer scene was lively, software and hardware development was rapid and Acorn appeared to have a bright future.
"For reasons well documented elsewhere this future was not to be and, with the demise of Acorn itself, users were left in a situation of dwindling interest and the loss of many of the developers on whom the platform relied."
• Some user groups still going and when they are next meeting up: ROUGOL, Monday June 19; RONWUG, June 21; WROCC, July 5; ICENI, July 6 ; WAUG, July 8; NKACC, July 13; and MUG, July 15. SASAUG, SAUG, and LAUG also met up earlier this month.
Links
BARUG website