Re: R.I.P. Klaus Burkert

[Markus Illenseer <markus%core.de@localhost>]

 For a lost friend.

> For a long time, Klaus has been a hard- and software designer
> at Villagetronic corporation, connected to products like the several
> "Ariadne" Ethernet and the "Picasso" graphics boards for Amiga computers.
>
> While not directly involved with the NetBSD project, he has encouraged
> NetBSD developers a lot and provided information and hints and patches,
> as well as organizing early hardware and documentation access on some
> occasions.

 What may not commonly be known is, that he also wrote or helped to write
drivers for Linux/Amiga and for AMIX (SysV derivate for Amiga). Not only
for the popular devices Picasso or Ariadne, but also for the i386
co-processor boards, the TIGA board, the very Domino graphic board adapter
card (which started the graphic board era for the Amiga) and many many
more.

 Among the hardware people in the Amiga community, Klaus was one of the
best to design hardware using existing chip sets combinined with
outstanding ideas to integrate all this to his beloved target platform,
the Amiga. He was also one of those who was able not only to give
required informations but to write skeleton drivers himself. Given money,
Klaus would have easily create outstanding and competetive computers and
assesoirs we all would have never dreamed off.

 Klaus has done so much for the Amiga Computer and Community, I cannot
stop counting everything he ever did or even started. Alas, he never lost
track with other computer systems such as PowerPC and of course i386.

> I've had the pleasure to meet him although too few times and can say that
> I really miss him.

 I have known Klaus for so much a time, that I cannot backtrack when we
met first. It must have been he late 80'ies. I did not have had a regular
contact with him, but phone calls or ocassional meetings easily turned to
be hours of joyful chat.

 Like Hubert, I met Klaus last at Karlsruhe, early this year. Never would
I have thought about such a sudden lost.

 Good bye Klaus, we'll miss you.

Markus Illenseer