At the beginning of this century, I commuted between Los and Alfta (a near by city) every day. That came to mind yesterday when we were driving home from Bollnäs (another near by city). Nineteen Swedish miles I drove each day. Nine Swedsih miles in the morning and nine miles in the evening.
Yesterday I felt tired when I got home. At most, I managed to go through my emails. But back then, almost every evening, at least if I hadn’t worked late until ten, I sat down for a few hours of VSCP development. Bed at one. Or two. Or half past two. Up again at six. Always the same on Saturdays and Sundays. Year-round. The same during all holidays.
Those years were fantastic. Charles Tewiah in London. Tough discussions about technicalities almost around the clock. We often disagreed on how things should be done. You needed solid arguments to get your way. We could bounce things back and forth for a week or more. Hundreds of discussion posts. Wonderful. The Scotsman Mark Marooth, Gediminas Simanskis from Lithuania, Henk Hofstra from the Netherlands—these were other exciting people who were part of those discussions at the time.
VSCP, or EDA (Event-Decision-Action) as it was called then, was born in a conference room in Gävle in August 2000. Behzad Ardakani, Marcus Rejås, and I brainstormed the basics over a few days. Even the (very) crazy boss at the company should get credit for his contribution. “Decision Matrix” as the name of a function was his suggestion (see the specification if you want to know more about it).
The foundation for me was a dream I had in the ’80s when I was studying in Uppsala. I filled many notebooks with ideas about smart modules that connected to each other and created some kind of new functionality. An intelligent Lego that didn’t necessarily need a server. Those ideas cooled significantly when I calculated what the modules would cost to manufacture. If I remember correctly, it was more than two thousand in manufacturing costs per module. That’s over eight thousand SEK per module in today’s money. Impossible, in other words. You’d need to price each module at twenty thousand or more to make the economics work. Stillborn. Rest. On hold.
But then, on August 28, 2000, I registered the project on SourceForge. Not much more development happened at that company, but in the years that followed—plenty. Much more.
So today, that’s a quarter of a century ago. Impossible to grasp. There aren’t many days during these twenty-five years when I haven’t worked on VSCP. Answered questions. Argued. Thought about solutions. Yes, and developed. Got to know people around the world, many of whom became close friends.
During my years as a teacher, I corrected tests and planned lessons when I got home, and then worked on VSCP for as long as I could stay awake. As a consultant, I worked on VSCP in between assignments. ALL holidays. Every gap where there was a time slot to jump into that world. Hour after hour, line of code after line of code, documentation page after documentation page.
During all these years there have always been other projects that attracted the crowds. I often tried to approach those projects, thinking that together we could achieve great things, but most often (read ALWAYS) they were the best and ultimate final projects in the field, and VCSP could just go hide and (deservedly?) feel ashamed in a corner. If the little bumblebee was even noticed at all as she flew around. You can’t count on one hand all the world-saving projects that have come and gone into oblivion over these years. VSCP wins in endurance at least, if nothing else.
So here I am, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the birth of the protocol/framework. It’s just like any other day, of course. I will work on VSCP today too, just as I did yesterday. There are still things left to do, and there is still some strength left in this old man. And yes—I love this work. I still believe in what I’m doing. There is no doubt. That vision from the ’80s lives on.
I will readily admit that it was more fun and more stimulating to develop VSCP back when we were a group of active people discussing and creating things together. Today I’m basically alone. As an idea, it feels like a serious slump, or maybe even a final death struggle. Time will tell. Whatever the case, I feel there are still a few things I want to get in place. I still have a few releases in me.
After twenty-five years, much more of my work is maintenance than new development. I am not, and never have been, the caretaker type. I probably never will be. That shows, of course. It’s hard to rewrite things for the eighth time after the world changes around you. Most people probably feel the same way. The time it takes is time you’d rather use for more enjoyable things.
But here we are. So yesterday I bought a cake to celebrate this day. Because even if VSCP hasn’t brought me fame, money, or recognition, everything that has been created and lies in different repositories, free for anyone to use, is like a third child in my life. And yes, you love your children unconditionally, as we know.
Of course, I bought a very small cake. Because I assume it will just be K and me who’ll have a piece. But if you happen to pass by (!!! 🙂), you’re more than welcome to stop in for coffee and a slice of cake. No, I don’t expect a line—not even a virtual one.
Finally, of course, I must thank Karin, who has put up with me all these years. If there is such a thing as a VSCP widow, it’s her. But she has never complained. I love you! And then, of course, the kids. The cell-based ones. I’ve probably been a bad father, always working and often lost in my own world. I apologize for that. But for me, there was no other way. I love you too, of course. And my friends as well…
It won’t be another twenty-five years. I know that. But give me two more years…
