[Vis5d-users] Release of D3D -- NOT!

To all of you in Vis5D Land--

I am sorry to say that FSL is _not_ releasing D3D to the world.
Our release announcement that Bill referred to was intended for
a pre-selected list of persons in the US National Weather Service
and NOAA that have had previous exposure to D3D.  We did not intend
for that announcement to go beyond the intended list of recipients.

D3D is not intended as a replacement for Vis5D.  It is an application
built on Vis5D.  Although AWIPS is not _required_ to run D3D, AWIPS
file and directory structures _are_.  It will not work with data
other than AWIPS data.

As Bill mentioned, there was _talk_ that FSL might take over the
task of supporting Vis5D for the Vis5D community.  I am sorry to say
that FSL does not have, nor is it likely to get, the resources
for such a task.  It was a nice idea, but I seriously doubt that it
will come to pass.  However, if it were to happen, I believe that
FSL might have spent the time and effort to convert D3D to a general
Vis5D replacement.

The bottom line is that we do not have the resources to support the
distribution of D3D to anyone not on our original mail-list.  To those
of you who have expressed interest in D3D (by either requesting a CD,
downloading it, or subscribing to the mail-list), I extend my thanks
for your enthusiasm and interest, but we cannot help you.  I wish we
could, but we can't.  We will not be honoring any requests from
persons that were not on our original mail-list.  Also, we cannot
offer any support to those of you who have downloaded D3D.

Bill has been a very enthusiastic and cooperative supporter of D3D. 
I fully understand his enthusiasm for trying to see that the Vis5D
community continues to receive the support it needs and deserves.
I don't want negative aspects of this situation to reflect badly on
Bill.  It just seems that there was some miscommunication along the
way.

I'm sorry for any confusion or inconvenience that this matter has
caused.
-- 



-- Phil


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     Philip A. McDonald

     NOAA/Forecast Systems Laboratory      e-mail: mcd...@fs...
     325 Broadway, R/FS4                   voice : +1.303.497.6055
     Boulder, CO 80303-3328                fax   : +1.303.497.7256

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