Diehl Martin RIP

I knew Diehl Martin, or Marty as one of the founders of the Free Hardware movement. Like many free software/hardware people I work with, I never met him in person and knew him only online. Almost single-handed, Marty created and maintained the FreeIO.org website, designed, built, and tested numerous GPL’d hardware designs ranging from ISA bus I/O boards to USB development boards. He somehow also found time to promote Linux and other free software, work a full time job, enjoy his Ham radio hobby, participate in competitive shooting, teach Sunday school, and assist his wife with her photography business. For the last several years, Marty has been fighting pancreatic cancer, a disease which has a 100% fatality rate. He beat the odds for a surprising amount of time and continued working and blogging daily until the very end. Marty passed away at 5am on the morning of the 27th. He wrote his final blog entry bidding the world farewell on the 25th. He will be missed.