Alain Baudrez/Wamukota: In Remembrance

by Paul Arnote (parnote)

On April 20, 2022, we lost one of our longtime PCLinuxOS forum users. Alain Baudrez, who often went by the nickname Wamukota, chose euthanasia to end his suffering from ALS, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Alain was one of the founders of the PCLinuxOS.nl site and forum back in 2005. There, he helped moderate the Dutch forum, and was active in Linux user groups around his area, including Brutux - LinuxCafé. He also wrote some tutorials to help Dutch users adapt the English-language PCLinuxOS to Dutch for those whose native language was Dutch.

Word about Alain's deteriorating condition was forwarded to the PCLinuxOS forum family by his friend and colleague mutse, also known as Maurice. You can view mutse's forum thread here. In early February of this year, mutse reported that Alain's condition was worsening after undergoing back surgery. At that time, mutse reported that Alain was ceasing all Linux related activities, due to his condition.

In early March 2022, Alain got the news that he had ALS. While he could still talk, Alain set about making his last will and testament, and filling out euthanasia paperwork.

ALS, more informally and more commonly referred to as "Lou Gehrig Disease" after the famous New York Yankees baseball player, is a dastardly and insidious disease. It can progress rather slowly, or it can move with lightning speed. Unfortunately, Alain appeared to have had the latter form.

Mutse continued to update the forum about Alain's worsening condition. On April 24, 2022, mutse reported that Alain had passed away by euthanasia on April 20, 2022. Alain leaves behind his loving wife, Brigitte. He was 65 years old.

Here at The PCLinuxOS Magazine, me and Assistant Editor Meemaw decided that the best way to honor Alain would be to re-run his contributions to the magazine over the years. We not only hope you enjoy them as much as the first time they appeared, but that you also remember Alain and his contributions to his PCLinuxOS family via his forum posts. What better way is there to "get to know" or remember Alain except through his own words.

Rest in peace, our dear friend. Your memory lives on in each of us whose lives you touched.