This is mostly my memories of Rob, or mayhem as I knew him, in the brief time I spent around him.
I think as a preface it must be mentioned, I was never lucky enough to get to truly know him, not even in a professional sense, let alone a personal one. But in the brief time I was around him, it would be fair to say he certainly left an impression on me.
My first time noticing him was when he told someone to leave the community because they were contributing AI slop in various PRs. Holy shit, I was piss scared that day, because I was just a week into contributing, and I figured he was a tyrant ruling the community with an iron fist.
About two weeks on, I realised it was quite the opposite, especially hanging out during the Community Meetings, and reading his messages—full of what society would probably describe as “broken” humor, but then again, that’s also the label I get.
I remember when the new mapper was released for testing, and I saw him discussing it with people. I felt so very out of my depth, and in awe of how much knowledge this man possessed.
My one true interaction with him was when he offered to help me with an issue after I was stuck on it for about a couple of hours. It was something about setting up the mapping database yada, yada, but it felt good to have someone to help.
He later asked me to make a small PR, which would fix the bug I was running into, and I still plan on doing that, if for no reason, just as a tribute.
Upon learning about his death, I was mostly just shocked. Then I looked up what he had said in the last meeting and it ended with “I hope to be around more in the coming days”, following which I shed a few manly tears (okay, maybe it was a bit more than few) and contemplated the mortality of man. I also cried, if I forgot to mention that.
I can only fill in the pieces of who he was, but in the short time I saw him, he left enough of an impression on me to compel me to write this. And I think that alone speaks more than anything I could possibly write.
Thank you, mayhem, may you fly the highest there is.