Back in the late 90s, when RSS was about to die a quick death after Netscape abandoned it, it was Dave that cured it back to health, realizing its potential and working hard to turn it into something that would be more significant than just presenting items on the Netscape personal page.
Dave has been a controversial figure in the RSS world but without his contribution, RSS would not be what it is today. Other efforts in the syndication space have withered and died but Dave continued being the “defender of the RSS faith” and ensured that it continued evolving. Last year, in an attempt to make his own personality a non-issue in the future of RSS, he created the RSS advisory board and put RSS under a creative commons license.
Like him or not, you can’t deny that Dave has been the biggest contributor to the RSS world to date. Congrats Dave on moving on and here’s to hoping that you’ll continue being involved.