# Drobe

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Computing news web site with a focus on the RISC OS operating system

Drobe Available in English Owner Chris Williams Created by Peter Price URL drobe.co.uk Commercial No Registration Optional Launched October 1999; 26 years ago (1999-10)[1] Current status Offline Content license CC BY-NC-SA

***Drobe*** (also referred to as ***Drobe Launchpad***) was a [computing](/source/Computing) news [web site](/source/Web_site) with a focus on the [RISC OS](/source/RISC_OS) [operating system](/source/Operating_system). Its [archived](/source/Archive_site) material was retained online, curated by editor Chris Williams until late 2020.[2]

## History

*Drobe* was founded in 1999 by Peter Price.[3] In 2001, Peter handed the site over to Chris Williams as editor.[2] After 10 years, it closed as a news site in 2009. It was retained as an historical archive until 2020 when the site went offline.[1][4][5][6] A few weeks after the site's closure Williams posted articles on *[Micro Men](/source/Micro_Men)*, the television drama about the rivalry between [Acorn](/source/Acorn_Computers) and [Sinclair](/source/Sinclair_Research) in the 1980s. He subsequently stated that such articles may continue to appear periodically.[7]

## Main features

At launch, the site featured a [news feed](/source/News_feed), [POP](/source/Post_Office_Protocol) email checker and a search facility "incorporating AcornSearch.com".[3] As of 2013[\[update\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Drobe&action=edit), the site features archived RISC OS articles, news and other [media](/source/Digital_media). It also hosts an online [emulator](/source/Emulator) for the [BBC Micro](/source/BBC_Micro), using the [Java Runtime Environment](/source/Java_Runtime_Environment).

Registered users were able to apply for user webspace in order to host their own projects. These subsites continue to be hosted by *Drobe*.

## See also

- [The Icon Bar](/source/The_Icon_Bar_(website))

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-drobe.co.uk_site_down_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-drobe.co.uk_site_down_1-1) Williams, Chris (2009-09-20). ["Site down"](http://www.drobe.co.uk/beta/final/holdthefrontpage.html). *Drobe*. Retrieved 2011-05-16. On Monday, September 21, drobe.co.uk will turn 10 years old, marking nearly a decade of online and freely available news publishing for the RISC OS and Acorn kit-using platform. And, for many reasons and after much deliberation, it's time to take a new direction. Drobe's RISC OS news service, which launched in October 1999, will sadly cease from Monday.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-drobe.co.uk_about_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-drobe.co.uk_about_2-1) Williams, Chris. ["About Drobe"](http://www.drobe.co.uk/aboutus.php). Drobe. Retrieved 2011-05-16. The site was founded in 1999 by Peter Price, who handed over the reins to Chris Williams in 2001. Hosting and webmaster work is taken care of by Ian Hawkins.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-acornuser_1999xmas_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-acornuser_1999xmas_3-1) ["Internet portal launched"](http://audio22.archive.org/details/Acorn_User_Issue_215_1999_IDG_Media_GB_christmas_edition). *[Acorn User](/source/Acorn_User)*. No. 215. Christmas 1999. p. 10. Retrieved 16 August 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Hoare, John (2009-09-20). ["Drobe "closes""](http://www.iconbar.com/articles/Drobe_closes/index1229.html). *The Icon Bar*. [One Point Nought](/source/One_Point_Nought). Retrieved 2011-05-16. [...] longtime RISC OS news and articles website Drobe has closed... or, rather, entered "archive mode".

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Camen, Kroc (2009-09-21). ["Drobe Closes Its Doors After Ten Years"](http://www.osnews.com/story/22203/Drobe_Closes_Its_Doors_After_Ten_Years). *OSnews*. Retrieved 2011-05-16. Drobe.co.uk, the premier RISC OS news website, today announced that it has entered archive mode and will no longer function as a news reporting source.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Chris Williams (September 21, 2009). ["Drobe.co.uk turns 10 years old - and takes a new direction"](https://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.acorn.announce/browse_thread/thread/523e822e98d8ddc0). [Newsgroup](/source/Usenet_newsgroup): [comp.sys.acorn.announce](news:comp.sys.acorn.announce). [Usenet:](/source/Usenet_(identifier)) [slrnhbecr6.i21.ngb@compsoc.dur.ac.uk](news:slrnhbecr6.i21.ngb@compsoc.dur.ac.uk). Retrieved May 16, 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Williams, Chris (2009-10-09). ["Message board"](http://www.drobe.co.uk/board.php#cid31807). *Drobe*. Retrieved 2011-05-27. I don't mind doing the odd special feature from time to time, when the right opportunity arises, but I just can't find the time or energy to do day-today RISC OS news, sorry..

## Subsites

### *Drobe*

- [BBC Micro emulator](http://www.drobe.co.uk/micro/)

- [File archives](http://www.drobe.co.uk/archives/) ([mirrors](/source/Web_mirror) of popular [FTP](/source/FTP) sites, etc.)

- [Reference material](http://www.drobe.co.uk/reference/) (various RISC OS/[Acorn](/source/Acorn_Computers) hardware)

### Selected user sites

- [alanb.drobe.co.uk](http://alanb.drobe.co.uk)

- [adrianl.drobe.co.uk](http://adrianl.drobe.co.uk)

- [jeffd.drobe.co.uk](http://jeffd.drobe.co.uk)

- [stoppers.drobe.co.uk](http://stoppers.drobe.co.uk) ([ROLF (software)](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ROLF_(software)&action=edit&redlink=1), the RISC OS look and feel on Linux)

## External links

- [Diodesign](http://www.diodesign.co.uk/) (Editor/curator Chris Williams's website)

- [Drobe article statistics](http://www.drobe.co.uk/stats.php)

- [riscos.org.uk](http://riscos.org.uk) (subdomain hosting, adopted by *Drobe*)

- [@drobecouk](https://x.com/drobecouk) on [X](/source/X_(social_network))

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Drobe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drobe) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drobe?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.