Some people in the irc room believe that he is doing just fine; that this was an event to ensure that the character/role _why is returned to the public domain in an orderly manner. The original maintainer of the _why persona appears to be doing okay and in good spirits. He gave people combs and a triumph message on the website.
Well, he did say that he was "returning the character to the public" after the publication of the book, since he "does so enjoy seeing what we all do with it."