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SubjectJonathan Postel Is Dead at 55; Helped Start and Run Internet
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/10/biztech/articles/18postel.html

This appeared in today NY Times...

I thinks its a sign of the times how much space they gave
(I wonder how many of the Times readers knew who Jon Postel
was...)

--
marty
leisner@rochester.rr.com
The Feynman problem solving Algorithm
1) Write down the problem
2) Think real hard
3) Write down the answer
Murray Gell-mann in the NY Times<html>
<head>
<title>Jonathan Postel Is Dead at 55; Helped Start and Run Internet</title>
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<meta name="byline" content="By KATIE HAFNER">
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<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE>
<NYT_DATE version="1.0" type=" ">
<!--ELEMENT DATE-->
<H5>October 18, 1998</H5><br>

</NYT_DATE>
<NYT_HEADLINE version="1.0" type=" ">
<!--ELEMENT HEADLINE-->
<H2>Jonathan Postel Is Dead at 55; Helped Start and Run Internet</H2>

</NYT_HEADLINE>
<NYT_BYLINE version="1.0" type=" ">
<!--ELEMENT BYLINE-->
<h5>By KATIE HAFNER</h5>

</NYT_BYLINE>
<p>
<p> <img src="http://graphics.nytimes.com/images/j.gif" align=left alt=J>onathan B. Postel, who played a pivotal role in creating and
administering the Internet, died of complications after undergoing
heart surgery on Friday in St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, his
brother Thomas Postel said Saturday. He was 55 and lived in Los
Angeles.
<p> <p>
<NYT_INLINEIMAGE version="1.0" type="main">
<table align=right border=0 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=2 width=160>
<tr><td rowspan=2 width=10><br></td><td align=right>
<img src="18postel.1.jpg" width=150 height=210><br>
<font size=-2>
Chris Pizzello
</font></td></tr><p>
<tr><td align=left><font size=-1>
Jonathan B. Postel
</font><hr size=1></td></tr></table>
<!-- @ -->
</NYT_INLINEIMAGE>
Postel, a computer scientist at the <a href=#1>Information Sciences Institute</a>, a branch of the University of Southern California in
Marina del Rey, Calif., was a creator of the Internet's address
system. For 30 years, he handled the administrative end of Internet
addresses under the auspices of the <a href=#1>Internet Assigned Numbers Authority</a>, or IANA, a federally financed entity.
<p>

"Jon's greatest achievement was operating IANA," said Stephen
Crocker, a colleague of Postel's. "It is a very central piece of
the infrastructure. As mundane and as simple as it seemed, he set
policies that made it very easy for the network to grow. He
minimized bureaucratic delay and at the same time kept silly and
nonsensical things to a minimum."
<p> Postel began his work on computer networking in the late 1960s,
while a graduate student at the University of California at Los
Angeles. He was one of a small group of computer scientists who
created the Arpanet, the precursor to the Internet. At UCLA in
1969, Postel assisted in the installation of the Arpanet's first
communications switch, which routes network traffic.
<p> For nearly 30 years, Postel also served as editor of the <a href=#1>Request for Comments</a> series, or RFCs, technical notes that began with the
earliest days of the Arpanet and continued into the Internet.
Though intended to be informal, RFCs often laid the foundation for
technical standards governing the Internet's operation. Nearly
2,500 RFCs have been produced.
<p> As part of the effort to hand administration of the Internet
over to an international private corporation, this month Postel
delivered to the government a proposal to transform the IANA into a
nonprofit corporation, with broad representation from the
commercial and academic sectors.
<p> The proposed organization has been incorporated and has an
interim board of directors. Pending final approval from the
Department of Commerce, the new entity is prepared to take up its
responsibility, said Vinton Cerf, chairman of the <a href=#1>Internet Society</a>,
a professional membership society to which Postel also belonged.
<p> <table align=right border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0>
<td width=10><br></td>
<td valign=top width=140>
<hr size=1>
<font size=-1>
<b>Related Articles</b><br>
<a href="/library/tech/98/10/biztech/articles/05domain.html">Planning the Internet's Final Privatization</a><br>
(October 5, 1998)
<p><a href="/library/tech/98/06/biztech/articles/29net.html">Internet Citizens Debate How to Form Online
Union</a><br>(June 29, 1998)
<hr size=1></font>
</table>
<!-- @ --> Postel was known for his steadiness, as well as for the
influence he wielded with colleagues at meetings of professional
organizations. During heated technical debates, once Postel weighed
in, the matter was soon resolved.
<p> As testament to Postel's control over the highest levels of the
Internet, in conducting a test of the Internet's reliability this
year, he rerouted the Internet's directory service to alternate
locations. Although there was no disruption of the Internet's
operation, the incident attracted widespread attention. Postel said
he was conducting an experiment to demonstrate the network's backup
capability.
<p> Explaining the action, Crocker said, "I think he was exercising
his legitimate responsibility to make sure the network worked as
advertised."
<p> In 1966, Postel graduated from UCLA, where he also obtained a
master's degree in engineering in 1968 and a doctorate in computer
science in 1974.
<p> In addition to the Internet Society, where he served as a
trustee, Postel was a member of the Association for Computing
Machinery.
<p> In addition to his brother Thomas, of Sherman Oaks, Calif.,
Postel is survived by his his companion, Susan Gould, also of Los
Angeles; mother, Lois Postel, of Sherman Oaks; another brother,
Russell Postel, of Sebastopol, Calif.; and a sister, Margie
Bradshaw, of Paisley, Scotland.
<p>
<p> <p><a name=1></a><hr size=1><b>Related Sites</b><br>
<font size=-1>Following are links to the external Web sites mentioned in this article. These sites are not part of The New York Times on the Web, and The Times has no control over their content or availability. When you have finished visiting any of these sites, you will be able to return to this page by clicking on your Web browser's "Back" button or icon until this page reappears.</font><p><ul>

<p><li><a href="http://www.isi.edu/~postel/">Jon Postel's Home Page</a>
<p><li><a href="http://www.iana.org">Internet Assigned Numbers Authority</a>
<p><li><a href="http://www.isi.edu/">Information Sciences Institute</a>
<p><li><a href="http://www.rfc-editor.org/">Request for Comments</a>
<p><li><a href="http://www.isoc.org/">Internet Society</a>

</ul>



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