| Goodbye, Jon |
On Friday, October 16, 1998, Jon Postel died
of complications following heart surgery. Best known for his role
as head of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), the
technical body that oversees the Internet's Domain Name System
and allocated IP addresses, Postel had an overwhelming influence
on the way the net has been shaped.
I was surprised that no one had erected a memorial site remembering
him. The man was one of the pioneers that built the Internet as
we know it and no one seemed to do anything about it. As a result,
I put together this page. It is nowhere near as good as what others
will put together but I thought it was necessary for someone to
put together a page that explained why this death is important
and why the online community should care.
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The IANA, RFCs
And many other things Mr. Postel did for us |
Mr. Postel was the top administrator at the IANA,
the overall authority for IP Addresses, Domain Names, and many
other parameters, used in the Internet. Recently, there was a
lot of controversy surrounding that role, as the IANA
was being transferred from a government entity to the private
sector.
Mr. Postel was also the official RFC
editor. Short for Request
for Comments, RFCs are a series of notes about the Internet,
started in 1969 (when the Internet was the ARPANET). An RFC
can be submitted by anyone. Eventually, if it gains enough interest,
it may evolve into an Internet standard. Postel was "responsible
for the final editorial review of the documents," giving him
wide power as to the way Internet standards were shaped over
the years.
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| News Coverage |
From the mainstream press to the trades, a lot
of people have been covering Jon's death. Here are the links I
found.
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| More Links |
Check out those pages for more information on
this tragic death and on Jon's life in general.
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