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[RRE]more on Jon Postel
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Date: Sun, 18 Oct 1998 14:51:51 +0800
From: Dave Crocker
Bob Braden has been a life-long close friend and associate of Jon. A message from Vint Cerf is getting wide publication. As one would expect, it is an excellent note.
This one from Bob resonated with me particularly strongly, and I thought those of you who contacted me, asking to verify Jon's passing, might also appreciate seeing it, if you are not on the IETF mailing list:
>From: braden@ISI.EDU >Date: Sat, 17 Oct 1998 17:55:30 -0700 >To: ietf@ietf.org >Subject: Jon Postel > > >I have had the great privilege of knowing Jon Postel as a collegue and >as a friend since the early ARPANET day, about 1970. I have sat >countless hours in countless meeting rooms with him, as the ARPANET >grew, became the Internet, and grew again. I know well how much of >himself Jon put into the ARPANET and (especially) the Internet, and >what a great debt we owe to his intelligence and wisdom. > >Jon lavished quiet but passionate dedication on the Internet. He hated >it when people said or did stupid or destructive things. And yet he >carried a gentle sense of humor and a sense of proportion. What series >of documents do you know, besides the RFCs, that include delightful >surprises every April 1? > >There are many aspects of the IETF culture that matched Jon very well. >Dedication to making things that work, a never-ending attempt to keep >protocols as simple and powerful as possible, and a slight counter- >cultural tinge -- all characterized Jon. Our best memorial to Jon >will be to try harder to produce protocols of the highest standards, >and to document them clearly and with grace. > >It was easy to overlook or underestimate Jon's contribution. He did >not give riveting speeches; none of his phrases made it onto T shirts. >Lots and lots of very bright people contributed ideas and words to the >Internet protocol suite, but it was Jon Postel who spun out the final >words that define the Internet. As far as I know, Jon had no model to >follow when he wrote RFCs 791, 792, and 793, yet the result was a model >that I personally have spent nearly 20 years studying and trying to >emulate. And Jon's contrubution was not just the skill and grace of >his editorial style; in writing these documents, Jon determined much of >the detailed content, interpeting and elaborating the ideas of others >to produce one seamless whole. > >A well known "sage" has recently talked about the cult of Jon and about >his arrogance and his eliteism. Well, yes, there was a cult of Jon, in >the sense that Jon earned the respect and admiration of many people. >And he was a bit elitist, but only in the sense of trying to develop, >preserve, and promost the best ideas. But arrogance is so far from >Jon's personality that the claim is ludicrous. > >For many years during the infancy of the Internet, his compatriots in >the early Internet days admiringly dubbed Jon the Protocol Czar, with >sub-title: Unfailing Arbiter of Good Taste in protocols. The Internet >was able to grow lustily for many years with a minimum of engineering >bastardization (entropy growth); we owe much of that to Jon's constant >attention to good sense and detail. He used his position as RFC Editor >and IANA to unflinchingly intervene to keep a modicum of good >engineering sense in the Internet architecture. Jon was a roomful of >wise and active committees, all rolled up in one. > >Jon's untimely passing is a tragedy for all of us who have had the >privilege of knowing and working with him. We will miss him. > >Bob Braden > >PS: I send this message using Jon's protocol SMTP, to a domain name >that follows a system he designed, using protocols that he helped >to design and that he documented.
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Dave Crocker Tel: +60 (19) 3299 445