Jon Postel

Introduction

Jon Postel was an american computer scientist who made many significant contributions to the development of the internet. He is most well known for being the editor of the request for comment document series and for administering the internet assigned numbers authority until his death. To highlight his contribution to the development of the internet, the internet society has named the postel award in his honour, as is the postel centre at information sciences institute. He attended the university of california, los angeles where he earned his bs as well as his MA in engineering. Attending the university of california, he then managed to complete his P.H.D in computer science in 1974.

Discussion

He was involved in the early work on the Aparnet system which greatly enhanced the impact of the internet. He later moved to the university of southern California where he began to work at the information sciences institute. Jon postel was the request for comments editor from 1969 until the year that he died. He wrote and edited many important RFC's including RFCs 791-793, which define the basic protocols of the internet protocol suite. He wrote or co-authored more than 200 RFCs.

Postel served on the Internet architecture Board and its predecessors for many years. He was the director of the names and number assignment clearinghouse, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority from its inception. He was the First member of the Internet society and was on the board of trustees of the internet society. He was the origional and long-time Us Top-level domain administrator. He also managed the los nettos network.

The majority of these activities he assumed in conjunction with his primary position as director of the computer networks division of the information sciences institute at the university of southern california. Postel was seen by many as the most powerful person on the net. He came by that power legitimately, as the only person who could command the respect and loyalty of the whole community. The economist magazine famously said that if the net does have a god, he is probably

Jon postel.

Postel soon received a telephone call from a furious IRA magaziner, president Clinton's senior service advisor who instructed him to to this change which he did. Within a week, the US issued it's Green paper asserting the US government's definitive authority over the internet and DNS root zone. The signifigance of Jon postel's contributions to building the internet, both technical and personal, were such that a memorial recollection of his life forms part of the core technical literature sequence of the internet sequence of the internet in the form of RFC 2468.

However Jon postel's most famous legacy is from RFC 793 which includes a robustness principle which is often called Postel's law which states that you should be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you do, be liberal in what you accept from others. In Digital circuits, this principle has long been an important aspect of what is known as static discipline. It was not until much later in his life that the extent of his influence was understood outside the technological community and his power was questioned by commercial interests.

In 1997 postel got himself involved in the debate over how names for web sites and other internet

resources are distributed. As the number of organisations going online has grown disputes have arisen over ownership of those names and network solution's monopoly has been attacked. Mr postel suggested an alternative and his plan inevitably came under fire from competitors. Network solutions felt that it was not appropriate for postel to make such decisions. Amoung postel's responsibilities was assigning all the numbers that go with internet names through the internet assigned numbers authority.

In early 1997, as the US government was discussing domain names alternatives postel used his power to transfer control temporarily away from Network solutions to his own server. No disruption was caused to the running of the internet and he said he was merely testing the technical feasibility of any future hand-over of power, but critics accused him of subre-rattling. He always maintained that he was motivated solely by the public good and that decisions on domain naming have to be made fairly with the long-term benefit of the internet community in mind.

His contributions to building the internet were regarded by his peers as being so great that RFC 2468 was written in his memory. This is no small thing given that between 1969 and February 2002

only 3240 RFC's were published. This event alone highlights the fact that Jon postel was instrumental into shaping the internet into what can be acessed today.

Conclusion

This philosophy and his contributions will play a critical role in shaping the future of the internet for years to come. Postel was known for his steadiness, as well as for the influence he wielded with colleagues at meetings of professional organisations. During heated technical debates, once postel weighed in, the matter would soon be resolved. Jon postel made many significant contributions to the creation of the internet particularly in the area of standards. His most well known achievement was being the editor of the RFC document series, and for managing the creation and allocation of Top level domains. Jon postel many significant contributions to the development of the internet justify the tag given to him of being the god of the internet.

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