Jon Postel

Jon Postel
Born(1943-08-06)August 6, 1943
DiedOctober 16, 1998(1998-10-16) (aged 55)
EducationUniversity of California, Los Angeles (BS, MS, PhD)
Known forRequest for Comment
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
Postel's Law
AwardsACM SIGCOMM Award (1997),[1] ITU Silver Medal (1998),[2] ISOC Jonathan B. Postel Service Award (1999, posthumous)[3]
Scientific career
FieldsComputer science
Doctoral advisorDave Farber

Jonathan Bruce Postel (/pəˈstɛl/; August 6, 1943 – October 16, 1998) was an American computer scientist who made many significant contributions to the development of the Internet, particularly with respect to standards. He is known principally for being the Editor of the Request for Comment (RFC) document series, for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), and for administering the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) until his death.

During his lifetime he was referred to as the "god of the Internet"[4][5] for his comprehensive influence; Postel himself noted that this "compliment" came with a barb, the suggestion that he should be replaced by a "professional," and responded with typical self-effacing matter-of-factness: "Of course, there isn’t any 'God of the Internet.' The Internet works because a lot of people cooperate to do things together."[6]

  1. ^ "Postel and Pouzin: 1997 SIGCOMM Award Winners". Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  2. ^ "Jon Postel awarded ITU silver medal at INET '98 for his central role in the success story of the Internet". July 22, 1998. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  3. ^ "A ten year tribute to Jon Postel: An Internet visionary". Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  4. ^ "Postel Disputes". The Economist. Vol. 343, no. 8453. February 8, 1997. God, at least in the West, is often represented as a man with a flowing beard and sandals... if the Net does have a god, he is probably Jon Postel, a man who matches that description to a T. Mr. Postel's claim to cyber-divinity, besides his appearance, is that he is the chairman and, in effect, the sole member of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, the organization that coordinates almost all Internet addresses.
  5. ^ q:Jon Postel
  6. ^ Duhanic, Mario (February 8, 2018). "Thanks, Jon and John! About Gods and Knights".

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