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Jon Postel

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Jon Postel

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Also known as Jonathan B. Postel, Jonathan Postel, Jonathan Bruce Postel

American computer scientist (1943–1998)

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Quotes

  • In general, an implementation must be conservative in its sending behavior, and liberal in its receiving behavior.
  • TCP implementations will follow a general principle of robustness: be conservative in what you do, be liberal in what you accept from others.
  • I think they called me the closest thing to a God of the Internet. But at the end, that article wasn’t very complimentary, because the author suggested that I wasn’t doing a very good job, and that I ought to be replaced by a "professional." Of course, there isn’t any "God of the Internet." The Internet works because a lot of people cooperate to do things together.

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Key facts

Born
( 1943-08-06 ) August 6, 1943, Altadena, California , U.S.
Died
October 16, 1998 (1998-10-16) (aged 55), Santa Monica, California , U.S.
Education
University of California, Los Angeles ( BS , MS , PhD )
Known for
Request for Comment , Internet Assigned Numbers Authority , Postel's Law
Awards
Internet Hall of Fame Pioneer, Posthumous Recipient (2012), ACM SIGCOMM Award (1997), ITU Silver Medal (1998), ISOC Jonathan B. Postel Service Award (1999, posthumous)
Fields
Computer science
Doctoral advisor
Dave Farber

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Image
Jon Postel.jpg
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date of birth
1943-08-06
date of death
1998-10-16
Commons category
Jon Postel
Sources (9)

via Wikidata · CC0

~6 min read

Article

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" 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."

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