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Postel Service Award

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Condolences and Remembrances

I REMEMBER IANA
Vint Cerf French

A long time ago, in a network, far far away, a great adventure took place…

Out of the chaos of new ideas for communication, the experiments, the tentative designs, and crucible of testing, there emerged a cornucopia of networks. Beginning with the ARPANET, an endless stream of networks evolved, and ultimately were interlinked to become the Internet. Someone had to keep track of all the protocols, the identifiers, networks and addresses and ultimately the names of all the things in the networked universe. And someone had to keep track of all the information that erupted with volcanic force from the intensity of the debates and discussions and endless invention that has continued unabated for 30 years. That someone was Jonathan B. Postel, our Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, friend, engineer, confidant, leader, icon, and now, first of the giants to depart from our midst.

Jon, our beloved IANA, is gone. Even as I write these words I cannot quite grasp this stark fact. We had almost lost him once before in 1991. Surely we knew he was at risk – as are we all. But he had been our rock, the foundation on which our every web search and email was built, always there to mediate the random dispute, to remind us when our documentation did not do justice to its subject, to make difficult decisions with apparent ease, and to consult when careful consideration was needed. We will survive our loss and we will remember. He has left a monumental legacy for all Internauts to contemplate. Steadfast service for decades, moving when others seemed paralyzed, always finding the right course in a complex minefield of technical and sometimes political obstacles.

Jon and I went to the same high school, Van Nuys High, in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles. But we were in different classes and I really didn’t know him then. Our real meeting came at UCLA when we became a part of a group of graduate students working for Prof. Leonard Kleinrock on the ARPANET project. Steve Crocker was another of the Van Nuys crowd who was part of the team and led the development of the first host-host protocols for the ARPANET. When Steve invented the idea of the Request for Comments series, Jon became the instant editor. When we needed to keep track of all the hosts and protocol identifiers, Jon volunteered to be the Numbers Czar and later the IANA once the Internet was in place.

Jon was a founding member of the Internet Architecture Board and served continuously from its founding to the present. He was the FIRST individual member of the Internet Society – I know, because he and Steve Wolff raced to see who could fill out the application forms and make payment first and Jon won. He served as a trustee of the Internet Society. He was the custodian of the .US domain, a founder of the Los Nettos Internet service, and, by the way, managed the networking research division of USC Information Sciences Institute.

Jon loved the outdoors. I know he used to enjoy backpacking in the high Sierras around Yosemite. Bearded and sandaled, Jon was our resident hippie-patriarch at UCLA. He was a private person – but fully capable of engaging photon torpedoes and going to battle stations in a good engineering argument. And he could be stubborn beyond all expectation. He could have outwaited the Sphinx in a staring contest, I think.

Jon inspired loyalty and steadfast devotion among his friends and his colleagues. For me, he personified the words "stewardship and selfless service." For nearly 30 years, Jon has served us all, taken little in return, indeed sometimes receiving abuse when he should have received our deepest appreciation. It was particularly gratifying at the last Internet Society meeting in Geneva to see Jon receive the Silver Medal of the International Telecommunications Union. It is an award generally reserved for Heads of State but I can think of no one more deserving of global recognition for his contributions.

While it seems almost impossible to avoid feeling an enormous sense of loss, as if a yawning gap in our networked universe had opened up and swallowed our friend, I must tell you that I am comforted as I contemplate what Jon has wrought. He leaves a legacy of edited documents that tell our collective Internet story, including not only the technical but also the poetic and whimsical as well. He completed the incorporation of a successor to his service as IANA and leaves a lasting legacy of service to the community in that role. His memory is rich and vibrant and will not fade from our collective consciousness. "What would Jon have done?" we will think, as we wrestle in the days ahead with the problems Jon kept so well tamed for so many years.

Jon has been our North Star for decades, burning brightly and constantly, providing comfort and a sense of security while all else changed. He was Internet’s Boswell and its technical conscience. His loss will be sorely felt, not only for his expertise, but because the community has lost a dear and much-loved friend

There will almost surely be many memorials to Jon’s monumental service to the Internet Community. As current chairman of the Internet Society, I pledge to establish an award in Jon’s name to recognize long-standing service to the community, the Jonathan B. Postel Service Award, which is awarded to Jon posthumously as its first recipient.

If Jon were here, I am sure he would urge us not to mourn his passing but to celebrate his life and his contributions. He would remind us that there is still much work to be done and that we now have the responsibility and the opportunity to do our part. I doubt that anyone could possibly duplicate his record, but it stands as a measure of one man’s astonishing contribution to a community he knew and loved.

Remembrance
Jun Murai

I just would like to express my sincere appreciations and thanks to Jon for his long time and continuous help on development/operation of the Internet. Especially from Asian countries who had some difficulties at first to get to RFCs, addresses, and other resources of the Internet, Jon has always been helpful and kind and been encouraging us to cooperate for developing of the Internet.

Gassho,

jun

A Malaysian Journal: Changing the world quietly
Dave Crocker
[©Copyright 1998, D. Crocker, Brandenburg Consulting ]
[ A series of notes on living and working in Malaysia, during Jackie's ]
[ Fulbright Fellowship to Universiti Putra Malaysia, near Kuala Lumpur. ]
[ Copies may be freely distributed, but must retain this preamble. ]

More than anything, these notes concern lessons in perspective this year. I've just had an unexpected and upsetting one and hope you will not mind my exploring it with you:

Jackie and I are visiting Sarawak this weekend. It is the southern of the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. A little over one year ago, we visited the northern state, Sabah, and I was confronted with the reality of an undeniably changed world. In the U.S., we still think of Borneo in terms of head hunters in the jungles. Indeed, Jackie works with a professor from the Iban tribe in Borneo and he says that his great-grandfather did hunt heads, as did all of the warriors in those days. In fact you could not get married unless you had some heads to show as proof of your bravery.

However what we see now and saw a year ago, are modern towns with the usual conveniences. More astonishing, to me, was that the conveniences included a "cybercafe" for Internet access. The fact of global access, reaching all the way to the "wilds" of Borneo, brought home to me, last year, just how profound the effect of the Internet is. I was reminded of that fact again, here in Sarawack, when I received news of the death of one of the Internet's true pioneers, Jon Postel.

Few of us get to participate in activities that really do change the world. Fewer still can be counted as principal contributors. For the Internet, a fair number of people have been put forward as pioneers, some deserving of the label and some not. All of the ones being touted enjoy the limelight. Jon was a notable exception. He only reached the public eye recently and he never sought or enjoyed it. For twenty-five years, he worked to help the community rather than garner recognition. Most of his effort was in doing administrative "scut" work, things that no one else was interested in, but that needed doing. So he administered the technical publications series, he administered assignment of registration values for technical protocols, he administered assignment of Internet addresses and Internet names, and he administered operation of the servers that map names to addresses.

There is no glory in doing administration and operations. Quite the opposite. People notice when it is done badly but rarely offer praise when it is done well. People in administrative positions often become petty bureaucrats. Since there is so little reward in the job, they artificially make it a base of power. So it has confused some who heard Jon referred to as the Internet numbers "czar". They did not realize that the community imparted the title to Jon out of affection and deep appreciation for his having brought order to essential infrastructure services. In particular the community used that term in full knowledge that Jon took his position as a trust, rather than as an opportunity for personal power. We always knew that his views came from legitimate beliefs and we never had to worry that he was somehow considering political or personal advantage. We might not agree with him, but we always knew was driven first by a concern that the right thing be done.

All this might give you the wrong idea about Jon. I was not a close friend, so I cannot claim to have known him well, only long. But he was entirely human. I certainly knew him well enough to find him a pain to deal with, sometimes, just like anyone else.

To qualify for responsibility over an infrastructure service, one must be conservative. Every change is a danger to the stability of operation, so every change must be resisted. Jon suited that requirement far better than some of us would have liked. In response to most suggestions for change, Jon's first response was "no". It took me many years to learn to put an idea before him and then walk away, rather than to press the arguments in favor. If I pressed, he entrenched against. If, instead, I walked away, he always thought the issues through carefully and responded constructively. For those of us who think that at any moment we know Ultimate Truth, it is frustrating to have to deal with someone who approaches things more carefully. Frustrating, but very helpful.

Jon was part of the student mafia that formed the original Computer Science department at UCLA. He went to Van Nuys high school, in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, with my brother, Vint Cerf, and a number of others who formed that first team of students in the new field, at UCLA. It is easy to think about the professors who create an academic department, but it is also easy to forget the role of the first students. In these heady days of the sixties, this crew happened into the beginnings of a research project investigating shared access to long-distance data communication, designed to be robust against failure. They were inventing the Arpanet, which became the Internet. What they did not realize was that they were also inventing a culture.

I was hired onto that project in 1972, just in time for the first public demonstration of the Arpanet in Washington, D.C. The technology had been under development and testing for 3 years and it was starting to move into an operational phase, although an experiment of network behavior would often crash the entire, international system. There were a number of teams involved around the country. Officially the team at UCLA was the "Network Measurement Center" since the principal investigator was a leader in queuing theory and one of the research goals in creating the Arpanet tested was to measure the behavior that the queuing theory work had predicted. Jon, Vint, and others did participate in that work, but they served a role which I believe was more important in the long run: They led efforts to develop uses for the net, and they created the foundation for an approach to that development.

I had dropped out of college and this was my first full-time job. My brother had introduced me to computers ten years earlier, but I had limited experience and no formal training. This is not a particularly good background for someone joining a high-powered research project funded by the high-flying Advanced Research Projects Agency. Yet these folks never acted condescending or dismissive. Quite the contrary they were always open to any efforts to help. It was the perfect opportunity for real learning and contribution and I watched it repeated with many others who joined the team over the next four years.

Jon had the dubious privilege of getting me as an office mate. One day I noticed a think-piece that has been distributed by a graduate student at the University of Hawaii. It complained about poor performance over the satellite link to the Arpanet, and suggested a particular approach to solving it. I turned to Jon and said that it sounded pretty reasonable to me and might be worth developing as an "option" to the Telnet terminal access protocol. Jon concurred with my assessment. I said I'd be interested in giving a shot at the specification if he would help me and he agreed. This was my first technical effort and he mentored the process perfectly, always praising my newest version and then observing a number of fatal flaws. His style was so clear and direct that I was convinced he knew exactly how the protocol should be done but was humoring me through the learning process. I had no understanding of the general ignorance about building network protocols, at that stage of the industry.

Eventually, the specification stabilized and we published it. A few people implemented it and then it died away, in spite of his publishing a revision a bit later. After a few years I asked Jon about the reason it failed and he said that it apparently had a fatal flaw which caused client and server machines to lose synchronization with each other. Almost no one knows of this protocol today, but I consider it a superb example of the real "decision" process of the Internet community. One person suggested an idea. A couple of others fleshed it out. Still more people tested it. No one complained about authority or scope of responsibility, or following a particular process. No one worried about egos and power. The focus was on the problem and its possible solution. The problem was serious enough and the idea appealing enough, to get some people interested in exploring it. The idea failed, but it failed on its merits.

In the last two years, Jon found himself painfully in the public eye. Some of his work had suddenly become quite interesting, primarily because a decision at the US National Science Foundation made some of the activities under him worth a lot of money. This started an astonishing sequence of geo-politics and public platform-seeking by many people who had no experience with Internet development, administrations or operations. The money begat power, the power begat the politics and the politics begat the publicity seekers. Through all of it, Jon focused only and exactly on the underlying work. If he had a failing, it was in refusing to engage in the politics and, perhaps, in failing to institute some changes in his operation sooner. Unfortunately these failings led to his being pilloried by some, with the press all-to-ready to report the dramatic language.

I recently asked Jon whether he was able to get any real work done, now, or whether he was entirely consumed by the politics which surrounded the changes to his group's operation. He admitted that he had not been able to do any other work for nearly a year. I wonder how I would feel if I spent 25 years offering a community his kind of public service, only to find myself attacked so ruthlessly.

He was given some awards over the last year. Perhaps in response to the attacks, the professional community finally acknowledged his contribution formally. In spite of this praise, it must have been a serious blow to Jon, who has always been so modest and so well-intentioned, to be treated to such attacks. In 1991 he had heart operation and early this month he went into the hospital to have another. It cannot have helped his state of mind to be under exactly the sort of public pressure that he had always avoided. What effect did that pressure have on his ability to recover?

Vint Cerf is again Chair of the Internet Society's Board of Trustees and he has already pledged that there will be a Jonathan B. Postel Service Award, given to those who have contributed to the Internet community. Vint's announcement came just as I was deciding that we needed some sort of continuing acknowledgement of Jon's role in developing not just Internet technology, but Internet culture. I think the service award is exactly the right formal monument.

However I also hope that those engaged in the effort to evolve the organization that Jon built over the last ten years will give him a living, and more practical, monument. I hope that they will emulate his commitment to the community and his focus on constructive, pragmatic evolution, eschewing personalities and politics, and emphasizing community benefit. I hope that as the various factions continue the debate for the evolution of his work, each participant asks themselves carefully and honestly whether their contribution is worthy of Jon.

Dave Farber

A Life too Brief
by Dave Farber

I, and others I fear, have spent a sleepless night after hearing of the death of Jon Postel last night. This morning there was a note in my mailbox from Vint Cerf that said many of the things I feel at this time.

I also remember Jon. I was his primary thesis advisor along with Jerry Estrin and I remember with fond memories the months spent closely working with Jon while his eager mind developed the ideas in back of what was a pioneering thesis that founded the area of protocol verification.

Since I was at UC Irvine and Jon at UCLA we used to meet in the morning prior to my ride to UCI at a Pancake House in Santa Monica for breakfast and the hard work of developing a thesis. I gained a great respect for Jon then and 10 pounds of weight.

I will miss him greatly. Jon was my second Ph.D. student. The first, Philip Merlin, also died way before his time.

Bob Braden (ISI.EDU)

I have had the great privilege of knowing Jon Postel as a colleague 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 contribution was not just the skill and grace of his editorial style; in writing these documents, Jon determined much of the detailed content, interpreting 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.

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.

Jean Armour Polly, former ISOC Board member

I knew Jon when we were both on the ISOC board. What a mediator he was, and always smiling. In 1994, Jon was of great help to me personally when I was trying to get the first U.S. Indian nation on the Web < http://www.one-web.org/ > A Cultural Survival Quarterly article about it is here < http://www.cs.org/csq/csqinternet.html#Polly > Jon and I talked at
length, many, many times, about the merits (or not) of setting up a TLD for indigenous peoples who were not recognized as country codes of their own. He could have instantly dismissed the request but he considered it carefully, first from one perspective and then another as we all talked with the Oneida Nation for their input. I valued his wisdom then, and now
that he's passed on can only suspect he was needed elsewhere to help shape new communications networks. We will surely miss him here. My condolences to his family.

Mr. Cary E. Thomas, Director Administration and Business Affairs, Information Sciences Institute, University of Southern California

To: GOD@heaven.uni

Dear God:

I thought I should send you a note about the new networking guy that showed up this weekend, Jon.

If you don't like change, you are in trouble. He changed everything down here in less time than your children roamed in the wilderness with Moses. However, the things he changed made life much better for everyone on the whole planet. Most remarkably, he managed to do all this good without becoming greedy/rich, like most people down here.

If you have to pass a test to get in, you are in trouble. When I asked Jon what it was like in the very early days of the Internet he explained many things, but the thing I remember most was the way he described passing his PhD hurdles. For one stage there were a number of candidates. After a test, the results were posted on a hallway bulletin board. Some guys passed, some
guys failed, and next to Jon's name it said "See the Dean". Upon inquiring with the Dean Jon was told: "you passed, but you have an attitude!".

If you have a lot of silly rules, you are in trouble. We have a lot of silly rules down here. Whenever I tried to get away with adding any, Jon was there to show how silly they were. His idea was for everyone to simply do the right thing and everything would be fine. Once when I was fighting with our superiors on campus about a really silly problem ($2.99 worth of milk), I copied Jon on a long-winded note to campus attempting to refute the rules. Jon sent me a quick reply -- "good rebuttal, excellent arguments, and you are (finally) getting an attitude; keep it up!".

Other than the things I've pointed out, I think the two of you will get along well. Depending on how recently he has had a haircut and if he brought his sandals, his attire and appearance will be familiar to you. He is a peaceful, quiet, caring, intelligent, and sincere guy. But whenever he gets that Junior-high-school-boy-grin on his face, be careful -- he's up to something mischievous.

Be sure to say "Hi" to him for us; we miss him already.

Sincerely,

Cary

Dr. Gerald Estrin, UCLA

"Jerry Estrin recalls Jon Postel as a wonderfully fine, gentle, unselfish human being who truly cared about people and his professional contributions. In the 1970s, he was fearless in trying to apply an emerging graph model to verification of complex ARPANET protocols. I will not forget Jon coming to me during a graduate seminar and gently asking if I could refrain from pipe smoking during class. He showed the same foresight about the toxic effects of smoking as he did about the positive potential impact of computer networks."

Brian Carpenter (IAB Chair)
(in response to above e-mail)

Thank you Bob for those words. As a comparative newcomer I won't attempt to match them, but let it be said that Jon's wise counsel often helped me personally, and the IAB, to choose the right course. Last Tuesday we had an IAB teleconference without Jon, one of the very few such over the years, and it is infinitely sad that we will never hear his calming voice again.

Stefano Trumpy, Chairman - Advisory Council of ISOC

The Advisory Council had the highest respect and appreciation for the contribution that Jon has made to the Internet but that, most of all, we will miss him as a friend.

George Sadowsky

I did not know Jon as well as many of you did, since I only rejoined the advanced computing world from the United Nations in 1986. But in the years that I knew of him and then had the pleasure of working with him on the ISOC Board and getting to know him, I saw in him a source of knowledge, stability, and dependability in guiding the Internet into uncharted territory as it grew well beyond its founders' wildest expectations.

During the past several years I have viewed him as a source of reason at a time where many others seemed to have lost theirs. I fear that our loss will not only be keenly felt now, but also in the future as we will have to search hard to replace that dedicated guidance and wisdom.

Christine Maxwell

I was very shocked and saddened to learn of Jon's death. I would just like to say that I found Vint's words most comforting - and so right.

I think the concept of establishing an award in Jon's name - and of the fact that Jon himself would want us to celebrate his life rather than mourn his death and to strive our very best to continue the extraordinary legacy that he has left us.

I know, that even I, who knew him very little, in comparison to most other Board members, will miss him very much.

Jose Luis Pardos

Hello Jon:
Last saturday and sunday were my only days I have not been connected, on many passed last years. I wasn't feelling well after a hetic trip from Copenhague to Madrid and next day to Biarritz. Now I opened my PC and see that you are already gone
really into cyberspace!!!!!!!

You have left a mark among us, a very deep one , a very practical one, as well as an image of a very broad minded type of a Good man. I will never forget the day, last July in Switzerland, when we crossed together with Vint Cerf and our wives, the parking lot towards the Geneva Palais Expo and you were telling me so fundamental things in such an easy, short and deepd way too.

Your life has been marked by the enormeous progress you have achieved for *all* of us with the Internet and with IANA....and you have even done the last try !

Hope we can follow your example. I know you are always around anyone of us, who besides trusting you, thanking you, also loved and liked you very much and mainly for your human values and no doubt for your intelectual achievements. Well all have great memeories, from getting to know such a person like you Jon.

It was really worth while !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dr Tan Tin Wee, Chairman
Asia Pacific Networking Group
http://www.apng.org/in-memoriam.html

APNG condolences

The Asia Pacific Remembers Jon Postel

On behalf of fellow Internauts in the Asia Pacific, I send deepest condolences on the passing away of Dr Jon Postel. Dr Postel has helped in the rapid growth of the Internet in the Asia Pacific and we are most grateful for his help to us over the years.

As a result of the disproportionate criticism of Jon from various quarters, the leaders of Asia Pacific Internet organisations had recently discussed how to correct the imbalance, and honour Jon Postel for his immense and outstanding life time work. I had suggested to give him an award as a joint effort of APNG, APAN, APNIC, APIA, APTLD, APPLe, APRICOT. Alas, any such award will sadly have to be posthumous now.

Jon Postel, we will miss you for a long long time to come.And as the motto on www.iana.org states, we will pledge ourselves to uphold that blazing torch of Internet altruism you have held up so high; we will keep alive that unwavering Internet spirit of voluntarism which you have exemplified; we will dedicate ourselves towards "preserving the central coordinating functions of the global Internet for the public good", the ideal which you have so boldy stood for.

Mario Lanza, Member of The Internet Society Internet de Honduras

I don't have words for this!
I really sorry....

Jim Dixon Managing Director
VBCnet GB Ltd

May I suggest that we all spend a day or two speaking little and thinking a great deal. Jon Postel's passing marks the end of the early days of the Net, a period in which the operation of the Internet has depended in large part upon the moral authority of one man. He is gone, and all our plans, all so intricately and carefully constructed around the fact of his presence, must now change. The trust and cooperative spirit of the Internet must not die with him.

Nigel Roberts
Channel Islands NIC, Alderney

I am sure some on this list are already aware of the passing of Dr Jon Postel late last night.

In view of this quite momentous piece of news, I would respectfully like to propose that the entire World Wide Web should turn its background black as a gesture of respect to Dr Postel.

When Marconi died, the entire world observed two minutes radio silence.

Jon Postel's contributions to world wide communications are every bit the equal of Marconi and I feel this is the least could do.

We heard the news about an hour ago, and have done so on the website for the Channel Islands Domain Name Registry (http://www.nic.gg) as an example.

Ken Stubbs
Chairman - Internet Council of Registrars (CORE)

We at CORE were deeply saddened to hear of Jon's death.

Jon Postel's passing is a loss of extraordinary proportions. His vision of a world drawn together through a vast common communications network has become a reality, and his genius and leadership were the key to its realization.

Jon's legacy is a proud one, but his work remains unfinished. His star, which shone so brightly while he was among us, now hangs like a beacon on the horizon. We must recommit ourselves to follow his unerring sense of direction. We have lost the visionary, but we can not lose the vision.

Jon listened to all, he carefully weighed every voice and concern, and helped us develop and choose a path for a new organization that preserves and expands the integrity and stability of the Internet for the future.

We at CORE stand ready to help assure that Jon's work, and, truly, all our work, has not been in vain.

Pablo Di Noto, Argentina
As one of many many networkers, I knew Jon Postel through his work. That is enough to feel a great loss.

I hope those who knew him better, and Internet as a whole, take Postel's example as a guide.

My sincere condolences

Hidematsu Kasano

No other pioneers could not get it, the World-wide Internet.
No mother could not lead here.
No bother could not close to the Net.

Jon Postel was the Internet and will keep alive in it.
Thank you, Jon and the Internet, for future.

Be in the Nehan.
Mat.

Giandomenico Massari, for: Isoc Nigeria Chapter

With sincere sorrow all Isoc Nigeria Chapter members join the sudden death of Jon Postel. For us will be unforgettable all the way Jon has marked out to realize the Internet dream. The knowledge Jon imbibed, the inspiration, his courage and hard work will be never forget. He remain a milestone on Internet history and will be remembered for his pioneering example

Veni Markovski,
Chairmain, the Internet Society - Bulgaria

I am really sorry to hear that.

We've had a few arguments with Jon, but I have always respected his work in the Internet field as a professional and now that I know the details, I am even more shocked and impressed by the work he's done.

I believe we shall try to make something to have him remembered as a person, and if you could, please, pass my simpathies to his family.

Jon had tremendous duties, and I hope he was spending enough time with his relatives, family, friends who were happy to know him personally.

This is a loss that we all share and may be some of us haven't yet realised and we all suffer together with you...

Juan Carlos

Querido amigo Jon,

Siento mucho tu despedida tan precipitada. Aún no era tu momento.

La libertad que inspira tu obra es digna de alcanzar a todos, ójala que lo veas dentro de poco.

Gracias por tu dedicación a la causa más digna de los últimos años.

Que Dios te acoja entre los luchadores de la libertad.

Gracias por todo.

saludos cordiales,
------

Dear friend Jon,

I feel much your dismissing so hasty. Not yet it was your moment.

The freedom that inspires your work is worthy to reach to all, ójala that you see it soon.

Thanks for your dedication to the worthiest cause of the last years.

That God welcomes to you between the fighters of the freedom.

Thanks for everything.

warm greetings,

Michel Albrand

I am deeply shocked by the news of the death of great Internet pioneer Jon Postel. He will be one of the first persons to contribute to putting meaning into electrons to such an enormous scale.

May he be remembered long after the numerous RFCs he co-signed have gone into obsolescence.

Ken Adler, Pioneer ISOC Memeber

Jon... thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to help someone you did not know with a silly question.

IF it were not for your help, I would not have been able to find the RFC for IP over Avian Carriers (I was looking for IP over Carrier Pigeons!)

Sanjaya, President Director PT IndoInternet, Jakarta-Indonesia

Jon,

I know you can read e-mail from 'up' there :-)

You may not know us, but we are one of the grateful ones who make a living from the Internet. Without your leadership we wouldn't have reached this far.

May you rest in peace, God Bless you my friend...

Maite Zarza

My condolences, the soul shall always live.
Maite.

Sascha Boerger

Hi Jon!

To say it with the words of Vint: I look forward to seeing you, someday.

Edgar Danielyan
Armenia NIC

He was a good man and good scientist. He made the Internet work and the Internet was work of his life. Internet changed on October 16th. People who knew him personally will remember him. Some people won't. But his work is here to remain.

Thank you, Dr. Postel.
We miss you, Dr. Postel.

Internet Policy Oversight Committee

The Internet Policy Oversight Committee joins the world in mourning the death, on October 16, 1998, of Dr. Jonathan Postel, a founding father of the Internet and the director of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority.

As a direct result of the initiative by Dr. Postel and the Internet Society in 1996, our committee was formed originally as the International Ad Hoc Committee to undertake a restructuring of the generic top level domains of the Internet. Some of us were fortunate enough to have known him for many years; others came to know him as an inspiring and legendary figure who provided wise counsel, mixed with humor and friendship, as we struggled to bring consensus to a subject that generated no small amount of controversy. Dr. Postel not only led us through the engineering thickets. He also quickly realized that the explosive growth of the Internet had brought in legal and political concerns that would radically change the way the Internet had operated in its first 25 years. In an astonishingly short time, he absorbed a crash course in intellectual property law, and was able to point the way to an entirely new foundation for the administration of the net. We had no quarrel with the description, by the Economist Magazine, of Jon's role in the Internet - god. Characteristically selfless, he never took such statements seriously.

We share the sorrow of all involved with the Internet, and we extend our deepest sympathy to his family and colleagues.

The Policy Oversight Committee

www.consult

Condolences from staff at www.consult and ramin.404

Engº Silvio Almada DIRECTOR
DIRECÇÃO DE TECNOLOGIA INTERNET

É com muita tristeza que acabo de receber esta noticia pessoalmente admiro este grande homem por tudo que fez em prol da Internet. Seu desaparecimento fisico constitui uma perdida inreparalvel. Para sempre viveras nas nossas memorias sempre que abrirmos uma pagina na Net estas presente.
---------

t is with much sadness that I finish to receive this news personally I admire this great man for whom it made in favor of the Internet. Its fisico disappearance constitutes lost inreparalvel. Forever you live in our memorias always that to open a pagina in the Net this gift.

Duncan Richards, France

A "recent" comer to Internet and to ISOC, I never had the privilege to meet Jon Postel.
However, I was (am) aware of all that he acheived for Internet - and therefore for me, a user.

So, bye Jon, see you somewhere in cyber-heaven (if they'll have me!).

Ken Friedman, Ph.D.
Department of Knowledge Management
Oslo, Norway
(in an e-mail response to Prof. Farber)

Dear Prof. Farber,

Thank you for your words on Jon Postel.

I came to Internet too late to know many of the giants personally, and technical issues mystify me as much as social issues fascinate me. Still, I remain gratefully aware of what a number of dedicated, service oriented human beings have built.

When I read a tribute such as yours, I feel ever more intensely how human ingenuity and passion gave rise to the projects that make such a difference to the way I live and work today. I did not know Jon Postel, but I share with you a sense of gratitude for his work and an appreciation for his contribution.

Thank you.

Alvaro Fdez. Lago
Hospital Xeral de Vigo, Spain

I only wish to express my sincere condolences and mourning by the death of Jon Postel.

He was that sincere and human-powered force that boosted the Internet to what´s today. He will be from now in our lives.

Descanse en paz.

ReindeR, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

I just finished reading 'When Wizards Stay Up Late' last week where I first read about Jon Postel.

Today I read that he is longer out there. Too bad.

Rahmat M.Samik-Ibrahim VLSM-TJT

Hello (I even owe the "Hello" greeting from Jon):

Somehow, on October 17, I was in the mood to scrutinize the whole RFC archive. Then, I selected about 100 RFCs that (IMHO) are interesting as well as not so technical.

The result is at http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Lab/1491/in-rfc1.html and it is dedicated to Jon Postel.

Renzo Toma, Veronica Internet

People with a vision..will never be forgotten. My condolences,

Michiel Boland

Jon is gone; the 'net won't be the same without him.

Fred Eisner, Dutch Internet Service Providers

Jon . .

we liked you,
we admired your work,
we grieve your death

Ron Snijder | Worldwide Internet Services Holland B.V.

On behalf of all the personnel of WISH, i hereby give my condolences to the family, friends and those who knew Dr. Jonathan B. Postel.

B.Biedermann

The Internet has lost a person, who has done a great job to develope the internet. We hope that his work gives others the vision to continue the developement of the intenet.

Robert Bouwhuis

In Geneva, during the ISOC conference, I had the chance of talking to Jon Postel. His energy, wit and ongoing ambition impressed me deeply. I will remember him.

Torbjørn Solstad, Internet Innherred

Condolences on this sad occation.

Theo Nii Okai, Snr. SCADA Engineer, VRA, Ghana

Dr. Postel was one selfless individual who devoted a greater part of his life for the common good.

He will be sourly missed.

Miguel A. Sanz, Madrid SPAIN

I´m deeply impressed by Jon's death. The Internet community at large is in ethernal debt with him. His huge contribution deserves to be universally recognised.

Carlo Seddaiu

My sincere condolances.

Anthony

A most unexpected and unpleasant surprise, and a staggering loss for the computing world and society at large.

The only consolation I can think of is that, if there is any way to set up communication between this world and the afterlife, Jon will surely be the one to figure out how to do it!

Peter H. Salus

I would like to add my words to those expressing their condolences on Jon Postel's death. Over the years, Jon has been unfailingly helpful, sending me copies of early RFCs, IENs, etc. He also made several important critical emendata to my Casting the Net, and to other works.

The entire networking community has suffered a major loss.

Gordon Howell, Managing Director, Internet Business Services Consulting

Jon's tragic death and selfless life were an inspiration to us all, and a personal hero of mine.

We can best honour him by understanding the work he did and its importance, and using his death if necessary to raise awareness of the importance of proper and rational governance of the Internet and the work of ISOC, IANA and others.

Thank you Jon for providing such a shining example for all of us to follow and attempt to emulate.

Karen Metivier-Carreiro, Public Policy Ph.D. Candidate, Science & Technology field, The George Washington University

I met Jon Postel what seems like a lifetime ago. His entire being made such an impact on me. His job -- no, his passion -- was so selfless and sustaining. He challenged me to think in entirely different perspectives. Thank you, Jon, for your inspiration. Know that your example set in motion the career paths of many future scientists -- including this one.

Hamdi Tounsi

toutes mes condoléences à la famille de Mr Postel et aux internautes Je n'ai jamais connu Mr Postel personellement, néaumoins, j'ai été profondément touché par sa disparition. L'internet représente une fraction importante de mon monde à moi, d'où l'intérêt particulier que j'ai ressenti pour le rôle qu'a joué cet homme dans l'élaboration de cette "chose" fantastique qu'on appelle aujourd'hui : "internet" Mr. Jonathan Postel, repose en paie, les génération futures ne t'oublierons jamais.
-----------

All my condoléences with the family of Mr. Postel and the Net surfers I never knew Mr. Postel personellement, néaumoins, I was deeply touched by his disappearance. The Internet represents a significant fraction of my world to me,
from where the particular interest that I felt for the role that played this man in the development of this fantastic " thing " which one calls today: " Internet " Mr. Jonathan Postel, rests in pay, the generation future will never forget you.

Doug Humphrey, Founder/CEO/CTO - Digex, Founder/CEO - SkyCache, inc.

Sad to see you go, you contributed so much, the net was your mission. You will live on in the RFCs - a measure of immortality assured! Thanks for all that you did in the beginning, when there was no glory in it, when it was simply "the right thing" to do. The net was your family, and it morns your passing now, and thinks of you, remembers you, honors you.

Toni Alatalo


"What if Jon Postel dies?"

was a question someone asked as a serious joke during the DNS talk in ISOC Inet'97. The meeting in Malaysia was my first meet contact with ISOC - the Internet people and pioneers it brings together.

After the conference I returned back home to Oulu in the North of Finland full of belief, new enthusiasm and will to continue working with the Internet. Much of that was thanks to the warm atmosphere I had felt in Kuala Lumpur - and obviously I don't mean the tropical climate here. I have a picture of Vint Cerf dancing! <URL:http://www.netppl.fi/~antont/inet97/inet/vintdance.jpg>

Trying to cover the costs of the inet-holiday I had to write about it. One main theme was DNS and the governmental/political issues it had brought up. Browsing my notes I came across a sentence:
"What if Jon Postel dies?" and remembered the discussion. That became the leading theme and the title for the article in the Helsingin Sanomat web-publishment. The answer was yet unclear but has been coming closer to solution since, as you all know. In the end of the article I wrote how important (and fun!) it was that "the old-beards" like Jon, who started it all, were still actively taking care of the net.

Vint told us many different sides of Jon - many that I didn't know from before (I wish I had). Right now I feel really mixed about all this. It is a day of sorrow but not desperation. His work and person will be remembered. For me he was the first contact, helping to understand.

Cassady Kent

I didn't know him personally but what an extraordinary man he must have been. And a miracle that modern medicine, his surgery in 1991, allowed him to finish what he had begun almost thirty years ago. His achievement is a challenge to each of us--reminding us how much of a difference one man can make--and the shock of his death reminds us that we're all in this together.

For good or ill, the world we inhabit is created by women and men of Jon Postel's stature, but science has not conquered nature yet, and never will.

Dave Pascoe

I was so saddened to hear of the passing of Jon Postel. I've been involved in the Internet community for some time now and Jon served as one of my role models. I read intently all of Jon's postings and communications, and tried to learn from him. He was a true icon in the Internet world, and a true hero as well.

The world will miss a true contributor. And I will miss one of my role models....there are few enough of them to go around, and I really feel a sense of loss.

Internet Texoma

Internet Texoma joins the rest of the Internet community in mourning the death of Dr. Jon Postel.

Our condolences to Dr. Postel's family and friends.

Jerry Huang IBM Global Services, Network Services

Please pass on my sincere condolence as you do thousands upon thousands others. The Internet would never have become what it is today without him, his work, his care. Although I have never had the chance to meet him face to face, millions like me learned and benefited enormously from reading his work.

As the Chinese proverb goes: Those who are devine don't live long.

Manuela Profili

Chiedo scusa se scrivo in italiano, ma riesco ad esprimere meglio i miei sentimenti. Spero che qualcuno arrivi a capire.

Ho conosciuto il signor Jon Postel a Ginevra lo scorso mese di Luglio. Con alcuni colleghi (Massimiliano Porta e Maurizio Gotta) abbiamo parlato con lui a lungo su questioni relative all'assegnazione dei domini. Abbiamo avuto tutti l'impressione che Jon Postel fosse un grande personaggio con una forte personalità.

A nome dell'Associazione Padania in Europa, della Lega Nord e a titolo personale e dei miei colleghi Maurizio Gotta e Massimiliano Porta esprimo le più vive condoglianze alla famiglia, ai suoi amici e a tutta l'Internet Society.
--------
I ask excuse if I write in Italian, but succeed to express my feelings better. I hope that someone succeeds in to understand.

I have known Mr. Jon Postel to Geneva the slid month of July. With some colleagues (Massimiliano Porta and Maurizio Gotta) we have spoken with he to along on relative issues to the allocation of the dominions. We have had all the impression that Jon Postel was a great personage with one strongly personality.

To name of the Padania Association in Europe, of the Alloy for a reason or purpose personal North and and of my colleagues Maurizio Gotta and Massimiliano Door I express the alive condolences to the family, its friends and all the Internet Society.

Mark Leighton, Fisher Thomson Consumer Electronics

My job has involved Internet protocols for 6 years now, and I quickly realized from reading RFCs that Mr. Postel was one of the guiding lights of the Internet. His presence will surely be missed.

Valentin Lacambre. (french isp)

John Postel is immortal.

John postel is and will remain in my heart.

Merce Molist

We loved you

You were authentic, incorruptible, a really cyberbrother

You will never die in our electric minds

M&M

Angela Garcia Cabrera, The Canary Islands of Spain

My deepest sympathy for the death of Jon Postel, great human being and great professional who contributed, with his knowledge, to make this world a little bit more human by means of helping create instruments of communications such as the INTERNET SOCIETY.

Dick Thoolen

I do not know you personally but there are some good people mourning now so I mourn with them.

Craig Simon

As an observer of global Internet administration I became an observer of Jon Postel. Though I didn't know him well, it was easy to recognize that he was a talented, dedicated, and highly principled person.

Something that I greatly admired and will always remember about him was his wonderfully succinct manner while making presentations at IETF meetings. He was a master at delivering his points neatly and effectively, line by line, in a straightforward low key. I came to believe that he epitomized the standard to which the other IETF members aspired. His audiences were very appreciative, of course.

Those presentations over many years were just one aspect of Jon Postel's interaction with his peer group, the Internet engineering community. It seems to me that those were among the times when he was living at his fullest capacity, doing what he most wanted and most enjoyed... contributing an intelligent mind, steady hands, and a devoted heart to the stable growth of the Internet.

Sam Lanfranco

Small Memories of Jon

I am one of the many who dealt with Jon solely over the internet. There was a disagreement on how the high level domain name had been reassigned in a particular country. Neither party, the old owners or the new, was wholly right or wholly wrong. The same held for the parties to the ensuing debate. The major outcome from the disagreement, and the discussion, was a deeper understanding of the need for good internet governance. When it was over Jon had said little but clearly listened with care.

I last saw him at the ISOC meetings this summer in Geneva. The session was debating the upcoming internet governance changes. Jon said little but said it with care. His presence will be missed by more than just his friends, but his presence will remain as a permanent part of the fabric of internet governance. Adios....

Greg Bailey | ATHENA Programming, Inc

When I undertook the task of implementing the TCP/IP protocols seven years ago, I expected to encounter a dauntingly complex, chaotic, nondeterministic mess. My relief after obtaining and reading the central documentation was extreme. Consistency and simplicity were not what I'd come to expect of committee
efforts.

I deeply respect the success with which Jon, as central curmudgeon and gatekeeper, and most likely against all odds, has managed to maintain these properties of consistency and simplicity. Personally I respect the courtesy with which Jon interacted with bozos such as myself whom he'd never met and never would.

For your good work that has made working with TCP/IP a pleasure, thank you, Jon. May God give us someone *almost* as good to continue your task of discriminating between wheat and chaff

Bill Slater, Member of the Internet Society Chicago

Dear Fellow Internet Society Members:

I, too, am very saddened by the loss one of our founding fathers of the Internet and the Internet Society. I didn't know Jon personally, but I revered him for his contributions and his intellect. However I feel better knowing that our world and the Internet is much richer and further along because of Jon's vision and his hard work, among others who helped design and build the Internet.

Earlier this year, I included Jon and his work in IANA in my Intro to Internet class located at http://slatertech.com/class/internet. And I put up a Jon Postel Memorial Page this weekend at http://billslater.com/wfs_postel.htm.

I suppose that God Almighty was in need of an Internet Architect in Heaven and thought Jon was available. So Jon will be working on the Internet in Heaven, I guess.

God bless those close to Jon in your time of loss. We are grieving with you and lifting you up in our prayers.

Peter Peters, Enschede, Holland

Internet has lost a great person.

Met vriendelijke groet

Richard J. Sexton, Maitland House, Bannockburn, Ontario, Canada

As my car club friends meet on the California coast, and my fellow aquarists prepare for winter, we mourn the passing of Dr. Jonathan B. Postel, or as the net knows him, simply "Jon". An unsung hero who hid from the limelight, Jon has been performing Yoemans duty on and for the net for as long as it has been around and has contributed more than any one person to it's overall development.

The net has lost it's father.

As we go about the persuit of our interests, we should reflect on how our lives have changed, and how we are now doing things as part of our daily lives that would not have happened without the Internet, and as a result of the coordination of millions of computers around the globe, and think for a moment about one man helped get us here.

His untimely passing comes as a shock and a painful loss and will never be forgotten.

Kelly Talcott, Pennie & Edmonds LLP

I never had the privilege of meeting Jon Postel, but grew to respect his work as I began to explore and learn about how the Internet functions. I believe the world has lost one of its great treasures: a man of great intellect and integrity, who devoted himself to what he believed in. One measure of his life is the great void that remains in his absence. Is it too much to expect that those who will follow in Dr. Postel's footsteps will strive to emulate his technical rigor and concern for the
commonweal? I hope not.

I offer my sincere condolences to Dr. Postel's family.

Besim Karadeniz, Pforzheim/GER

Jon,

wir werden es nie verstehen, aber

jeder Domain-Name,
jede IP-Adresse,
jedes Protokoll,
jeder Router,
jedes Kabel,

wird deinen Geist und Kreativitaet heraus in unsere Welt tragen - fuer immer.
-------
Jon,

we will never understand it, but

every domain-name,
every ip-address,
every protocol,
every router,
every cable,

will carry your spirit and creativity out into our world - for ever.

Urs Zuber

When I saw the first time a picture of Jon Postel I felt immediately the warmth of this person ...

And so I would like to say goodbye to a very wise man who has left us ... too early ... but his dreams and works will go on ...

Ron Fitzherbert

I was only able to exchange a few brief emails with Jon, and I had always looked forward to the day in which I could meet him in person.

However, I have always felt as if I had already met him. Jon Postel was one of the first names I heard mentioned back when I first started using the Internet, and everywhere one goes you can see his work and feel his presence.

I thank you for what you have given to the world -- you, and your gift to us shall not be forgotten.

Tony Rutkowski

ring the course of life, we all interact with people in different ways - affecting and being affected. Sometimes profoundly. Other times in quiet and subtle ways.

Jon was the latter, for he was perhaps above all else, a gentle and unassuming person. Yet he clearly had creative ideas, strong views and an intent to play a major role in matters that interested him and for which he was responsible, yet do it in a minimally adverse way. It was this combination of equitable resolve, thoughtfulness, hard work and disdain for flamboyance that were his hallmark.

Those strong views clearly included some 60s values such as taking people what they are, rather than how they appear; in a belief that work should be fun; in a resolve to change the world in some measure through open network technologies; in a dislike of bureaucracy; and avoidance of confrontation. It's a nice legacy and model for us all.

One has this feeling that we'll meet him one of these days in the High Sierras with a nod and a soft "hello."

Yannis Konstantopoulos

Thanks for changing the world! We'll miss you.

Mark Jacobs, Stratix

Sincere greetings to a man who scouts before us this final domain, where we all once belong to, and nevertheless it has no authority to assign in the cyberspace we know.

Mike Knell, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Nottingham, UK

I'm from what could be described as the "new generation" of Internet users, so my perspective may be a little different to those whose memories of Dr. Postel are more personal. Like most Internet users these days, I never met (or, indeed, spoke to) Jon, but still feel a great debt of gratitude, as his name was on virtually every RFC I read or referred to when I was teaching myself about the Internet as a student in the early 1990s. Virtually everywhere you turn in the mounds of RFCs and the rest of the Internet's technical background, you find his name, generally in connection with administrative work like assigned numbers, the kind of work which, though unglamourous and not usually a source of great praise or reward from the masses, holds an entity like the Internet together, maintaining order over the underlying chaos. This is thankless, albeit critical work, but again and again, you find Jon's name there, quietly registering and maintaining and editing all those critical names and numbers and RFCs that make the networked world go round.

This is why I knew, upon hearing the news, that the Internet community, although most of them may not know it, have lost someone without whom we would not have the Internet as we know it today. He leaves the greatest of legacies behind him.

Greg Finn

I have had the pleasure of working for Jon Postel for nearly twenty years. Jon was a very private individual, but he was also avuncular.Pleasant to virtually anyone who he came into contact with, willing both to encourage and to advise.

Jon was a reliable constant in a changing world, a 60's radical who still looked it, still fighting the good fight. What was the early networking community anyway, if it wasn't a commune? He was also a brilliant researcher with an encyclopedic mind concerning all things packet.

It was distressing to see Jon involved the hurly burly that seems to have characterized much of the last year or two. It can't have been comfortable for him. But as one of the Internet's parents he felt a keen responsibility to see that the net reached its adulthood healthy and strong. That is quite an epitaph.

To call Jon laid back is truly an understatement. To have succeeded in visibly irritating him was a perverse accomplishment. But Jon did have one button that you just plain didn't want to push: The one labeled 'reliable datagram'. Push it and you risked an immediate charge of heresy.

So in future, as you sit in a quiet corner, reflecting on the Internet and its history, generate a few datagrams, attach a sequence number and send them Jon's way. One of them is bound to get there.

David Fiedler, Editor-in-Chief, WebDeveloper.com®

Anyone who has an IP address or who has ever read an RFC owes a debt to Jon Postel. He will be greatly missed!

Laurent Kochenburger Jr

Tthanks for internet....and I'm with your family.......for the tuff and last act.

Emad Fanous

You will be missed by many. You have done so much for all of us without our knowledge. I know you're in a better place now.

To Jon's family: My deepest condolences to you. I understand this must be a great loss as I have known the man and know how good-natured he was.

Leonard Kleinrock, Professor, Computer Science Department, UCLA

I would like to express my deep sadness over Jon's passing. You may know that I was Jon's supervisor at UCLA when he first began to work on the ARPANET project that I led. I joined the faculty of UCLA in 1963 and became the ARPA Principal Investigator in April 1969 at which time I hired Jon along with Steve Crocker, Vint Cerf and Charley Kline, as my key programming team on what was to become the Internet. Jon's key contributions to our work during those critical formative days of the ARPANET is largely unrecognized. As we broke new ground at the birthplace of the Internet in 1969, I remember Jon as a deeply dedicated, brilliant young programmer on our team. It was a frontier at that time, and Jon was truly a pioneer with a vision. Jon's dedication to the growth and health of the Internet continued from those heady times throughout the rest of his life. And for this, he sought neither recognition nor praise. Jon's passing is a tragic loss which will be felt by all those whose lives have been touched by the Internet, but especially by those of us who traveled
the road with this quiet gentle man these many many years.

Jonathan Berman, Halberstam Elias & Co, Solicitors, London England

As a lawyer, presenter and writer on Internet issues I always used to say about John Postel that if God was on the Internet, he would look like John Postel. The Internet itself and and a rationale restructuring of the Domain Name system will be a living memorial to a great man.

Morgan Fairlamb, Denver, Colorado

I would like to add my condolences. Even though newer, 1989, I acknowledge the loss to our community. Jon Postel will not be forgotten.

Bobby Nazief, Computer Science Center, University of Indonesia

Thank you Jon for making it possible for us to share information and more via this Internet that you have helped to design & maintain.

Hamish MacEwan

It's not often the end of a man is the end of an era, but I think in Jon's case this may well be true. I never had the privilege of meeting, seeing or speaking with him, but I know that my life, every single day, owes an unimaginable debt to him and the selfless dedication that he always, and the Internet once, represented.

I guess he must have had a sense of humour, how else to explain RFC1300, or the irony of Postel the author of RFC821 (Simple Mail Transport Protocol)?

Goodbye Jon, and thanks so very very much.

Adailton Silva, Brazilian Research Network, Campinas - São Paulo - Brasil

Some times ago I had the oportunnity and the hapiness to know Jon at Munich and Washington IETF meetings. Now we have a lamentable news about his death. He is gone, but he is here, in everywhere in the worldwide Internet.

I would like to express my sincere condolences.

Per Weisteen

I can still remember, having read my first article describing ARPANET and Internet, this strange feeling I had of having discovered a hidden treasure, something very important, something I knew was the "right way".

This was back in 1987. I had majored in CS at University of Oslo on ISO/OSI protocols some years ago and was working as a consultant for a large Norwegian company at that time. They were struggling trying to get an IBM mainframe running VM/CMS and a DEC/VAX system running VMS to communicate. The suggestions from different sales personell and technical support from DEC and IBM were as noumerous as they were expensive and of course based on incompatible DECNET or SNA protocols. The article I had read also described a software package written by
University of Wisconsin implementing TCP/IP on an IBM mainframe running VM/CMS.

So my suggestion was that we try using this TCP/IP protocol. The software was almost free and that it might be worth a try. Since the project didn't have a high profile I was given a go - to the dismay of IBM and DEC salespersonell. Working with an IBM system engineer we were able to get hold of a special Ethernet interface called 8282 and had
that box imported to IBM Norway under the pretence of needing a test lab. At the same time I discovered an Australian company called Wollongong that made TCP/IP software for VAX/VMS and got hold of a test version of their package. Remember that this was several years before U*X were considered appropriate within large corporations. As you might
have guessed - the project was successful.

A couple of years later the company were connected to the Net as the first Norwegian company under .com. The number of hosts on the net at that time were about 90,000 and the rest is history.

Those IBM and DEC systems are long gone, replaced by U*X systems and others - but the small flame that was lit by the ideas and work of Jon Postel and his likes has blazed across the industry and the rest of the society. Internet has become the Information Infrastructure on which we all depend, it has given us an open global society in which our children shall learn to live together in peace.

Thanks Jon.

Hajime Ozaki, Kyodo News New York

I do not have a word to express my gravest sorrow. I made a telephone interview to Mr. Postel in July, regarding the
internet address issue. He was very kind and helpful, and I was very much impressed that a person who was called "a GOD" could be that kind.

I sent a obituary story through my channel (Kyodo News), and that article was carried on to most of major Japanese newspapers. I only wish his soul rest in peace.

Mike Todd, Internet Society Los Angeles Chapter

Jon Postel has given us a living example of how a global community is developed and maintained.

Representing the newest Chapter of the Internet Society, and from Jon's "back yard", we offer our greatest condolences and show our respect for Jon by making a commitment to continue our development in the spirit of the net that Jon spent the greatest part of his life building. He has shown us all the many ways we may ensure that the Internet continues to grow and improve while remaining public and neutral.

The greatest compliment we can all pay Jon is to continue to support his vision of an Internet that is accessible by all.

Let's do!

Dennis de Poorter, Philips International B.V.

I wish, especially all directly related to Jon, lots of strength for the period to come.

Tom Verkerk

Thanks Jon, for being a pioneer in developing and creating a new way of life, in which we hope brotherhood will get a real global impact.

Johan Eriksson

I would like to add to the list of people expressing their sorrow at the news of Jon Postel´s passing. I never knew him, and I had hardly ever heard of him until Slashdot posted an article about his demise. All I (vaguely) knew was that he was one of those dedicated people who kept the Internet going, so that I could send my email, publish my homepage and
download my Linux... Now I know that if not for Jon Postel, the Net I know and love may not have come to be at all. He was a truly grand Engineer, and as I am currently studying to one day become an engineer myself, I will always remember Jon Postel as an example of good engineering sense and human compassion.

Farewell, Jon Postel. May you rest in peace.

John Robert BEHRMAN

In this world of vanity and greed, Jon has been a true aristocrat, a champion of shared craft rather than monopoly power.

Ave atque Vale

David Borman

I can't imagine what today must be like at ISI. I'm sure that Jon leaves a large void that will not be easily filled, if ever. Though I've not had much direct contact with Jon over the years, I do feel privilaged to have known him. It's always been reassuring to me to know that in his own quite, skilled way he was gently helping to guide so much of the development of the Internet. I'll miss that very much.

Please pass on my condolences to the rest of his friends and family.

Jodi-Ann Ito and Susan Calcari

Susan, thanks for sharing your thoughts with us... I was out of email contact this weekend as I was transitting back from a conference in Florida.... I was so very shocked and stunned to read of Jon's passing in the Sunday SF Examiner/Chronicle as I was waiting for my flight. All I could think of was how unfair life is sometimes.... that we've lost a very unique and special person... and what a difference he made in our world and in all of our lives! He was the epitome of diplomacy and reason
and was someone that the Internet community trusted to be fair and equitable. He will truly be missed but his lifelong efforts and
contributions will always be remembered.

Thanks again for providing an opportunity for me to share my sentiments....

-jodi

On Mon, 19 Oct 1998, Susan Calcari wrote:

I don't know why I'm forwarding this to you all, since I know you've seen it. I guess I just need to post my own brief eulogy someplace where folks that knew him will see it. It seems we've evolved and Internet-style of mourning.

Klaus Birkenbihl, German Chapter of the Internet Society

The German Chapter of the Internet Society and myself mourn the death of Jon Postel. We all shall remember him gratefully for
everything he did for the Internet.

Too sad that we have to use it today to express our condolences together with the whole Internet community. But good
that we have Internet to do so.

Thanks Jon!

Richard Shu

Many of you already know this but I thought I'd post it for those who don't.

I heard on NPR that Jon Postel died today after undergoing heart surgery.

Most Internet users probably never heard of him and most will probably never even know that he has passed away.

I never met Jon nor do I know a lot about him. What I do know is that he made a great contribution to the growth of the Internet.

For whatever differences people may have had with his stance on domain name policy, I think we owe him a great debt of gratitude for shepherding the DNS system to this stage.

Carole Sumler

Please add my condolences to your list. I was one of his assistants at ISI for some years, sitting in the office next to his on the 11th floor. We shared camping stories, unique toy catalogs and jokes and kept in email touch after I moved on. I will miss him very much.

Jonathan M. Smith

A shame and I'm sad

Thalia Tsalkitzi, Individual member

I am very sorry of the sudden death of our first individual member, Jon Postel. Let's hope that all of us we keep on the good working just like Jon wanted to be that way.

Francisco Cesteros, HTC Miami - President & CEO

Please note that I am very surprised and in a deep sadness knowing the notice you reported us. Take a note from Spain to help wisdom and knowledge of the labor John gave us.

Cathy Petersen

I'm sorry I had never heard of Mr. Postel until this morning. I have always wondered who the group of people were that got the internet started. I have been using the internet since the late 80's and I don't know what I would do without it.

What I like most about the internet is the encouragement of free information, the sharing of ideas and the amazing reality - it's brought about a new kind of giving. A world wide giving! I receive a constant stream of free ideas, free software, free solutions from people I have never met from countries I have never seen. In a time when the world outside the internet feels so much like a fight for who can get the most material wealth and who can keep it, I am amazed by those individuals who have given so much
of themselves. The internet has always been an amazing sign of hope for me because people continue to give of themselves unconditionally. I know it's got it's share of material people, but it still comes from a place of freedom, kindness and giving. It only started this way because of the vision of the people who started it. And continued to hold that base because of their strength. After reading about Mr. Postel I want to thank him, his family and co-creators for the hope!

Paul Mansfield

I and my colleagues all depend or our livelihoods on the legacy of Jon Postel and his colleagues.

Never have so many people had their lives touched directly and indirectly by one person, and those born after his passing will probably be unable to comprehend what the world would be like if his work had never existed. Can you imagine a world without radio or television? One day the Internet will be seen just as much an intrinsic part of life, and perhaps Jon will be remembered as a pioneer just as much as Marconi!

The world is a lesser place for his passing. We need people of his stature, respectibility and credibility; history has shown that inspired individuals like Jon can play a key role in pivotal change in society for the better.

Jon cannot be replaced, despite his own efforts, and will not be forgotten.

Javier SOLA, Spanish Internet Users Association

The Spanish Internet Users Association joins the Internet Community in mourning Jon's death.

We will continue working on the success of the model that he created.

Tsuyoshi_Hayashi

Dear RFC-Editor,

I think your all jobs are splendid. Especially at RFCs and Domain name region.

You ware very big,
but I am very very little.
So, although I might be able to do only a small job,
I will do my best
for you, for the Internet community, for me self.

BTW,
How about a new gTLD name ".heaven" for your place?
If it will be created,
your *new* e-mail address will become postel@inet.heaven?
Please tell us your hope via e-mail.
Probably, any address will be acceptable. ;-)

Thank you very much for your many jobs.

# And, sorry if my poor English.

Tsuyoshi Hayashi, Maintainer of RFCJ, a web site for collecting/redistributing Japanese-translated-version of RFC

Ramateu 'Lefty' Monyokolo, Manager: Telecentre Project, Universal Service Agency: South Africa

Please accept my condelences on behalf of the Jonathan Postel's family. A person of his calibre has obviously left a hallow gap in this industry. One only hopes that we will build from where he left.

May His Soul Rest In Peace!

Joseph Bannister, Associate Director, Computer Networks Division, University of Southern California Information Sciences Institute

I will miss my friend Jon very much. Besides his insight, gentleness, and humor, I always remember his twinkling eyes, so full of intelligence and mischief.

When I think of Jon, there's nothing that sums up his life more succinctly than his oft-quoted maxim: "Be conservative in what you do, be liberal in what you accept from others."

Mark Laubach

I deeply mourn the loss of Jon. Over the past decade+ I've had the opportunity to interact with Jon both one-on-one and in groups. I've always respected his insight, wisdom, and manner of expressing things. He did so much for us all. I will miss him.

Hans Schnauber

Dr. Jon Postel:

Thanks for helping to shape the future for everyone. You may have left us in bodily form, but your creativity and insight will stay with us forever. Until we meet again - THANKS!

David Rhodes, City of Los Angeles - Information Technology Agency, Internet Society - Los Angeles Chapter

The face that linked a million networks and spurned everyone's imagination, it is said "a picture is worth a thousand words".
In Mr. Postels' case an under-estimate. Farewell to a friend of the of the world.

John W. Noerenberg

As so many were, I was deeply saddened by Jon's death. Particularly so, because I never took the time to get to know him personally, I knew him only through is work.

No, that's not true. I knew him through the dedication, commitment and careful work he inspired in others throughout the IETF. The Internet is a new land, sculpted from the ideas of many. But Jon's hands on the chisel have been ever-present, moving with confidence, and artful beyond measure. It is a land whose shape will thankfully bear his mark for many, many years. His technical work is substantial and a considerable monument to his brilliance as an engineer.

But a greater monument is his stature as a man of principle, as an inspiration to all who strive to make the Internet a place that welcomes every person, his selfless passion to call forth what is best in each of us, and as a quiet man who let his work speak for him.

Thank you, Jon. May we always keep the flame of your passion alive in our hearts.

Thomas Mullaney

Thank you, my friend, for designing, building and supporting something so larger than life that has touched so many people in such a postive way and helped bring our planet together.

You will be missed by all, you were truly a great man. I wish your family, friends and co-workers love, support and comfort.

Dinesh Nair, Director of Research & Development, WorldCare Health (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd

goodbye jon !

this is a farewell note to the man without whom this note itself would not have been possible. so long jon and my heartfelt gratitude to a man who has made the internet possible as well as brought enjoyment and technical challenge to so many of us.

Thomas Mullaney

Thank you, my friend, for designing, building and supporting something so larger than life that has touched so many people in such a postive way and helped bring our planet together.

You will be missed by all, you were truly a great man. I wish your family, friends and co-workers love, support and comfort.

Erik Huizer,IAB and Internet Society Nederland

In memoriam: Jon Postel

Trefwoorden: Internet, IANA, Jon Postel

De Internetgemeenschap rouwt, afgelopen zaterdag is Jonathan B. Postel op 55-jarige lijftijd aan de gevolgen van een hartoperatie overleden. Eerder dit jaar bestempelde De Economist in een artikel Jon Postel nog als 'God on the Internet'.

Jon Postel heeft er - zolang het Internet bestaat - voor gezorgd dat alle Internet parameters (adressen, namen, en andere protocolparamters) keurig werden geregistreerd en dat ze wereldwijd uniek bleven. Jon Postel was ook verantwoordelijk voor de RFC's, waarin de technologie van het Internet wordt beschreven en gedocumenteerd.

In de vele discussies over de opvolging van de IANA, waar Jon Postel de scepter zwaaide, was hij de afgelopen maanden vaak het lijdend voorwerp. Jon's dood komt dan ook op een kritiek moment. Amper twee weken geleden presenteerde hij zijn plan voor de opvolger van de IANA, de ICANN (persbericht).

Jon Postel was het eerste lid van de Internet Society. Tijdens het laatste congres van de Internet Society in Geneve afgelopen juli, ontving hij de Zilveren Medaille van de Internationale Telecommunicatie Unie, een onderscheiding die normaliter alleen wordt uitgereikt aan staatshoofden. 'Niemand kwam die onderscheiding meer toe dan Jon', aldus Vint Cerf. Als voorzitter van de Internet Society heeft Vint Cerf alvast de instelling van de Jonathan B. Postel Service Award aangekondigd.

We mogen en zullen Jon Postel nooit vergeten.

Namens het hoofdbestuur van de Internet Society Vint Cerf en namens het bestuur van

------

I guess you know by now that Jon Postel, Mister Internet, has died. I was informed last week by telephone that he was in hospital and had undergone hart surgery, but as i was unable to picture an Internet without Jon, I did not worry. Now I logged on and learned that he has passed away last Friday. I cry, dry my tears, and in a spur write down a Dutch in memoriam, this is the approximate translation, done at a time when my emotions were back under control.

The man who made sure that all Internet parameters (addresses, names and protocol parameters) were registered and assigned in a globally unique way is gone. The man who, as Editor, took care of all RFCs, that describe and document the technological development of the Internet, is gone. The man who, more than any other human being, has made the Internet what it is today is gone.

Two months ago we worked together during the IETF week on the establishment of a new organization that would take over from "his" IANA. In Chicago we had meetings, we brainstormed, we drank, we ate en we laughed. He was optimistic about what the future would bring, and wanted to take part in the new IANA (ICANN), but not in the policy making part.

During the discussions about the new IANA in the last two years Jon has been called selfish and "out for his own glory" by some misinformed and people. The biggest insult was that some people claimed he wanted to take the power over the Internet. Anyone who knows Jon, knows that that is pure nonsense. Jon's primary goal was the good of the whole Internet, he was not interested in power.

Always on sandals and with his grey ponytail Jon was respected and valued by the Internet operational and technical community. He did not care that several of his former colleagues with whom he developed the IP-protocol and other parts of the Internet have become rich and famous. He was happy with his job at ISI in Marina del Rey. As IANA and RFC editor he felt like a fish in water, completely at ease.

I will miss him. He was more than a colleague, more than a fellow IAB-member, he was a friend. My sympathies go to his family and to the people who worked closely with him. Especially to Joyce Reynolds who was his close associate for a long time.

Last Friday the Internet suffered its biggest loss in its history.

Richard Chang

All I can say is, without him and his work, I would not have the great job I have right now. The world owes its preesnt financial and technological state to him.

Charles Oriez, National Legislative Chair, Association of Information Technology Professionals (formerly DPMA)

We have grown used to and somewhat jaded about the rapid advances in technology in recent years. We sometimes forget that a small group of people had to envision the sea change that leads to everything that comes later. Jon Postel and the rest of the pioneers at UCLA were such a group, and brought us the internet as we know it today. We mourn the loss of a giant this week.

David Williams, Integrator / Developer

I never knew Jon Postel. I have seen his name in RFCs and various other documents on the net. I am 21 years old and I have been using the internet for 5 years now, and making my living from consulting and development for 2 1/2 years. I feel greatly indebted because without people like Jon, the internet wouldn't and couldn't be what it is. From what I have read I am inspired by his ability to get consensus. I hope in the future I am able to give as much to the internet community as Jon did.

I add 2 verses from a song by Brain May (the guitarist from Queen), that I think are particularly appropriate.

---------

I did not know you
Our lives never touched
'Til the say they gathered
To bid you farewell
And they painted your picture
And as I looked around
I felt I saw you
In the words and the sound

Your talent came flowing
Through the stories they tell
And through the the faces
Of those who loved you so well
Your life gave them a treasure
A piece of themselves
Something to carry
And still serves them well

ISOC Nigeria Chapter, The Executive Committee

Dear Vint,

on my and all other ISOC Nigeria chapter members' behalf we are sending our true condolences for the sudden death of the Internet pioneer Jon Postel. Even if we don't know him personally, we bear testimony to his high sense of value, principle, integrity and for his inestimable work for the development of Internet.

For this reason the ISOC Nigeria Chapter Executive Council decided to dedicate our Internet Conference ISOC Nigeria 99, that will be hold on 20,21,22 January, 1999 to his memory.

Carol.Long

Words can not express the loss of Jon. I am, however, reminded of Jon in this Taoist philosopher's words:

"True men"...are strong willed, have dignity in their demeanor, serenity in their expression. They are cool like autumn, warm like spring. Their passions arise like the four seasons, in harmony with the ten thousand creatures, and no one knows their limits.

Veni Markovski

Dear Friends,

I've spent the last few days thinking about human nature, the way we live and think. Of course, it all came after the sad and sudden news about Jon Postel.

Sometimes words are not enough to describe our feelings, and I am still wondering if I should continiue writing. On the other hand, there are things which - and I don't know why! - we only share when we have lost someone dear.

I didn't know personally Jon Postel, but I feel guilty for not learning more about him while he was among us. I believe he will be with us until we all join him; watching the Internet grows and developing the way he saw it (and perhaps the way noone else could).

People are strange creatures - we only value other people when we lose them. I am very, very sorry for not being able to value Jon, as the only chances now will be to read what he's written and said.

Vint, what you wrote about him, is very touching. I wish we all knew it before this happened.

Wherever you are, Jon, I hope we won't disappoint you.

Most sincerely,
veni

Ron Johnson, Network Engineer, Enron Communications

Jon, was a person I met only once, and I chided him for a autograph: Imagine my situation. A briefing about the Internet to be given to the CEO of Bechtel corporation and former secretary of state George Shultz. Then to learn that Jon Postel himself was in the entourage. With a quavering note, I began my presentation. Riley Bechtel asked many questions, and Jon came to my assistance. He backed up