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Network Working Group                                           D. CohenRequest for Comments: 2441                                       MyricomCategory: Informational                                    November 1998Working with JonTribute delivered at UCLA, October 30, 1998Status of this Memo   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this   memo is unlimited.Copyright Notice   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1998).  All Rights Reserved.Tribute   In 1973, after doing interactive flight simulation over the ARPAnet,   I joined ISI and applied that experience to interactive speech over   the ARPAnet.   The communication requirements for realtime speech were unique (more   like UDP than like TCP).  This got me involved in the Network Working   Group, and I started another project at ISI called "Internet   Concepts".   In 1977 Steve Crocker, who was then at ISI, told me that Jon was   willing to join us, and that Jon will be a great addition to my   Internet Concepts project.  Steve was right on both accounts.   Jon and I worked together from 1977 until 1993 when I left ISI.   According to ISI's management Jon worked for me for several years,   and I worked for him for several years.  In reality we never worked   for each other (nor for ISI), we always worked together, to advance   the technology that we believed in.  Over most of those 16 years we   had our offices together, and always worked with each other, even   when we worked on totally different projects.   Jon was always most pleasant to work with.  He was most caring both   about the project, and about the individuals on the team.  He was   always full of great intentions and humor.  Jon was always ready for   mischiefs, one way or another.  He was always game to hack something.Cohen                        Informational                      [Page 1]

RFC 2441                    Working with Jon               November 1998   When I worked on the MOSIS project, in 1980, users submitted their   VLSI designs to us by e-mail.  For several defense contractors,   getting access to the ARPAnet was too complex.  We suggested that   they would use a commercial e-mail service, like TELEmail, instead.   Then we had the problem of getting all the e-mail systems to   interoperate, since none of them was willing to interoperate with the   others.  Jon and I solved this problem during one long night of   hacking.  This hack later became the mail-tunnel that provided the   service known as "InterMail", for passing e-mail between various   non-cooperating systems, including systems like MCImail and IEEE's   COMPmail.   I'm sure that Jon was so enthusiastic to work with me on it for two   reasons:      * Such interoperability among heterogeneous e-mail systems        was our religion, with no tolerance for separatism;      * We definitely were not supposed to do it.   Jon hated bureaucracy and silly rules, as Cary Thomas so well   described.  Too bad that we lived in an environment with so many   rules.   We started Los-Nettos without lawyers and without formal contracts.   Handshakes were good enough.  At that time several other regional   networks started around the country.  Most of them were interested in   expansion, in glory, and in fortune.  Jon was interested only in   getting the problem solved.   This was Jon's priority, both at work, and in his life.   I find it funny to read in the papers that Jon was the director of   IANA.  Jon was IANA.  Much more important, Jon was the corporate   memory of the Internet, and also the corporate style and the   technical taste of the Internet.   Jon was an authority without bureaucracy.  No silly rules!  Jon's   authority was not derived from any management structure.  It was due   to his personality, his dedication, deep understanding, and demanding   technical taste and style.   Jon set the standards for both the Internet standards and for the   Internet standardization process.  Jon turned the RFCs into a central   piece of the standardization process.Cohen                        Informational                      [Page 2]

RFC 2441                    Working with Jon               November 1998   One can also read that Jon was the editor of the RFC, and may think   that Jon checked only the grammar or the format of the RFCs.  Nothing   could be further from the truth, not that he did not check it, but in   addition, being the corporate memory, Jon had indicated many times to   authors that earlier work had treated the same subject, and that   their work would be improved by learning about that earlier work.   For the benefits of those in the audience who are either too young or   too old to remember let me recall some recent history:   The Internet protocols (mainly IP, TCP, UDP, FTP, Telnet, FTP, and   even SNMP) were defined and documented in their RFCs.  DoD adopted   them and announced a date by which all of DoD units would have to use   TCP/IP.  They even translatedRFC791 from Jon's English to proper   Militarese.   However, all the other countries (i.e., their governments and PTTs)   in the world joined the ISO wagon, the X.25 based suite of OSI   protocols.  The US government joined them and defined GOSIP. All the   large computer companies (from IBM and DEC down) announced their   future plans to join the GOSIP bandwagon.  DoD totally capitulated   and denounced the "DoD unique protocols" and was seeking ways to   forget all about them, spending million of dollars on GOSIP and   X.500.   Against them, on the Internet side, there was a very small group of   young Davids.  The OSI camp had its prestige, but we had working   systems, a large community of devotees, and properly documented   protocols that allowed integration of the TCP/IP suite into every   UNIX system, such as in every SUN workstation.   Against the strict laws in Europe, their universities developed an   underground of Internet connections.  One could get from California   to the university in Rome, for example, for example, by going first   over the Internet across the US to the east coast, then to the UK,   then using some private lines to France, then to CERN in Switzerland,   and from there to Rome - while breaking the laws of all those   countries with every packet.   Meanwhile, in the states, Academia, and the research communities,   never knew about GOSIP.   The Internet, against all the conventional wisdom, grew without   anyone being in charge, without central control, and without any   central planning.   The war between the ISO and the TCP/IP camps never took place.  One   camp turned out to be a no show.Cohen                        Informational                      [Page 3]

RFC 2441                    Working with Jon               November 1998   What made it all possible was the wise selection of what to   standardize and what not to, and the high quality of the standards in   a series of living documents.   Our foundation and infrastructure of standards was the secret weapon   that won the war.  Jon created it, using the RFC mechanism initiated   by Steve Crocker.  It was Jon who immediately realized their   importance, and the need for someone to act as the curator, and   volunteered.   The lightning speed with which Microsoft joined the Internet was not   possible without the quality of the existing standards that were so   well documented.   During the transition from ARPA, through the NSF, to the commercial   world there was a point in which the trivial funding required for the   smooth operation of editing and distributing the RFCs was in doubt.   At that time the prospect of not having funds to run this operation   was very real.  Finally the problem was solved and the process   suffered no interruption.   What most of the involved agencies and managers did not know is that   there was never a danger of any interruption.  Jon would have done it   even with no external funding.  If they did not pay him to do it, he   would have paid them to let him do it.  For him it was not a job, it   was labor of love.   Jon never joined the PowerPoint generation.  Jon always believed that   the content was the only thing that matters.  Hand written slides   were good enough.  Color and logos were distractions, a necessary   evil in certain occasions, not the style of choice.   Jon defined quality by counting interesting ideas, not points per   inch.   When fancy formatting creeped into the Internet community, Jon   resisted the temptation to allow fancy formats for RFCs.  Instead, he   insisted on them being in ASCII, easy to e-mail, guaranteed to be   readable anywhere in the world.  The instant availability and   usability of RFCs was much more important to him than how fancy they   looked.   The Internet was not just a job for Jon.  It was his hobby and his   mission in life.   We will miss Jon, who was for the Internet its corporate memory, its   corporate style, and its corporate taste.Cohen                        Informational                      [Page 4]

RFC 2441                    Working with Jon               November 1998   I will miss him even more as a colleague and a friend.In Summary:   * Jon was pleasant, fun/funny, and unselfish.     He was full of  mischief, adventure, humor, and caring.     He was devoted to his work, to the Internet, and to the     people who worked with him.   * It was great working together and having neighboring     offices for 16 years.   * Jon set the standards for the Internet standards.   * Jon was the Internet's corporate memory, the corporate taste,     and the corporate style.   * Jon was an authority without bureaucracy.   * Jon was an Internet Missionary.   * Jon was a great friend that I will miss for ever.Security Considerations   Security issues are not relevant to this Tribute.Author's Address   Danny Cohen   Myricom   EMail: cohen@myri.comCohen                        Informational                      [Page 5]

RFC 2441                    Working with Jon               November 1998Full Copyright Statement   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1998).  All Rights Reserved.   This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to   others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it   or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published   and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any   kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are   included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this   document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing   the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other   Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of   developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for   copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be   followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than   English.   The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be   revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.   This document and the information contained herein is provided on an   "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING   TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING   BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF   MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.Cohen                        Informational                      [Page 6]