Jon Postel Quotes

Powerful Jon Postel for Daily Growth

About Jon Postel

Jon Postel (August 18, 1943 – October 15, 1998) was an American computer scientist and engineer, primarily known for his crucial role in the development of the Internet's underlying architecture. Born in Los Angeles, California, Postel showed early aptitude in mathematics and sciences, eventually earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from UCLA in 1965. Postel joined Information Sciences Institute (ISI) at the University of Southern California (USC) in 1965, where he would spend most of his professional life. In 1972, Postel began work on the Network Working Group (NWG), a precursor to the Internet as we know it today. One of his key contributions was the creation of Request for Comments (RFC) documents—informational technical notes that became the foundation for Internet standards development. Postel played an instrumental role in the development of the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP), two critical protocols that form the basis of data transmission across the Internet. Postel's influence extended beyond technical work, as he served as the "editor" of RFC documents, effectively managing the growth and direction of the Internet. Postel's major works include co-authoring RFC 1 (a now-historic document outlining the protocol for the NWG) and RFC 768 (describing the TCP protocol). His most significant contribution, however, may be RFC 791, which details the Internet Protocol (IP), an essential piece of the Internet's infrastructure. Tragically, Postel passed away in 1998 due to complications from a heart condition. His legacy lives on as the Internet continues to evolve, with his work serving as a foundational pillar for modern digital communication.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Be conservative in what you do, be liberal in what you accept from others."

This quote by Jon Postel encourages a balance between cautious action and open-minded acceptance in interactions with others. Being conservative "in what you do" means to approach changes or innovations with caution, ensuring they are necessary and reliable before implementing them. On the other hand, being liberal "in what you accept from others" signifies an inclination towards understanding, tolerance, and acceptance of different ideas, approaches, or contributions, regardless of their origin or source. This approach fosters a collaborative environment that encourages diversity, creativity, and continuous improvement while also maintaining stability and reliability.


"The Internet is a global technical infrastructure for end-to-end network interoperability..."

Jon Postel's quote highlights that the Internet, in essence, is a universal technological framework designed to ensure seamless communication and interaction between different networks worldwide. It emphasizes the importance of end-to-end network compatibility, meaning all devices connected to the Internet should be able to communicate with each other regardless of their location or the specific technology they use. This allows for the interoperability that forms the backbone of the World Wide Web, enabling us to exchange information and collaborate across borders effortlessly.


"Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but rather when there is nothing left to take away."

This quote emphasizes the importance of simplicity in achieving perfection. It suggests that true perfection lies not in adding more elements or details, but in removing unnecessary ones until only the essential remains. This idea underscores a minimalist approach where less is often more effective, as it allows for clarity, efficiency, and a focus on the core value or purpose.


"It is inappropriate to add to the Internet, anything that is not self-evident."

This quote by Jon Postel emphasizes the importance of simplicity and clarity when contributing to the Internet. It suggests that any content or feature added to the Internet should be inherently understandable or intuitive without requiring excessive explanation. This principle helps maintain the integrity, accessibility, and usability of the internet as a global network.


"The problem with the internet is that it refuses to stay off when I'm working on it."

The quote highlights the humorously relatable experience of being so engrossed in using the internet for work or other tasks, that one finds it difficult or impossible to disconnect from it, even during intended periods of rest or focus on other activities. It reflects the increasing role of the internet in our daily lives and its perceived all-consuming nature.


All this stuff was done via FTP but the web has put a really nice user interface on it.

- Jon Postel

Done, Web, User, Interface

Group discussion is very valuable; group drafting is less productive.

- Jon Postel

Discussion, Productive, Very, Drafting

I also administer the Internet Assigned Names Authority, which is the central coordinator for the Internet address space, domain names and Internet protocol conventions essential to the use and operation of the Internet.

- Jon Postel

Address, Which, Coordinator, Essential

The world wide web has really been quite spectacular and not something I would have predicted.

- Jon Postel

World, Been, Wide, World Wide Web

Corporate documents, like football game plans, are not easily drafted in a stadium, with thousands of very interested fans participating, each with their own red pencil, trying to reach a consensus on every word.

- Jon Postel

Game, Very, Football Game, Stadium

The overriding rule, if you want to run a domain, is to be fair.

- Jon Postel

Want, Rule, Domain, Overriding

There was one issue on which there seemed to be almost unanimity: the Internet should not be managed by any government, national or multinational.

- Jon Postel

Which, Issue, Seemed, Multinational

I think they called me the closest thing to a God of the Internet.

- Jon Postel

Me, Think, I Think, Closest

One of the things that is not so good is that a decision was made long ago about the size of an IP address - 32 bits. At the time it was a number much larger than anyone could imagine ever having that many computers but it turned out to be to small.

- Jon Postel

Small, Larger, Turned, IP

Then I started graduate school at UCLA. I got a part time research assistant job as a programmer on a project involving the use of one computer to measure the performance of another computer.

- Jon Postel

Assistant, Part, Use, Graduate School

That was clearly surprising, interesting - a very interesting milestone was when you can pick up a magazine and read an article about some sort of computer related thing and they mention the word internet without explaining it.

- Jon Postel

Some, Very, Read, Article

I got involved when I was a graduate student at UCLA when UCLA was the first site on the net.

- Jon Postel

Student, Site, Involved, UCLA

Being in the limelight has its minuses.

- Jon Postel

Being, Limelight

If you're in charge of managing domain name space you should treat everybody who asks for a registration the same. Whatever that is - whether it's nice or ugly or whatever - just be fair, treat them all the same.

- Jon Postel

Treat, Charge, Everybody, Registration

But as soon as we got that higher speed access to the home there's going to be a tremendous crunch on the backbones for a much higher speed bandwidth. People really ought to be planning for that.

- Jon Postel

Access, Going, Crunch, Ought

TCP works very hard to get the data delivered in order without errors and does retransmissions and recoveries and all that kind of stuff which is exactly what you want in a file transfer because so you don't want any errors in your file.

- Jon Postel

Data, Very, Works, Errors

I think that audio and video over the internet in the sense of teleconferencing and telephone calls. Maybe we'll actually have picture phone through your work station.

- Jon Postel

Through, Over, Phone Calls, Audio

The routers get involved in this and they know that on the path between this router and that router a certain percentage of the bandwidth is reserved to these things and a certain percentage of it is allowed on a first come first served basis.

- Jon Postel

Come, Allowed, Basis, Bandwidth

In a chemistry class there was a guy sitting in front of me doing what looked like a jigsaw puzzle or some really weird kind of thing. He told me he was writing a computer program.

- Jon Postel

Doing, Chemistry, Some, Puzzle

Another aspect of our work is multimedia teleconferencing.

- Jon Postel

Work, Another, Aspect, Multimedia

Everyone should have ten megabits and then the web will be a wonderful thing.

- Jon Postel

Will, Everyone, Web, Wonderful Thing

But I do have a computer at home and a pretty good ISDN connection.

- Jon Postel

Computer, Pretty, Connection

Be conservative in what you do, be liberal in what you accept from others.

- Jon Postel

Conservative, You, Others, Liberal

One way to get high speed to the home is over cable systems.

- Jon Postel

Over, High, One Way, Cable

A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route indicates how we get there.

- Jon Postel

How, Get, Address, Route

Years ago when you'd go to a working group most of the people in the working group would be from universities. Now most of the people are from companies who are building internet products and care what the standards turn out to be.

- Jon Postel

People, Turn, Go, Products

The Internet works because a lot of people cooperate to do things together.

- Jon Postel

Things, Lot, Works, Cooperate

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