Bill Joy facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bill Joy
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Joy in 2003
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William Nelson Joy
November 8, 1954 |
| Education | University of Michigan (BS) University of California, Berkeley (MS) |
| Known for | BSD • vi • csh • chroot • TCP/IP driver • co-founder of Sun Microsystems • Java • SPARC • Solaris • NFS • Why The Future Doesn't Need Us |
| Children | 2 |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Computer science |
| Academic advisors | Bob Fabry |
William Nelson Joy, born on November 8, 1954, is an American computer expert and investor. He helped start a famous computer company called Sun Microsystems in 1982. He was the main scientist and technology boss there until 2003.
While studying at University of California, Berkeley, he was very important in creating an early computer operating system called BSD UNIX. He also wrote the first version of a popular text editor called vi. In 2000, he wrote an essay called "Why The Future Doesn't Need Us". In this essay, he shared his worries about how modern technologies might affect humanity.
Joy was chosen as a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1999. This was for his important work on computer operating systems and network software.
Contents
William Joy's Early Career
William Joy was born in Farmington Hills, Michigan, a town near Detroit. His father, William Joy, was a school vice-principal. His mother was Ruth Joy.
He earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan. Later, he received a master's degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1979.
Working on UNIX at Berkeley
While at Berkeley, Joy worked with the Computer Systems Research Group (CSRG). They were developing the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) version of the Unix operating system. He first worked on a Pascal computer program. This program was left at Berkeley by Ken Thompson, a famous computer scientist.
Joy then started improving the core part of the Unix system, called the kernel. He also managed the distribution of BSD. Some of his most well-known creations are the ex and vi editors. He also created the C shell, a way to give commands to the computer.
There's a famous story that Joy wrote the vi editor in just one weekend. However, Joy says this isn't true. Some of his other achievements have also been exaggerated. For example, Eric Schmidt, who was the CEO of Novell, once wrongly said that Joy rewrote the entire BSD kernel in a weekend.
In 1980, Joy also wrote a command called `cat -v`. Some computer experts, like Rob Pike and Brian W. Kernighan, felt this command went against the simple design ideas of Unix.
Developing TCP/IP
In the early 1980s, a government agency called DARPA hired a company named BBN to add TCP/IP to Berkeley UNIX. TCP/IP is a set of rules that allows computers to communicate over a network. Joy was asked to use BBN's code, but he didn't think it was good enough.
So, Joy decided to write his own high-performance TCP/IP code. John Gage, a colleague, once said: "BBN had a big contract to implement TCP/IP, but their stuff didn't work, and grad student Joy's stuff worked. So they had this big meeting and this grad student in a T-shirt shows up, and they said, 'How did you do this?' And Bill said, 'It's very simple — you read the protocol and write the code.'"
However, Rob Gurwitz, who worked at BBN at the time, has a different memory of these events.
William Joy and Sun Microsystems
In 1982, six months after it started, Joy joined Sun Microsystems as the sixteenth employee. He was given full co-founder status. At Sun, Joy inspired the creation of many important technologies. These include the NFS, which lets computers share files over a network. He also helped develop the SPARC microprocessors, which are types of computer chips.
Joy was also key in the development of the Java programming language. Java is used to create many different kinds of software and apps. He also contributed to technologies like Jini/JavaSpaces and JXTA.
In 1986, Joy received the Grace Murray Hopper Award from the ACM. This award recognized his important work on the Berkeley UNIX Operating System.
On September 9, 2003, Sun Microsystems announced that Joy was leaving the company. They stated he was taking time to decide his next steps.
After Sun Microsystems
In 1999, Joy co-founded a company called HighBAR Ventures. This company invests in new businesses. He started it with two former Sun colleagues, Andy Bechtolsheim and Roy Thiele-Sardiña.
In January 2005, he became a partner at another investment firm, Kleiner Perkins. There, Joy has invested in many green energy companies. He once said, "My method is to look at something that seems like a good idea and assume it's true."
In 2011, he was honored as a Fellow of the Computer History Museum. This was for his work on the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) Unix system and for co-founding Sun Microsystems.
William Joy's Concerns About Technology
In 2000, Joy became widely known for his article in Wired magazine, titled "Why The Future Doesn't Need Us". In this article, he shared his strong belief that advances in genetic engineering and nanotechnology could create serious dangers for humanity.
He worried that smart robots might eventually become more dominant than humans. He suggested that we should consider stopping the development of GNR technologies. GNR stands for genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics. He believed this would be better than trying to defend against their negative uses.
Some experts, like Ray Kurzweil, disagreed with Joy's idea of completely stopping these technologies. They suggested focusing on careful rules and ethical guidelines instead. Others criticized Joy's essay, saying it could lead to too much government control.
Joy's concerns began after a discussion with Ray Kurzweil. He was surprised that other serious scientists also thought these possibilities were likely. He was even more surprised that they didn't seem as worried about the dangers as he was. This led him to study the issue deeply and share his thoughts.
Despite his concerns, Joy continues to be an investor in GNR technology companies. He has also created a special investment fund to address dangers like widespread diseases and biological weapons.
Joy's Law: Understanding Its Meanings
William Joy is associated with two different "Joy's Laws."
Joy's Law of Management
In his 2013 book Makers, author Chris Anderson talked about "Joy's law." This law came from a clever remark by Joy: "No matter who you are, most of the smartest people work for someone else [other than you]."
Joy's point was that companies might not hire the very best people. This is because the most talented individuals might already be working for other companies. He warned that competition outside a company could always be stronger than the company itself.
Joy's Law of Computing Speed
In 1983, Joy also came up with a formula, also called Joy's law, about computer speed. It states that the fastest computer speed doubles each year.
The formula is:
Here, S is the fastest computer speed reached during year Y. This speed is measured in MIPS.
See also
In Spanish: Bill Joy para niños
