Sad to hear about Bill. I also began my career at a small ISP in Houston where we also had a T1 to SESQUINET, and Bill was already a legend to us Jr. Sysadmins in town in 1995/96.
-Andrew On Mon, Jan 27, 2020 at 2:36 PM Brett Watson <br...@the-watsons.org> wrote: > I was saddened to see this yesterday, that Bill Manning had passed. I was > surprised this morning that it hadn’t hit NANOG yet but thought I’d post > something because I have a ton of respect for Bill as I’m sure many here do. > > I met Bill as a very young, thought-I-knew-everything network engineer > around ’92 when I was starting my internet life at a small ISP in Houston. > Bill was visiting Stan Barber @ Sesquinet, which was my upstream provider > at the time via T1, if I remember it all correctly. > > I was young, fresh out of college with a CS degree, and learning this > “internet thing.” I met with Bill on campus at Rice University to discuss > networking/routing, and Bill taught me CIDR, which I had no f-ing idea at > that time what it was. Bill was always gracious and willing to share/teach. > We always chatted and stayed in touch at NANOG and IETF conferences and > through his relationship with Los Nettos over the years. Most notable, to > me, was 2007 when my youngest daughter was diagnosed with cancer, and I > believe Bill’s wife had (or previously battled) cancer as well. I hadn’t > seen Bill for a few years, but he immediately reached out, shared his > positive thoughts/prayers, and kept in touch during the battle we went > through. Bill cared about people, and as noted below, he was smart as hell, > and always had a crazy idea for how to solve a problem. Also as noted in > Rod’s note below, Bill had a wealth of music knowledge and could always > recommend something new and interesting to listen to. > > I’ll definitely miss Bill, and his passing makes me feel the years, and > the mileage, but in a good way. > > -b > > >> This morning I talked to Julie Manning, Bill's wife. Bill died early > >> Saturday morning, at home in Oregon. Most of you know Bill was > >> waiting for a new heart. He would perhaps have gotten one next > >> month. I guess the old one just wouldn't hold out long enough. > >> > >> I first met Bill in about 1995, when I returned to ISI after my first > >> stint in Japan. He had taken a position in the Los Nettos project at > >> ISI, a regional network project in the days when Internet service and > >> operations work was still heavily shared between business and > >> academia. Bill brought an operator's eye to the project, often seeing > >> things differently from the researchers in the group. > >> > >> Bill kept the most erratic hours of any non-student I've ever met. He > >> might be in the office at 2am or at 2pm, either was equally likely. > >> I'd ask, "Bill, what time did you come in?" He'd reply, "10am." "I > >> was here before that, and you were already here, it must have been > >> earlier." "Greenwich Mean Time." > >> > >> And in one phase of life, "Bill, where do you live?" "Seat 4A." He > >> would speculate about his average altitude and speed over the previous > >> month. > >> > >> And, like any good geek, Bill had a spectacular collection of tie-dye > >> t-shirts. He came by the look honestly: growing up in the Bay Area, > >> he had actually snuck into Grateful Dead rehearsals held in a barn, > >> and had traveled as a deadhead for a while. > >> > >> At ISI, we called Bill "the bad idea fairy". He always brought a > >> slightly-off-kilter view of technical problems, which triggered > >> endless discussions of fascinating, if usually implausible, > >> alternatives. > >> > >> He had the most broad-ranging musical tastes of anyone I knew, and > >> would eat almost anything (though, like me, he didn't drink alcohol). > >> I was often envious of his eating and musical experiences. He > >> certainly lived life to its fullest. > >> > >> On one occasion, I recall, we were eating lunch in a Thai restaurant > >> for the first time. Bill called for the food "the way you'd make it > >> in Thailand". The waiter went back into the kitchen and came out with > >> a few raw Thai chiles. Bill ate one whole, without even breaking a > >> sweat. The owner of the restaurant immediately came out to see who > >> was eating them. Pam became a friend to our group. > >> > >> On other occasions, when the waiter asked for his order, Bill would > >> point to another person at the table, and say, "I'll have what she's > >> having." "Well, what is she having?" "I don't know, I haven't heard > >> her say." Once in a while, he would point to someone else in the > >> restaurant and say, "I'll have what they are having." It was funny > >> and sometimes disconcerting, which was very Bill, and it was also his > >> way of making sure he himself was eating (and thinking and doing) as > >> broadly as possible, without getting stale. > >> > >> Bill worked in a bakery before joining Texas Instruments and > >> accidentally falling into computer networking. (When we first met, he > >> was commuting between Houston and L.A.; Julie and the kids were still > >> in Houston.) I believe he attended a series of colleges but never > >> finished his bachelor's degree. Just a few years ago, however, Jun > >> Murai convinced him to get a Ph.D.; this took clearing administrative > >> hoops to demonstrate that Bill's life experience matched that of a > >> bachelor's degree, which it certainly did. I was honored to be on his > >> Ph.D. committee. I literally created a "trouble ticket" accounting > >> scheme to track change requests for his thesis. > >> > >> Bill was a valued member of the WIDE Project here in Japan. He worked > >> with the DNS root operations group here, and participated in as many > >> WIDE meetings as he could. He also came to Keio University's Shonan > >> Fujisawa Campus when he was in Japan, and one of the best things about > >> Bill was how seriously he took the students and their work, treating > >> them like adult colleagues. > >> > >> Bill had friends on all seven continents, and for all I know on the > >> International Space Station, as well. He was loved by us all. > >> > >> Julie does not plan to have a funeral immediately, so there is no need > >> for flowers or the like. The family may do a memorial service in Utah > >> in the spring. > >> > >> He was a unique and wonderful human being. And a good friend. > >> Rest in peace, Bill. > >> > >> —Rod > > > >
