I too am saddened by this news. I had the honor to work with Bill during our time together at ARIN. The world is dimmed by his passing. --------------------------------------------- Don Wilder ---------------------------------------------
Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning. On Mon, Jan 27, 2020 at 5:54 PM Rabbi Rob Thomas <r...@cymru.com> wrote: > Dear team, > > I was very sad when I heard this news. Bill was a fun and friendly > presence, and patiently mentored me in my early days. I’ll never forget > when he scrawled “I love bots” on one of my NANOG badges. I still have > it. :) I had the fortune to be on a couple of panels with him, and I > learned from his answers and the way he presented them. I admire that he > cared, and he gave of himself without hesitation. I will miss him and his > contributions. > > Zichrono livracha, Bill’s memory is definitely for blessing. > > Be well, > Rabbi Rob. > > > > On Jan 27, 2020, at 3:34 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 > > > >> > > -- > Rabbi Rob Thomas Team Cymru > "It is easy to believe in freedom of speech for those with whom we > agree." - Leo McKern > > > >
