John Lions
Encyclopedia
- See also John LyonsJohn LyonsJohn Lyons is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom.At the 2001 general election, he was elected to the British House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Strathkelvin and Bearsden....
.
John Lions (19 January 1937 – 5 December 1998) was an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n computer scientist
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
. He is best known as the author of Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition, with Source Code
Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition, with Source Code
Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition, with Source Code by John Lions contains the complete source code of the 6th Edition Unix kernel plus a commentary. It is commonly referred to as the Lions book...
, commonly known as the Lions Book.
Early life
Lions gained a degree with first-class honours from the University of SydneyUniversity of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
in 1959. He applied, and received a scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
to study at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
where he earned his doctorate on Control engineering
Control engineering
Control engineering or Control systems engineering is the engineering discipline that applies control theory to design systems with predictable behaviors...
in 1963. After his graduation, he worked at the consulting firm KCS Ltd in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In 1967, he briefly took a position at Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University is a public research university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university comprises eleven faculties including Schulich School of Law and Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine. It also includes the faculties of architecture, planning and engineering located at...
in Halifax, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
before moving on to working for Burroughs in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
as a Systems Analyst
Systems analyst
A systems analyst researches problems, plans solutions, recommends software and systems, and coordinates development to meet business or other requirements. They will be familiar with multiple variety of programming languages, operating systems, and computer hardware platforms...
.
Later life
In 1972 he moved back to SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and became a senior lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at the University of New South Wales
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales , is a research-focused university based in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
(UNSW). In 1980, he was promoted to Associate Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
and apart from sabbaticals in 1978, 1983 and 1989 at Bell Laboratories, he remained at the school until retiring in 1995 due to bad health.
Work
- His most famous work, the Lions BookLions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition, with Source CodeLions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition, with Source Code by John Lions contains the complete source code of the 6th Edition Unix kernel plus a commentary. It is commonly referred to as the Lions book...
, was written as course notes for his operating systemOperating systemAn operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s course at UNSW. - Lions organised the Australian UNIX Users' GroupAUUGAUUG is an Australian association and users' group.It describes itself as the organisation for Unix, Linux and Open Source professionals.Its aim is to build a community of those interested in open systems and open standards. Both people and institutions may be members.The newsletter AUUGN is...
and was its founding president from 1984 to 1986. - Lions was involved in the setting up of an annual conference for academics, the Australian Computer Science Conference and he was the editor of the Australian Computer Journal for six years and was made a fellow of the Australian Computer SocietyAustralian Computer SocietyThe Australian Computer Society is an association for information and communications technology professionals. According to its Constitution, its objects are "to advance professional excellence in information technology" and "to promote the development of Australian information and communications...
for his contribution.
John Lions Chair in Computer Science
After his death, John O'Brien, Steve Jenkin, Chris Maltby and Greg Rose, former students of Lions, commenced a campaign to raise funds to create a chair in his name at UNSW, the John Lions Chair of Operating Systems. With donations from many UNSW alumni, corporations, UsenixUSENIX
-External links:* *...
, Linux Australia
Linux Australia
Linux Australia is the national, Australian Linux organisation. It was founded in 1997 and formally incorporated in New South Wales as a non-profit organisation in 1999. Linux Australia aims to represent the Australian Linux community and to support and collaborate with the Linux User Groups in...
, the chair was created in 2006, becoming the first chair at UNSW funded by contributions from alumni. In 2009, Gernot Heiser
Gernot Heiser
Gernot Heiser is a Scientia Professor and the John Lions Chair for operating systems at the University of New South Wales . He is also leader of the at NICTA. In 2006 he co-founded Open Kernel Labs to commercialise his L4 microkernel technology...
became the inaugural John Lions Chair.
John Lions Garden
In 2002, UNSW dedicated the John Lions Garden in front of the new Computer Science and Engineering building to Lions' memory.John Lions Award for Contribution to Open Software
In 2011, The School of Computer Science and Engineering at UNSW intitated the John Lions Award for Contribution to Open Software. The Prize is open to high school and undergraduate university students enrolled in an Australian secondary or tertiary institution. Full time and part time students are eligible, as well as local and internationals students. The annual prize is valued at $5,000.External links
- In Memoriam: John Lions (Peter H. SalusPeter H. SalusPeter H. Salus is a linguist, computer scientist, historian of technology, author in many fields, and an editor of books and journals. He has conducted research in germanistics, language acquisition, and computer languages...
, USENIXUSENIX-External links:* *...
News, 22 March 1999) - Code Critic (Rachel Chalmers, Salon 30 November 1999)
- The John Lions Award For Research Work in Open Systems (Australian Unix Users' Group)
- The John Lions Chair in Operating Systems (University of New South Wales)