Kevin Robert Elz
Encyclopedia
Kevin Robert Elz, often referred to in computing circles as Robert Elz, or simply kre, is a computer programmer
and a pioneer in connecting Australia
to the Internet
, and more recently, in connecting Thailand
.
documents, helping connect Australia to the world-wide Internet, developing the internet-based research network within Australia, and operating the .au
domain registry from 1986 through to the late 1990s. He also managed the aus.* Usenet
hierarchy from its inception in the 1980s until the mid-1990s.
He is an Honorary Fellow
at the University of Melbourne
, where for some years he worked in the Computer Science department.
Amongst undergraduate students within the department in the mid-1990s, he was considered a semi-mystical figure, having written the BSD
operating system
's quota system and contributed to its timezone management system. He was rumoured to have a work contract which allowed him time off whenever cricket
was being televised.
Having previously lived and worked in Melbourne
for many years, he currently lives in Hat Yai
, Songkhla
, Thailand
, where he is an honorary lecturer in the Computer Engineering Department of the Prince of Songkla University
.
registry.
Elz was, however, criticised during his tenure, as domain name applications often took many months to be examined, despite the commercialisation of the Internet and customer demands for quick turnaround times. He was also responsible for the controversial handing-over of the operation of ".com.au" to Melbourne IT
in 1996.
Programmer
A programmer, computer programmer or coder is someone who writes computer software. The term computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to a generalist who writes code for many kinds of software. One who practices or professes a formal approach to...
and a pioneer in connecting 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...
to the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, and more recently, in connecting Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
.
Career
Some of his achievements include developing a number of important Internet RFCRequest for Comments
In computer network engineering, a Request for Comments is a memorandum published by the Internet Engineering Task Force describing methods, behaviors, research, or innovations applicable to the working of the Internet and Internet-connected systems.Through the Internet Society, engineers and...
documents, helping connect Australia to the world-wide Internet, developing the internet-based research network within Australia, and operating the .au
.au
.au is the Internet country code top-level domain for Australia.-History:The domain name was originally allocated by Jon Postel, operator of IANA to Kevin Robert Elz of Melbourne University in 1986. After an approximately five year process in the 1990s, the Internet industry created a self...
domain registry from 1986 through to the late 1990s. He also managed the aus.* Usenet
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
hierarchy from its inception in the 1980s until the mid-1990s.
He is an Honorary Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
, where for some years he worked in the Computer Science department.
Amongst undergraduate students within the department in the mid-1990s, he was considered a semi-mystical figure, having written the BSD
Berkeley Software Distribution
Berkeley Software Distribution is a Unix operating system derivative developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group of the University of California, Berkeley, from 1977 to 1995...
operating system
Operating system
An 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 quota system and contributed to its timezone management system. He was rumoured to have a work contract which allowed him time off whenever cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
was being televised.
Having previously lived and worked in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
for many years, he currently lives in Hat Yai
Hat Yai
Hat Yai is a city in southern Thailand near the Malaysian border. Located at , it has a population of 157,359 in the city itself and about 800,000 in the greater Hat Yai area. Hat Yai is the largest city of Songkhla Province, the largest metropolitan area in Southern, and third largest...
, Songkhla
Songkhla Province
Songkhla is one of the southern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Satun, Phatthalung, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Pattani and Yala. To the south it borders Kedah and Perlis of Malaysia....
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, where he is an honorary lecturer in the Computer Engineering Department of the Prince of Songkla University
Prince of Songkla University
Prince of Songkla University was the first university in Southern Thailand, established in 1967. The name of the university was granted by His Majesty the King in honor of His Royal Highness Somdej Chao Fa Mahidol Adulyadej Kromma Luang Songkla Nakarin, the king's father.The university consists of...
.
Operation of .au
As the architect of the early domain-name eligibility criteria for ".com.au", Elz is largely responsible for Australia's not experiencing a domain name gold rush in the mid-1990s. The eligibility policy required a direct connection between a company's official name and its domain name, in contrast to the strictly first-come-first-served policy of the .com.com
The domain name com is a generic top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet. Its name is derived from commercial, indicating its original intended purpose for domains registered by commercial organizations...
registry.
Elz was, however, criticised during his tenure, as domain name applications often took many months to be examined, despite the commercialisation of the Internet and customer demands for quick turnaround times. He was also responsible for the controversial handing-over of the operation of ".com.au" to Melbourne IT
Melbourne IT
Melbourne IT is an Australian Internet company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange . Formed in 1996, its primary business is domain name registration in most of the major national and global top-level domains...
in 1996.
External links
- Origins and Nature of the Internet in Australia by Roger Clarke