I guess it was
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his time
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
Wow. Sort of feel like the inventor of time just died.
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On Thursday, Internet pioneer Vint Cerf announced that Dr. David L. Mills, the inventor of Network Time Protocol (NTP), died peacefully at age 85 on January 17, 2024.
The announcement came in a post on the Internet Society mailing list after Cerf was informed of David’s death by Mills’ daughter, Leigh.
In a digital environment where computers and servers are located all over the world, each with its own internal clock, there’s a significant need for a standardized and accurate timekeeping system.
In the 1970s, during his tenure at COMSAT and involvement with ARPANET (the precursor to the Internet), Mills first identified the need for synchronized time across computer networks.
As detailed in an excellent 2022 New Yorker profile by Nate Hopper, Mills faced significant challenges in maintaining and evolving the protocol, especially as the Internet grew in scale and complexity.
His work highlighted the often under-appreciated role of key open source software developers (a topic explored quite well in a 2020 xkcd comic).
Saved 65% of original text.
May our clocks remain synced in his memory.
o7
This is fascinating because I was reading an article specifically concerned with losing his expertise. Let’s see if I can find it.
I’d be interested in finding out if Harlan Stenn ever finished the paper Mills was putting together about an updated NTP.
We do now have PTP, which has several big improvements. But it’s a lot more involved to set up.
only a few people appear to be both capable and willing to oversee the critical yet overlooked software
I would be willing to become capable… for a fee.
(now, less, or more, seriously, what’s going on with the coördination in that article?)
RIP to a legend
When you’re dealing with a bunch of systems that communicate with each other, especially database clusters, having the time synchronized is essential. Without his work, the sort of massive clusters of systems we use - deliberately or second-hand - would not be possible. He’s as much a contributor to the modern web as Tim Berners-Lee.
RIP Time Lord
What I also love about NTP is that its port (123) is open both ways on most networks, even the most locked down ones, so it’s a good place to hide VPN traffic.
Rest easy, Dave. And thank you. 💛
