John Lions
John Lions | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date |
| Died | December 5, 1998 (aged 61) |
| Occupation(s) | Computer scientist, academic |
| Years active | 1959–1995 |
| Known for | Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition, founding president of the Australian UNIX Users' Group |
John Lions (19 January 1937 – 5 December 1998) was a prominent Australian computer scientist, renowned for creating Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition, with Source Code, commonly known as the Lions Book.
Early life
Lions graduated with first-class honours from the University of Sydney in 1959 and was awarded a scholarship to pursue doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge, where he earned his PhD in Control engineering in 1963. His professional journey included positions at consulting firm KCS Ltd in Toronto, a brief tenure at Dalhousie University in Halifax during 1967, and later work as a Systems Analyst with Burroughs Corporation in Los Angeles.
Later life
In 1972, Lions returned to Sydney to accept a senior lecturer role in Computer Science at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1980 and, apart from sabbatical periods spent at Bell Laboratories, remained on UNSW’s faculty until retiring due to health concerns in 1995.
Work
- Lions authored the seminal Lions Book as instructional material for his operating systems course at UNSW.
- He was the founding president of the Australian UNIX Users' Group, serving from 1984 to 1986.
- Lions contributed to the creation of the annual Australian Computer Science Conference, edited the Australian Computer Journal for six years, and was honored as a fellow of the Australian Computer Society for his significant contributions.
Personal life
He was married to Marianne and had two daughters, Katherine and Elizabeth.
Contribution to UNSW
During the early 1970s, Lions was instrumental in bringing UNIX to UNSW. After obtaining UNIX from Bell Laboratories, he oversaw its installation on the department’s PDP 11/40 machine and incorporated UNIX into his teaching program. His Source Code and Commentary on Unix Level 6 granted students full access to the complete UNIX 6 operating system source code, becoming an indispensable reference for both professionals and academics.
Despite legal constraints restricting distribution of the book to UNIX license holders and prohibiting its publication following UNIX 7’s release in 1979, it circulated widely among students. Lions continued teaching until 1991 and lived to see this ban lifted shortly before his passing in 1998. His legacy was commemorated in 2002 through the dedication of the John Lions Garden at UNSW and the establishment of a Lions Chair in Computer Science, primarily funded by former students inspired by his work.
UNSW holds the distinction of being Australia’s first institution with UNIX installed and continues to lead in education on UNIX-like systems such as Linux.
John Lions Chair in Computer Science
After John Lions’ passing, alumni John O'Brien, Chris Maltby, Greg Rose, and Steve Jenkin spearheaded efforts to create the John Lions Chair of Operating Systems at UNSW. Supported by contributions from UNSW graduates, industry partners, Usenix, and Linux Australia, this academic position was inaugurated in 2006 as UNSW’s first endowed chair funded by alumni. In 2009, Gernot Heiser became its first appointee. Notably, US$6,000 of Usenix’s funding came from a 1998 auction of a California UNIX license plate conducted by Ted Dolotta and won by John Mashey. Mashey had lent copies of Lions’ internal Bell Labs course notes—which Lions later replaced with signed editions—to aid this initiative. These materials are now preserved within the Computer History Museum collection.
John Lions Garden
In 2002, the University of New South Wales established the John Lions Garden adjacent to the Computer Science and Engineering building as a tribute to his enduring influence.
John Lions Award for Contribution to Open Software
The School of Computer Science and Engineering at UNSW launched the John Lions Award for Contribution to Open Software in 2011. This annual award, valued at $1,000, is available to Australian high school and university students—whether full-time, part-time, domestic, or international—celebrating notable accomplishments in the field of open software development.
External links
- In Memoriam: John Lions (Peter H. Salus, USENIX 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)