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Bill JoyAmerican computer scientist and UNIX software developer
Date of Birth: 08.11.1954
Country:  USA |
Content:
- Bill Joy: A Pioneer in the Field of Computational Systems Theory
- The Essay That Sparked Global Debate
- Education and Early Career
- Co-founder of Sun Microsystems
- Departure from Sun Microsystems
- Entrepreneurial Ventures
Bill Joy: A Pioneer in the Field of Computational Systems Theory
Bill Joy is an American scientist in the field of computational systems theory and a developer of software for UNIX. He is also one of the founders and former head of the research department at Sun Microsystems. Joy is a recipient of the Grace Murray Hopper Award. He is best known as the author of the popular text editor vi and the C shell command interpreter.
The Essay That Sparked Global Debate
In April 2000, Wired magazine published an essay by Bill Joy titled "Why the Future Doesn't Need Us," which caused a lively discussion worldwide. In the essay, Joy expressed concern about the rapid and uncontrolled development of high technologies, which he believed posed a danger to humanity as a whole.
Education and Early Career
Bill Joy graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, and he continued his studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a Ph.D. in 1979. His advisor at Berkeley was Professor Bob Fabry, the founder of the Computer Systems Research Group, where Joy worked on BSD Unix.
Co-founder of Sun Microsystems
In 1982, Joy became one of the founders of Sun Microsystems. For many years, he was involved in the development of SPARC microprocessors, the Java programming language, and the JINI and JXTA technologies.
Departure from Sun Microsystems
On September 9, 2003, Sun announced that Bill Joy would be leaving the company. Despite his departure, Joy's contributions to the field of computational systems theory and his work on the Unix operating system were recognized when he was awarded the Grace Murray Hopper Award in 1986.
Entrepreneurial Ventures
In 1999, Joy, along with two former colleagues from Sun Microsystems, founded the venture firm HighBAR Ventures. In 2005, he also became a partner at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
