Date: Thu, 9 Jan 2003 12:40:19 -0700
From: Val Henson <val@nmt.edu>
To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Cc: David van Hoose <davidvh@cox.net>, dpaun@rogers.com, rms@gnu.org,
       Miles Bader <miles@gnu.org>, lm@bitmover.com, acahalan@cs.uml.edu
Subject: Re: "Mother" == "computer-illiterate"
Message-ID: <20030109194019.GH26010@boardwalk>
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On Thu, Jan 09, 2003 at 12:20:43AM -0700, Val Henson wrote:
> On Wed, Jan 08, 2003 at 11:29:47AM +0900, Miles Bader wrote:
> > 
> > If someone's mom (having heard the gossip) asks their computer-literate
> > child, `What is this XXX thing, anyway?', the answer is likely to be
> > very different when XXX is "GNU" as opposed to when XXX is "Linux".
> 
> How come no one ever talks about a Linux distribution so easy that
> your grandfather could install it?  Or a kernel configuration tool so
> simple that even Uncle Timmy can use it?
> 
> Can we quit with the "clueless mother" examples already?  My own
> mother has installed more distributions of Linux than I've even logged
> into.  I know quite a few mothers who have PhDs in CS, own several
> CS-related patents, and/or made important fundamental discoveries in
> CS.  Hint: Find out who invented the spanning tree algorithm for
> ethernet bridges, $10 ThinkGeek gift certificate to the first person
> who emails me the correct answer.

And the winner is David Hoose, who sent the answer to me 10 minutes
after the message to linux-kernel arrived in my mail queue.  The
answer is:

Radia Perlman

She is the inventor of the spanning tree algorithm, the author of
"Interconnections: Bridges, Routers, Switches, and Internetworking
Protocols" from Addison-Wesley, and the mother of at least two
children.  Honorable mention to: Joe Perches, Joe Sloan, Chris Ricker,
Larry McVoy, and "Disconnect," real name withheld.

-VAL

P.S. For extra credit (but no ThinkGeek certificate) you can look up
the following women in computer science, some of whom are mothers:
Mary Baker, Margo Seltzer, Monica Lam, Ellen Spertus, Carla Ellis, and
Barbara Simons.
-
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