Andrew S. Tanenbaum

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Andrew S. Tanenbaum (2006)

Andrew Stuart Tanenbaum (born March 16, 1944 in New York City ) is an American computer scientist . He is Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at the Free University of Amsterdam ( Netherlands ). Tanenbaum conducts research in the areas of compilers , operating systems , networks and locally distributed systems . He was best known as the developer of the Unix-like Minix operating system and as the author of several standard works on various topics in computer science. Since 2004 Tanenbaum has operated the website www.electoral-vote.com, which deals with election predictions for the USA.

Career and award

Andrew Tanenbaum at FrOSCon 2008

He spent his childhood and youth in White Plains, New York, and then studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT ). After receiving a bachelor's degree in physics there, he received his doctorate in 1971 with John Marsh Wilcox at the University of California in Berkeley , California (Dissertation: A Study of Five Minute Oscillations, Supergranulation, and Related Phenomena in the Solar Atmosphere).

After the marriage, he moved to their home country with his Dutch wife (but kept his US citizenship) and began working as a professor of computer science in Amsterdam, where he still lectures, supervises doctoral students and is head of the department. He was also the technical director of the Advanced School for Computing and Imaging (ASCI) until January 1, 2005 . Andrew S. Tanenbaum is also a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences .

Tanenbaum received the ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award in 1994, and in 1997 the ACM / SIGCSE Award for Outstanding Contributions to Computer Science Education. For his textbooks he finally received the TAA Texty Award in 2002 and the TAA McGuffey Award in 2003.

Tanenbaum retired in 2014.

Reference books

Tanenbaum is known for his computer science textbooks on the subjects of computer architecture , computer networks and operating systems . His works are characterized by the combination of a high information content with good legibility and a writing style that can sometimes be described as humorous. Many of his books contain exercises for self-study at the end of a chapter. His five most important books can be:

Computer architecture. Structures - Concepts - Basics (5th edition ISBN 3-8273-7151-1 )
Together with James R. Goodman , the basic structure of computers is described with the help of a detailed level model, after the development history of computer architectures and the organization of computer systems has been dealt with. Then the digital logic (including Boolean algebra ), the microarchitecture , the assembly language and the model of a conventional or operating system machine are described as levels . In keeping with the times, the final chapter deals with the then new architectures of parallel computers.
Computer networks ( ISBN 978-3-86894-137-1 )
This book focuses on network protocols . Based on the OSI reference model , the layers that build on one another are described, from the electronic bit transmission layer to the data link layer including error detection. After the MAC sublayer, the switching and the transport layer, which specifically deals with TCP / IP (consisting of TCP and IP) , the topmost layer is the application layer. Chapters on security in networks with topics such as cryptography , signatures , security on the web and also social aspects round off the work.
Modern operating systems ( ISBN 3-8273-7019-1 )
Page 851: Simplified scheme of the Linux core structure.
Tanenbaum shows the (then) current status in the development of operating systems. Numerous illustrations and many examples ensure a better understanding of the presented theories and concepts. The essential components of operating systems such as processes and threads , memory management , file systems , multiprocessor systems and IT security are presented theoretically; the most widespread specific operating systems Unix, Linux and Windows are critically reflected in this. This is followed by a chapter on operating system design.
Distributed Systems: Fundamentals and Paradigms ( ISBN 3-8273-7057-4 )
Together with Maarten van Steen , Tanenbaum describes seven basic principles of distributed systems, which he then illustrates using specific examples, including: a. Systems like CORBA , DCOM , NFS and WWW .
Operating Systems Design and Implementation ( ISBN 0-13-638677-6 )
Together with Albert S. Woodhull , Tanenbaum first sets out general principles for operating systems, the most important aspects of which he explains and discusses in detail using the source code of the Unix-like Minix he wrote himself .

Minix

Andrew S. Tanenbaum wrote Minix , a simple, POSIX- compliant and Unix-like teaching system that brought Linus Torvalds to the development of Linux . Minix, version 3 has been licensed under the modified BSD license since April 2000 . This makes Minix, Version 3 free software and compatible with the GNU GPL . Andrew S. Tanenbaum is the author of the book Operating Systems Design and Implementation . In this book Tanenbaum describes the principles of an operating system and, using the Unix clone Minix he developed, its structure and possibilities. Torvalds describes it as the book that changed his life and motivates him to this day.

Linux criticism

Andrew Tanenbaum also caused a stir with a post in the Usenet group comp.os.minix in January 1992. With LINUX is obsolete , he criticized the new operating system harshly. He said that the monolithic kernel of Linux is technically outdated and modern operating system architectures to a microkernel should set, in order to succeed. In addition, Linux is firmly connected to the x86 processor architecture, while a sensible operating system must be portable.

An excerpt from the debate that has since gone down in history illustrates the differences in opinions about distributed programming:

“I think that coordinating 1000 prima donnas living all over the world is as easy as tending cats […] If Linus wants to keep control of the official version and a group of hardworking beavers is heading in different directions, kick the same problem. Anyone who says that a lot of widely dispersed people can hack a complicated piece of program code and avoid total anarchy has never managed a software project. "

- Andrew Tanenbaum

"Just so that no one takes his assumptions for the full truth, here is my opinion on 'keeping control' [...]: I won't."

- Torvalds

Other points of criticism from Tanenbaum, such as the monolithic kernel or lack of portability, met with approval, but in some cases no longer apply to today's Linux.

See also: History of Linux

Fonts

  • with Austin Todd: Structured Computer Organization, 6th edition, Pearson 2013
  • Computer architecture structures, concepts, fundamentals, 5th edition, Pearson 2006 (first Structured Computer Organization, Prentice-Hall 1977)
  • with David J. Weatherall: Computer Networks, 5th edition, Munich: Pearson 2012 (first Computer Networks, Prentice-Hall 1981)
  • Modern Operating Systems, 3rd Edition, Pearson 2009
  • with Maarten van Steen: Distributed Systems: Principles and Paradigms, Pearson 2008
  • with Albert S. Woodhull: Operating Systems: Design and Implementation, 3rd edition, Pearson / Prentice Hall 2006 (first Prentice-Hall 1987)
  • Operating systems, 2 volumes, Hanser Verlag 1990 (volume 1: textbook, volume 2: MINIX guide and commented program text)
  • MINIX Reference Manual, Prentice-Hall 1988

literature

  • Glyn Moody: The software rebels: the success story of Linus Torvalds and Linux. Verl. Moderne Industrie, Landsberg / Lech 2001, ISBN 3-478-38730-2

Web links

Commons : Andrew S. Tanenbaum  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Andrew S. Tanenbaum in the Mathematics Genealogy Project (English)Template: MathGenealogyProject / Maintenance / id used
  2. ↑ https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Nach-43-Jahren-Andrew-S-Tanenbaum-gibt-Abschiedsvorlesung-2256970.html
  3. ↑ minix3.org: License ( Memento of October 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ cf. Website from gnu.org: Various Licenses and Comments about Them
  5. ↑ Torvalds 2001, p. 60
  6. ↑ comp.os.minix: Linux is obsolete
  7. ↑ a b comp.os.minix: Unhappy campers
personal data
SURNAME Tanenbaum, Andrew S.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tanenbaum, Andrew Stuart
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American computer scientist
DATE OF BIRTH March 16, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH New York , NY , USA