Norman Wilson

Synopsis

System administrator and programmer, currently helping to run computers for the Teaching Labs in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto.

Contact information

Office

BA 3224

Phone

+1 416 978 0625

E-mail

norman at teach.cs.toronto.edu
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Index

• Papers, reports, and other writings

Background

My computing interests are in understanding how real programs, systems, and networks work, and how to make them work better, preferably by making them simpler. I am particularly interested in the problems of administering heterogeneous collections of systems, and of finding the right amount of automation and abstraction to apply: enough that systems need not be administered one-by-one or by hand, but not so much that everything becomes an incomprehensible black box. I am also a strong advocate of the often-lauded but rarely-observed virtues of the original UNIX system: simplicity, modularity, consistent interface. As an extreme example, my home computing environment includes IA32 and MicroVAX hardware (with some SPARC and DEC-MIPS systems sitting on the shelf) running Linux, Solaris, and Tenth Edition UNIX. I hope to continue removing needless code from the last system, as I did during my six years at Bell Labs.

See my canned biography for a more historical picture.

My non-computing interests include urban and long-distance bicycling, amateur photography, passenger train travel, cat socialization, and a never-ending series of minor and major house renovations.

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