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Douglas W. Goodall Software Engineer 425 San Juanico Santa Maria, CA 93455 (805) 928-2445
To whom it may concern,
Since the death of my beloved wife Malia last year, I have been meditating about what to do with the rest of my life. I continue to study computing every day as I have since I started in 1964. These days I study Unix/Linux and Mac OS X. I have discontinued the use of Microsoft products. In my opinion, they do nothing positive for the quality of human life. Other kinds of software still have my interest. I still believe there is a zone somewhere between Microsoft and the Free Software Foundation where a good programmer can write and support software and make an honest living. It is in that zone that I hope to live my remaining days.
When friends, or potential clients feel like getting in touch with me, they can find me living in Santa Maria, California. Above please find my current contact information. I am looking for new friends and I continue to teach computing when asked. The internet has proven to be a very valuable resource for me to reach out across the world, and I enjoy communicating with a variety of people from different countries. In 1971 when I worked on the ARPA Network at UCLA, I could hardly foresee that the Internet would become a ubiquitous network for mankind. It pleases me to see the good that has come from it. I am a network security researcher and am involved with keeping the Internet operating in a dignified mode.
My Sister asked me to write a document about my life as a computer programmer and the following is a work in progress.
Age 10 - My technical life begins - Dad teachers me to solder and we learn to build things. IBM announces an exposition in Santa Monica, CA about their new System/360 line of computers. I take a bus trip and my mind is expanded.
Age 11 - Dad takes me to litton and I punch my first IBM punch card. The first of many locations affording me access to keypunches. I learn Fortran and begin enjoying software development.
Age 12 - Dad brings his work home. My father complains that he needs a subroutine written in assembly language for his inertial guidance system at Litton Guidance Control Systems Division, and I offer to write it myself. He brings home the manual, and I wrote a subroutine to average the quantizer inputs from the accelerometers. The program works the first time, and dad is happy. I even figure out how to punch a binary paper tape of the new subroutine by hitting the right ascii keys, and the tape works just fine.
Age 13 - I start designing logic circuits using RTL and DTL components. Flip flops, misc gates, inverters, buffers swim in my head. I start designing a general purpose computer. I choose DTL because it makes more sense to me.
Age 14 - While attending junior high school, I agree to work part time at Novation ( a modem company ), and write accounts payable, receivable, and general ledger programs in PL/1 (running at Allen Babcock Supercenter West in Palo Alto), for which a received a pile of acoustic couplers and the use of a Datapoint 2200 CRT at home each weekend for a year. I am sure I was a sight riding down the street on my bicycle with a terminal in the basket. Those were the 300/1200 baud days.
Age 15 - While attending junior high school, I enroll in a college level class at Pierce College in Advanced Computer Programming, which I completed successfully, to the amazement of the staff. I become entranced with IBM 1620 assembly language programming, wihch I did in my head without and assembler program.
Age 15 - While attending high school, I organized the school's first Computer Club. I arranged access for the club to the school districts mainframes.
Age 15 - While attending high school, I make contact with a company in the valley building the first microcomputer ever, the Redcor RC70, 19"x19"x19" in size. In return for writing low level diagnostics for the machine, I receive access.
Age 15 - While attending high school, friends take me to U.C.L.A. and introduce me to Jon Postel who grants me access to the Sigma 7 Computer, ARPA host #1, at the Network Measurement Center. I become interested in socket programming and network measurement. I write programs in Fortran IV that use the ARPA Network.
Age 16 - While attending high school, I get a part time job at U.C.L.A. as a network applications programmer working for Dr J.J.Vidal on a NIMH Project involving brain/computer interfacing and using the ARPA Network. $2.25/hour to actually program for money 1/4 time. My first programming job for money.
Age 17 - Having graduated from High School, I join the Navy with the intention of becoming a Data System Technician. It didn't turn out that way, but in the military, they often do what they please. While in the military, I use my programming skills when possible. At each location I was assigned to, I would seek out the data processing office and ask for priviledges. While at Naval Air Station Norfolk, I am granter permission to work part time at the Hospital Data Center of Virginia, where I learn to program in Mumps on a DEC DPD-10 Computer. While at Moffett Field, I looked in the phone book and located Call Computer, a local timesharing vendor where I received usage priveledges. It was there I met John T. Draper.
Age 21 - Having received my Honorable Discharge from the Navy as an E4 after three years of service, I started junion college in the San Fernando Valley. The lack of programming classes disturbed me, and I decided to join the working world. I found a job across the street from the college working for a wirewrapping company called Data Connections West, where I managed the contract materials and wrote board geometries for use with the Gardner/Denver Automatic Wire Wrapping machines. I also wrote a Cobol program to manage the contract data and geometries. The program ran at Litton Mellonics in Woodland Hills, CA.
Age 22 - I go to work for Litton Automated Marine Systems Division to work with Turpin Systems personnel on an automated load monitoring system for oil tankers. During the first two weeks, I write a software debugger for the National IMP/16 microprocessor that Litton sells to Turpin for $20,000. Turpin hires me away from Litton and I go to work as the only experienced programmer working with twenty PHDs of Mathematics from the University of Honolulu at Turpin. Consequently I completed the load monitoring system which was a big success for Litton Automated Marine Systems. While at turpin I also become the systems operator for the PDP-11 RSTS/E system used at the company.
Age 22 - I go to work for Lesher Systems in North Hollywood where I developed compiler tools used to generate prom programming tapes for 8080 cross development of the intelligent printing terminal produced by Lesher.
Age 22 - I founded my first company, Design Data Technology, and did part time work writing firmware for the National Semiconductor STAR 8080 boadset. I rented a small storage roon next to my apartment in North Hollywood and used it as my office. That was a big step for me to have my own office.
Age 23 - I go to work at Western Bankcorp's data center in El Segundo, Ca. There I was a communications control programmmer working with IBM Finance Industry equipment such as ATM machines and teller terminals. I used IBM 370/195s with CMS and wrote programs in 3600 series assembly language and Fortran IV. This was my first experience with the IBM Hypervisor, and DES encryption.
Age 24 - Jim Lesher hires me back to write a multitasking operating system for the 8086 microprocessor chip, which I did. Using an Intel MDS with 8" floppy disks, I wrote the multitasking kernel in PLM86 and ASM86. The operating system was a success and was eventually resold to Reynolds and Reynolds for use in their back office system for Auto Dealerships.
Age 25 - I hire on at Phase One Systems, in Oakland, CA to port the Oasys operating system toi various target machines, including the Tandy Model 100 Z80.
Age 25 - I hire on at Captain Software in Berkeley, CA as the 8086 assembly guru where I subsequently ported forth to the 8086 and ported Easywriter to the PC under contract with IBM Entry Level Systems Division. After having quite enough of John T. Draper, I quit Captain Software.
Age 26 - I start my second company, Magus Systems, where I resell my IBMPC Forth version. This was my first experience selling my own software.
Age 26 - I hire on at Lifetree Software in Carmel, CA working with Camilo Wilson on the Volkswriter work processor for the IBMPC. I gain experience with IBM Pascal for the IBMPC.
Age 27 - I hire on at Digital Research, Inc. As a member of the OEM Systems Group, my job was to write vendor specific versions of DRI products. After writing a format program in Pascal MT+ for CP/M-80 (for the Harris machine), I specialized in writing XIOS programs for the Concurrent family of operating systemds. I wrote the Concurrent version for the Olympia PEOPLE machine, the Apricot personal computer, the Japanese IBM 5550 machine, the Mad 80186 machine, and others. GAry Killdall and Tom Rolander convince me that C is portable assembly language and I become interested. I start programming in DRI C and Lattice C, as well as as other commercial versions as well. During this time I was the World Troubleshooter for Concurrent and traveled widely. I spent significant time in England, Germany, and Japan. I also wrote as special C compiler for use in writing Concurrent XIOSs.
Age 28 - I founded Goodall Computer systems for the purpose of continuing the development of the Concurrent operating system. I become interested in being more than a computer programmer and begin studying Software Engineering. I become interested in Specifications, Project Management, etc. I wrote the CPM/M-80 hard disk bios for the Ampro Little Board Z80, as well as the Concurrent version for the Little Board/186. Eventually I took on a partner, incorporated as Concurrent Controls, Inc. and got stock-swindled me out of my company. Microsoft buys rights to Lattice C and comes out with Microsoft C which I begin using. I also start programming in ADA. hoping to get work in that area too.
Age 30 - I founded Goodall Software Engineering. I wrote the first 32 user version of concurrent and worked closely with Billl Godbout and Compupro, selling the first interoperable version of Concurrent DOS. Eventually I switched from Concurrent to Unix and Windows. I become a seed site for Dupont RISC workstations and got heavily into Unix. I begin programming with the X Window system. I write a lot of code in Modula II using both the Logitech and Top Speed compilers. I spent two years writing Novell Netware NLMs and learning to use the transport level interface and streams to send and receive IPX packets for a network management system. I continue homing my skills at writing transportable software, acknowledging the value of transportability when marketing opportunities arrive. I also become interested in the use of GNU compilers and a variety of other packages on Unix. I registered my GOODALL.COM domain and get connected to the Internet via UUNET and SLIP. While distributing my Concurrent version, I bundle a class "C" IP number with each system to cut down on people making up their own IP numbers. It was an idea before it's time. For nineteen years my wife Malia and I operated Goodall Software Engineering and worked for many notable clients solving software and hardware problems.
Age 51 - My wife passes away and Goodall Software Engineering closes it's doors. I move to Santa Maria to take care of my disabled father. I learned to just say no to Windows, and concentrate on Unix/Linux and Mac OS X. Hoping to prove there is life after Windows, I learn Python and embrace multi-core architectures. I obtain a pile of O'Reilly books on Python and proceed to study my heart out. My friend Marc de Groot commits suicide and I decide to fight my depression.
Age 51 - I get some work writing security software running on Unix and reaffirm my interest in network security. I gain a lot of respect for OpenBSD and establish an Internet server for GOODALL.COM running on OpenBSD 4.0 (STABLE). I contact Sun Microsystems and retrieve my assigned program numbers for RPC usage in my Virtual Protocol Adapter software development.
Age 51 - I become interested in utilizing multi-core hardware and buy a PS3 and Yellow Dog Linux to learn to leverage the multiple cores for a network management application.
douglas underscore goodall at mac dot com