Boat International US Edition – May 2019

boatinternational.com• 052019

illJoyneversetouttochangetheworld–but
that’s exactly what this unassuming
Midwesternerdidinthelate1970swhenhe
turnedtheworldofsoftwaredevelopmentonitshead.
Armedwithanelectricalengineeringdegreefromthe
UniversityofMichigan,hewasacceptedtograduate
programsatCaltechandtheUniversityofCalifornia
atBerkeley.DespiteCaltechofferingateaching
fellowship,hechosefree-wheelingBerkeleyandthat
madeallthedifference.
“ReaganwasthegovernorofCaliforniathenand
therehadbeenmassivebudgetcutstoeducationinthe
state.Thecampuscomputerfacilitiesweredecimated,”
herecalls.“Itwaslikeaforestfire;everythingisgone
andthennewgreenshootsstartcomingup.”
OneofthosenewgreenshootswasBerkeley’s
Computer Systems
ResearchGroup,which
wasbusyundertaking
contract work for a
numberofgovernment
agenciesandcompanies.
Onesuchcontractgiven
toJoywastoworkwith
third-partysoftwareto
runvariousprograms
foranarmoftheUS
DefenseDepartment.
Herefused,sayinghe
didn’ttrustthe third

party’scode.Ratherthanriskaprogramfailure,hewent

homeandrewroteit.Hauledintoexplainwhyhedidn’t

followinstructions,andaskedhowhethoughthecould

rejigthesoftwarethatkeepsmillionsofbitsofdata

movingintherightdirection,hereplied:“It’ssimple–

youreadtheprotocolandwritethelanguage.”Ina

stroke,hehadsolvedasignificantinstabilityproblem

andsettheworldofcodingonanewcourse.

Fortyyearslater,heremainseverybitthesoft-

spokenpragmatist.Alreadyalegendinsoftwareafter

hisworkatBerkeley,hewasinvitedtojoinstartupSun

Microsystemsintheearly1980stoinventasmaller,

simplerworkstationandthemicroprocessorthat

wouldtakecomputingoutoftherealmofuniversities

andgovernmentsandputitintoindustries.Soon,asa

fullpartner,heledateamthatinventedJava,oneofthe

ON BOARD WITH

Bill Joy

B

“A boat is a finite universe and we

have to live with our resources,” says

the computer software pioneer as he

talks fuel cells, decarbonizing energy

and designing and building his Royal

Huisman ketch with Marilyn Mower

AHEADOFITSTIME

Joyplayedakeyrole

inplanningand

designinghis190ft

RoyalHuisman

ketchEthereal,which

launchedin2009.

Inparticular,he

helpedmakeitthe

world’sfirsttrue

hybridyacht,with

itslithiumiron

phosphatebatteries