The John Lions Award
for research work in Open Systems
AUUG instituted the John Lions award to recognize the leading role that John Lions played in bringing UNIX to Australia, in the formation of AUUG, and in the promotion of the values held by the open systems community.
In May 1974, Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie published their landmark paper, The Unix Time-Sharing System, which greatly impressed John Lions. As a result, he decided to base his Operating Systems course around understanding source code, in the process creating a piece of computer history with the famous Lions Book, an in-depth analysis of the function of the UNIX kernel. Round the same time, he founded AUUG as a group of computer scientists who had a common interest in the UNIX Operating System.
John's untimely passing in 1998 has not dimmed the affection in which he was held, and one way AUUG perpetuates his name and legacy is through the annual John Lions Award for Research Work in Open Systems.
This award is given to recognise outstanding student work in the field of standards-based computing and/or open source. Entry is open to full time students at any Australian university studying at Honours, Masters or Ph.D. level.
The award is judged on a submission from the student describing their work (this should be restricted to 3 pages.) The submission is judged on relevance, originality and the work's contribution to the field. The judges may interview the student on their work in coming to a final decision.
All finalists (i.e. all works judged to meet the minimum standards of relevance and originality) will be awarded a $50 book voucher.
The prize consists of:
- a prize of $1000
- a framed certificate
- one year's membership of AUUG
- the winner's name inscribed on a permanent awards board, displayed in the AUUG office and at the main conference
- an invitation to present the work at the AUUG annual conference, including travel and accommodation
Submissions should be emailed to lions_award@auug.org.au