Talk:Rob Ryan (entrepreneur)

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BLP PROD tag removed but work still needed[edit]

I've added another reference to the three which were there already and removed the BLP PROD tag. I also removed some blatant puffery in the text. The article needs a proper rewrite as the text still bears a close similarity to text found here and here.--Plad2 (talk) 21:11, 28 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Early career[edit]

In the early career section are a number of claims put forth by User:Roaring22. I suspect this user may be the subject of the article and have opened a WP:COIN ticket. This section has some extraordinary claims considering how early in his career it was and how his next move was to work for a small modem manufacturer:

worked at Lawrence Livermore Lab on the first non-military extension of Arpanet, the precursor to the Internet. To me this must have been CSNET but it wasn't until 1981 when Ryan supposedly was at Intel. Also, I have been unable to find anything about Livermore working on it. NSFNET didn't come until 1985. So, I am lost as to what Livermore could have been working on.
In the late 1970s, he was the principal architect of DECnet while working at Digital Equipment Corporation I cannot verify Ryan worked at DEC, let alone was "the principal architect" of DECnet. All sources on the internet lead back to Rob Ryan himself. Furthermore, I have never seen any individual get credit for DECnet.
authored the IEEE Specification for the Ethernet while working at Intel, for which he was awarded Intel's Engineer of the Year in 1981 This has to be IEEE 802.3. Since Xerox came up with the first version, he must be talking about the DIX refinement (DEC, Intel, Xerox). Is he trying to take credit for the collective work of three large tech companies? Keep in mind, Ryan is not an engineer nor has he ever claimed to be one, but he won engineer of the year.

I find these claims highly dubious, especially as this is all alleged to have been accomplished in the relatively short period of c. 1973-1981. I don't know whether to just outright delete the claims. Cheers, --SVTCobra (talk) 21:31, 9 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

He definitely worked for DEC and Intel; see this story. His work at Hayes seems better documented, though, because several sources have commented on how his experiences at Softcom led to Hayes, and how Hayes led to Ascend. Exactly what he did before Softcom and Hayes is a little hazy in secondary sources. NinjaRobotPirate (talk)

Thanks, I was going to use that source when I tackle the mentoring section, but hadn't noticed it also contained some background information. However, the claims of individual achievements in the early career are so spectacular, I feel Ryan would have been firmly entrenched on the List of Internet pioneers if they were true. I intend to remove the details pending reliable sources. Cheers, --SVTCobra (talk) 11:28, 10 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]