Ron Schnell - @RonnieSchnell

Frequently Asked Questions

I am known for several things:

I was a kernel programmer at all of the major commercial UNIX manufacturers

I am the author of "Dunnet", a famous text adventure that ships with every modern version of UNIX. It is probably the game installed on more computers than any other in the world, except for Solitaire. This includes WoW or anything else you can think of.

I am the founder of MailCall.Com, which I created and sold during the .COM boom

I ran the day-to-day operations of The Technical Committee from 2005-2011

I have been a denizen of the Internet/Arpanet since 1979

I started programming computers in 1975 when I was 9 years old. I programmed in FORTRAN on an IBM 360 on punch cards. I would go on to learn more than 30 computer languages, working at Bell Laboratories, Sun Microsystems, and IBM on the "kernel" of their versions of the UNIX operating system. I went back and forth between being a productive programmer to getting myself into trouble via computer mischief and phone phreaking. When I was 12 years old, I came home from piano lessons to find the FBI waiting for me in the kitchen. After high school I became a good citizen. I've worked directly with some of the biggest names in the computer science field, including Patrick Winston, Jack Schwartz, David Korn, and Richard Stallman. I've spent substantial personal time with Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin, Steve Wozniak, and several professional football players and professional broadcasters. I am currently writing a memoir telling some of the fantastical (but true) stories of the weird events that kept putting me in the middle of pivotal points of the computer revolution, my struggle between "good and evil", and how my fear of death created this bizarre stream of non-stop excitement in my life. Lately, I have been a C-level executive and VP level executive at everything from personal services corporations, a multinational S&P 500 company, several technology startups, and the leader of day-to-day operations of a well known "think tank" for the computer industry. Below is a list of questions I've gotten over the years about myself. Many of them have been submitted via e-mail, and some via press interview or casual conversation. If you have additional questions, feel free to contact me directly. I am easy to find!

What was the Technical Committee?

Until summer of 2011, I was the General Manager of The Technical Committee, and I ran the day-to-day operations. TheTC was formed as part of a court order that required us to monitor Microsoft's compliance with the United States v. Microsoft case Final Judgment, which was rendered in 2002. We were responsible for monitoring Microsoft on behalf of the United States Department of Justice and several states. TheTC was a 60-person company. We had powers similar to a special master of the Court. I was responsible for daily interaction with Microsoft, frequent interaction with the Attorney General of the US's antitrust bureau, as well as attorneys general from several states. I directed all senior staff, including program managers, engineering managers, and office managers. Our projects included experimental implementation of Microsoft proprietary protocols, and large-scale data capture at wire speed. I was also responsible for meeting with Microsoft competitors and partners to discuss various issues related to the Final Judgment, giving me a unique insight into the complete inner workings of Microsoft, as well as many important companies in the technology world.

What is your professional background?

Prior to my most recent work, my career can be divided into three areas of experience: UNIX kernel programming, entrepreneurship, and academia.

I have worked on the kernel of all of the major UNIX vendors. I worked at Bell Laboratories on UNIX System V, Releases 3.2 and 4.0, as part of the core kernel group. My most notable accomplishments there were the development of the first VFS filesystem for System V (BFS), and helping to integrate BSD features into System V as part of a joint effort with Sun Microsystems. I also worked at IBM on A/IX PS/2 and A/IX 370 kernel, and at Sun Microsystems on Solaris versions 2.1, 2.4, 2.5, and 2.5.1 (also on the kernel).

I have had 3 startups in my entrepreneurial career. The first one was a company called "Secure Online Systems" (SOS). It was a company that specialized in system administration software for UNIX mainframes. It is interesting to note that SOS was funded by a single "angel investor" (before such a term existed), and it happened to be Sylvester Stallone. "Sly" and I became well acquainted during that time, and it was really a blast to be associated with him. Unfortunately, mainframes all but ceased to exist around that time, and the venture was not a success. My second startup was called "Driver Aces" and it was a company specializing in device drivers for UNIX operating systems. We had many of the major UNIX vendors as clients, and it did well enough to support my family for the time I kept it going. My latest, and most successful startup was called MailCall.Com. It was a company that provides a service allowing people to manage their e-mail over any telephone. It used text-to-speech and IVR routines to allow subscribers to call a phone number, enter their PIN code, and listen to their e-mail. Users could then respond with their voice, forward the e-mail, fax it, print it (including attachments), etc. Unlike other services, Mail Call went out to the subscribers' existing POP3/IMAP e-mail boxes. It did not require a new, dedicated e-mail address, or setting up any sort of forwarding. I sold Mail Call in February of 2000 to a public company, which has since sold it to a private company. It continued up and running until 2007, and because I wrote all 175,000 lines of code, I continued to help keep it running until the end. Selling the company allowed me to take a lot of time off, and I got to do what most parents never get to do: spend quality time with their kids. From 2000 through 2002 I traveled with the family in our own airplane, and really had a great time.

In 2002, what was meant to be a short consulting gig to pass the time turned into a 3 year stint as a Vice President at Equifax, the credit bureau. I ran a large development team there in their Internet marketing division. The role was out of character for me, but it was mostly fun.

I was in the process of developing a new startup when I got the call about TheTC. As the TC's purpose recently ended with the expiration of the Final Judgment, I have been performing some short term expert witness and consulting tasks, under my current corporation, Quogic, Inc.