Peggy Karp (????)
In way-back olden times (the '60s) people had to keep track of internet servers by their machine-readable network addresses.
This wasn't a big problem since there were only a few servers. But as the network grew, people started keeping lists of each address with a more human-friendly name next to each one, so they could identify them more easily.
In 1971 Peggy Karp decided to standardise this process by keeping a single list that she kept up-to-date, and made available to everyone else to download and use.
As it was a mapping of host names to internet addresses she decided to call it HOSTS.TXT. This was the first example of an organised, shared registration process – which would later grow into the modern-day system of using snappy-sounding domain names to connect to numerical IP addresses.
So the next time you remember a website address, or register a domain
name and configure it to point to a server address – think of Peggy Karp.
Further reading about Peggy Karp (there's not much):
RFC 226 by Peggy Karp – A Request For Comments (RFC) is a publication from the principal technical development and standards-setting bodies for the Internet. Authored by individuals or groups of engineers and computer scientists, it take the form of a memorandum – describing methods, behaviours, research, or innovations applicable to the working of the Internet and Internet-connected systems.
How constructing DNS shaped internet governance (Internet Policy Review)
