ABOUT_APACHE revision 5beae861ede7eba138c7140f195ae77ba3106cbf
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes The Apache HTTP Server Project
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesThe Apache Project is a collaborative software development effort aimed
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesat creating a robust, commercial-grade, featureful, and freely-available
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholessource code implementation of an HTTP (Web) server. The project is
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesjointly managed by a group of volunteers located around the world, using
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesthe Internet and the Web to communicate, plan, and develop the server and
0662ed52e814f8f08ef0e09956413a792584eddffuankgits related documentation. These volunteers are known as the Apache Group.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesIn addition, hundreds of users have contributed ideas, code, and
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesdocumentation to the project. This file is intended to briefly describe
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesthe history of the Apache Group, recognize the many contributors, and
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesexplain how you can join the fun too.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesIn February of 1995, the most popular server software on the Web was the
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholespublic domain HTTP daemon developed by Rob McCool at the National Center
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesfor Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesHowever, development of that httpd had stalled after Rob left NCSA in
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesmid-1994, and many webmasters had developed their own extensions and bug
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesfixes that were in need of a common distribution. A small group of these
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholeswebmasters, contacted via private e-mail, gathered together for the purpose
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesof coordinating their changes (in the form of "patches"). Brian Behlendorf
70953fb44a7140fe206c3a5f011e24209c8c5c6abnicholesand Cliff Skolnick put together a mailing list, shared information space,
70953fb44a7140fe206c3a5f011e24209c8c5c6abnicholesand logins for the core developers on a machine in the California Bay Area,
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholeswith bandwidth and diskspace donated by HotWired and Organic Online.
cfb941e9ad5276eef7bc8f3eedcd270f30cfec35fuankgBy the end of February, eight core contributors formed the foundation
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesof the original Apache Group:
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Brian Behlendorf Roy T. Fielding Rob Hartill
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes David Robinson Cliff Skolnick Randy Terbush
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Robert S. Thau Andrew Wilson
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholeswith additional contributions from
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Eric Hagberg Frank Peters Nicolas Pioch
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesUsing NCSA httpd 1.3 as a base, we added all of the published bug fixes
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesand worthwhile enhancements we could find, tested the result on our own
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesservers, and made the first official public release (0.6.2) of the Apache
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesserver in April 1995. By coincidence, NCSA restarted their own development
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesduring the same period, and Brandon Long and Beth Frank of the NCSA Server
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesDevelopment Team joined the list in March as honorary members so that the
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholestwo projects could share ideas and fixes.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesThe early Apache server was a big hit, but we all knew that the codebase
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesneeded a general overhaul and redesign. During May-June 1995, while
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesRob Hartill and the rest of the group focused on implementing new features
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesfor 0.7.x (like pre-forked child processes) and supporting the rapidly growing
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesApache user community, Robert Thau designed a new server architecture
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes(code-named Shambhala) which included a modular structure and API for better
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesextensibility, pool-based memory allocation, and an adaptive pre-forking
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesprocess model. The group switched to this new server base in July and added
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesthe features from 0.7.x, resulting in Apache 0.8.8 (and its brethren)
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesAfter extensive beta testing, many ports to obscure platforms, a new set
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesof documentation (by David Robinson), and the addition of many features
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesin the form of our standard modules, Apache 1.0 was released on
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesDecember 1, 1995.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesLess than a year after the group was formed, the Apache server passed
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesNCSA's httpd as the #1 server on the Internet.
ac7985784d08a3655291f24f711812b4d8b1cbcffuankgThe survey by Netcraft (http://www.netcraft.com/survey/) shows that Apache
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesis today more widely used than all other web servers combined.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes ============================================================================
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesCurrent Apache Group in alphabetical order as of 27 July 2000:
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Brian Behlendorf Collab.Net, California
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Ryan Bloom Covalent Technologies, California
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Ken Coar IBM Corporation, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Mark J. Cox Red Hat, England
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Lars Eilebrecht CyberSolutions, Munich, Germany
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Ralf S. Engelschall Munich, Germany.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Roy T. Fielding eBuilt, California
ac7985784d08a3655291f24f711812b4d8b1cbcffuankg Tony Finch Covalent Technologies, California
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Dean Gaudet Transmeta Corporation, California
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Dirk-Willem van Gulik Covalent Technologies, California
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Brian Havard Australia
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Ben Hyde Gensym, Massachusetts
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Jim Jagielski jaguNET Access Services, Maryland
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Manoj Kasichainula Collab.Net, California
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Alexei Kosut Stanford University, California
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Martin Kraemer Munich, Germany
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Ben Laurie Freelance Consultant, UK
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Rasmus Lerdorf Linuxcare, California
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Daniel Lopez Ridruejo Covalent Technologies, California
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Doug MacEachern Covalent Technologies, California
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Aram W. Mirzadeh CableVision, New York
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Chuck Murcko The Topsail Group, Pennsylvania
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Sameer Parekh California
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes David Reid UK
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes William A. Rowe, Jr. Freelance Consultant, Chicago area
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Wilfredo Sanchez Apple Computer, California
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Cliff Skolnick California
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Marc Slemko Canada
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Greg Stein California
ac7985784d08a3655291f24f711812b4d8b1cbcffuankg Bill Stoddard IBM Corporation, Research Triangle Park, NC
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Paul Sutton Seattle
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Randy Terbush Covalent Technologies, California
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesApache Emeritus (old group members now off doing other things)
0a39e7683f6611d66c55712f50bb240428d832a1bnicholes Rob Hartill Internet Movie DB, UK
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes David Robinson Cambridge University, UK
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Robert S. Thau MIT, Massachusetts
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Andrew Wilson Freelance Consultant, UK
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesOther major contributors
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Howard Fear (mod_include), Florent Guillaume (language negotiation),
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Koen Holtman (rewrite of mod_negotiation),
ac7985784d08a3655291f24f711812b4d8b1cbcffuankg Kevin Hughes (creator of all those nifty icons),
0662ed52e814f8f08ef0e09956413a792584eddffuankg Brandon Long and Beth Frank (NCSA Server Development Team, post-1.3),
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Ambarish Malpani (Beginning of the NT port),
ac7985784d08a3655291f24f711812b4d8b1cbcffuankg Rob McCool (original author of the NCSA httpd 1.3),
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Paul Richards (convinced the group to use remote CVS after 1.0),
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes Garey Smiley (OS/2 port), Henry Spencer (author of the regex library).
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesMany 3rd-party modules, frequently used and recommended, are also
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesfreely-available and linked from the related projects page:
ac7985784d08a3655291f24f711812b4d8b1cbcffuankg<http://modules.apache.org/>, and their authors frequently
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholescontribute ideas, patches, and testing.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesHundreds of people have made individual contributions to the Apache
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesproject. Patch contributors are listed in the src/CHANGES file.
0662ed52e814f8f08ef0e09956413a792584eddffuankgFrequent contributors have included Petr Lampa, Tom Tromey, James H.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesCloos Jr., Ed Korthof, Nathan Neulinger, Jason S. Clary, Jason A. Dour,
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesMichael Douglass, Tony Sanders, Brian Tao, Michael Smith, Adam Sussman,
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesNathan Schrenk, Matthew Gray, and John Heidemann.
0662ed52e814f8f08ef0e09956413a792584eddffuankg ============================================================================
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesHow to become involved in the Apache project
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesThere are several levels of contributing. If you just want to send
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesin an occasional suggestion/fix, then you can just use the bug reporting
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesform at <http://www.apache.org/bug_report.html>. You can also subscribe
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesto the announcements mailing list (apache-announce@apache.org) which we
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesuse to broadcast information about new releases, bugfixes, and upcoming
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesevents. There's a lot of information about the development process (much
0662ed52e814f8f08ef0e09956413a792584eddffuankgof it in serious need of updating) to be found at <http://dev.apache.org/>.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesIf you'd like to become an active contributor to the Apache project (the
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesgroup of volunteers who vote on changes to the distributed server), then
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesyou need to start by subscribing to the new-httpd@apache.org mailing list.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesOne warning though: traffic is high, 1000 to 1500 messages/month.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesTo subscribe to the list, send "subscribe new-httpd" in the body of
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesa message to <majordomo@apache.org>. We recommend reading the list for
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesa while before trying to jump in to development.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes NOTE: The developer mailing list (new-httpd@apache.org) is not
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes a user support forum; it is for people actively working on development
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes of the server code and documentation, and for planning future
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes directions. If you have user/configuration questions, send them
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes to the USENET newsgroup "comp.infosystems.www.servers.unix".
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesThere is a core group of contributors (informally called the "core")
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholeswhich was formed from the project founders and is augmented from time
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesto time when core members nominate outstanding contributors and the
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesrest of the core members agree. The core group focus is more on
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes"business" issues and limited-circulation things like security problems
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesthan on mainstream code development. The term "The Apache Group"
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholestechnically refers to this core of project contributors.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesThe Apache project is a meritocracy -- the more work you have done, the more
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesyou are allowed to do. The group founders set the original rules, but
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesthey can be changed by vote of the active members. There is a group
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesof people who have logins on our server (apache.org) and access to the
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesCVS repository. Everyone has access to the CVS snapshots. Changes to
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesthe code are proposed on the mailing list and usually voted on by active
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesmembers -- three +1 (yes votes) and no -1 (no votes, or vetoes) are needed
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesto commit a code change during a release cycle; docs are usually committed
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesfirst and then changed as needed, with conflicts resolved by majority vote.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesOur primary method of communication is our mailing list. Approximately 40
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesmessages a day flow over the list, and are typically very conversational in
ac7985784d08a3655291f24f711812b4d8b1cbcffuankgtone. We discuss new features to add, bug fixes, user problems, developments
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesin the web server community, release dates, etc. The actual code development
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholestakes place on the developers' local machines, with proposed changes
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholescommunicated using a patch (output of a unified "diff -u oldfile newfile"
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholescommand), and committed to the source repository by one of the core
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesdevelopers using remote CVS. Anyone on the mailing list can vote on a
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesparticular issue, but we only count those made by active members or people
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholeswho are known to be experts on that part of the server. Vetoes must be
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesaccompanied by a convincing explanation.
9046ab142ed19505e034af0afb8c15be512b8526bnicholesNew members of the Apache Group are added when a frequent contributor is
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesnominated by one member and unanimously approved by the voting members.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesIn most cases, this "new" member has been actively contributing to the
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesgroup's work for over six months, so it's usually an easy decision.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesThe above describes our past and current (as of July 2000) guidelines,
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholeswhich will probably change over time as the membership of the group
ac7985784d08a3655291f24f711812b4d8b1cbcffuankgchanges and our development/coordination tools improve.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes ============================================================================
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesThe Apache Software Foundation (www.apache.org)
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesThe Apache Software Foundation exists to provide organizational, legal,
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesand financial support for the Apache open-source software projects.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesFounded in June 1999 by the Apache Group, the Foundation has been
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesincorporated as a membership-based, not-for-profit corporation in order
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesto ensure that the Apache projects continue to exist beyond the participation
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesof individual volunteers, to enable contributions of intellectual property
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesand funds on a sound basis, and to provide a vehicle for limiting legal
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesexposure while participating in open-source software projects.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesYou are invited to participate in The Apache Software Foundation. We welcome
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholescontributions in many forms. Our membership consists of those individuals
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholeswho have demonstrated a commitment to collaborative open-source software
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesdevelopment through sustained participation and contributions within the
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesFoundation's projects. Many people and companies have contributed towards
ac7985784d08a3655291f24f711812b4d8b1cbcffuankgthe success of the Apache projects.
609ef720afd62ca63391c9fdb415cd2faf29aa46bnicholes ============================================================================
ac7985784d08a3655291f24f711812b4d8b1cbcffuankgWhy Apache Is Free
ac7985784d08a3655291f24f711812b4d8b1cbcffuankgApache exists to provide a robust and commercial-grade reference
ac7985784d08a3655291f24f711812b4d8b1cbcffuankgimplementation of the HTTP protocol. It must remain a platform upon which
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesindividuals and institutions can build reliable systems, both for
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesexperimental purposes and for mission-critical purposes. We believe the
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholestools of online publishing should be in the hands of everyone, and
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholessoftware companies should make their money providing value-added services
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholessuch as specialized modules and support, amongst other things. We realize
ac7985784d08a3655291f24f711812b4d8b1cbcffuankgthat it is often seen as an economic advantage for one company to "own" a
ac7985784d08a3655291f24f711812b4d8b1cbcffuankgmarket - in the software industry that means to control tightly a
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesparticular conduit such that all others must pay. This is typically done
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesby "owning" the protocols through which companies conduct business, at the
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesexpense of all those other companies. To the extent that the protocols of
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesthe World Wide Web remain "unowned" by a single company, the Web will
ac7985784d08a3655291f24f711812b4d8b1cbcffuankgremain a level playing field for companies large and small. Thus,
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholes"ownership" of the protocol must be prevented, and the existence of a
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesrobust reference implementation of the protocol, available absolutely for
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesfree to all companies, is a tremendously good thing.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesFurthermore, Apache is an organic entity; those who benefit from it
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesby using it often contribute back to it by providing feature enhancements,
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesbug fixes, and support for others in public newsgroups. The amount of
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholeseffort expended by any particular individual is usually fairly light, but
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesthe resulting product is made very strong. This kind of community can
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesonly happen with freeware -- when someone pays for software, they usually
ac7985784d08a3655291f24f711812b4d8b1cbcffuankgaren't willing to fix its bugs. One can argue, then, that Apache's
0662ed52e814f8f08ef0e09956413a792584eddffuankgstrength comes from the fact that it's free, and if it were made "not
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesfree" it would suffer tremendously, even if that money were spent on a
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesreal development team.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesWe want to see Apache used very widely -- by large companies, small
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholescompanies, research institutions, schools, individuals, in the intranet
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesenvironment, everywhere -- even though this may mean that companies who
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholescould afford commercial software, and would pay for it without blinking,
8410c53aaf5e0372a19d5f4d2bc696b9c609ce3cbnicholesmight get a "free ride" by using Apache. We would even be happy if some
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholescommercial software companies completely dropped their own HTTP server
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesdevelopment plans and used Apache as a base, with the proper attributions
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesas described in the LICENSE file.
bb2b38cd44b032118359afbc743efbea12f48e61bnicholesThanks for using Apache!