ABOUT_APACHE revision f3c3c5ccce44e5a68b23a3360d30e7fd7e3e1ad4
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd The Apache HTTP Server Project
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd February 2002
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndThe Apache Project is a collaborative software development effort aimed
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndat creating a robust, commercial-grade, featureful, and freely-available
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndsource code implementation of an HTTP (Web) server. The project is
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndjointly managed by a group of volunteers located around the world, using
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndthe Internet and the Web to communicate, plan, and develop the server and
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndits related documentation. These volunteers are known as the Apache Group.
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndIn addition, hundreds of users have contributed ideas, code, and
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nddocumentation to the project. This file is intended to briefly describe
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndthe history of the Apache Group, recognize the many contributors, and
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndexplain how you can join the fun too.
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndIn February of 1995, the most popular server software on the Web was the
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndpublic domain HTTP daemon developed by Rob McCool at the National Center
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndfor Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndHowever, development of that httpd had stalled after Rob left NCSA in
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndmid-1994, and many webmasters had developed their own extensions and bug
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndfixes that were in need of a common distribution. A small group of these
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndwebmasters, contacted via private e-mail, gathered together for the purpose
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndof coordinating their changes (in the form of "patches"). Brian Behlendorf
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndand Cliff Skolnick put together a mailing list, shared information space,
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndand logins for the core developers on a machine in the California Bay Area,
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndwith bandwidth and diskspace donated by HotWired and Organic Online.
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndBy the end of February, eight core contributors formed the foundation
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndof the original Apache Group:
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Brian Behlendorf Roy T. Fielding Rob Hartill
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd David Robinson Cliff Skolnick Randy Terbush
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Robert S. Thau Andrew Wilson
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndwith additional contributions from
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Eric Hagberg Frank Peters Nicolas Pioch
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndUsing NCSA httpd 1.3 as a base, we added all of the published bug fixes
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndand worthwhile enhancements we could find, tested the result on our own
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndservers, and made the first official public release (0.6.2) of the Apache
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndserver in April 1995. By coincidence, NCSA restarted their own development
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndduring the same period, and Brandon Long and Beth Frank of the NCSA Server
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndDevelopment Team joined the list in March as honorary members so that the
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndtwo projects could share ideas and fixes.
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndThe early Apache server was a big hit, but we all knew that the codebase
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndneeded a general overhaul and redesign. During May-June 1995, while
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndRob Hartill and the rest of the group focused on implementing new features
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndfor 0.7.x (like pre-forked child processes) and supporting the rapidly growing
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndApache user community, Robert Thau designed a new server architecture
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd(code-named Shambhala) which included a modular structure and API for better
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndextensibility, pool-based memory allocation, and an adaptive pre-forking
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndprocess model. The group switched to this new server base in July and added
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndthe features from 0.7.x, resulting in Apache 0.8.8 (and its brethren)
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndAfter extensive beta testing, many ports to obscure platforms, a new set
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndof documentation (by David Robinson), and the addition of many features
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndin the form of our standard modules, Apache 1.0 was released on
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndDecember 1, 1995.
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndLess than a year after the group was formed, the Apache server passed
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndNCSA's httpd as the #1 server on the Internet.
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndThe survey by Netcraft (http://www.netcraft.com/survey/) shows that Apache
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndis today more widely used than all other web servers combined.
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd ============================================================================
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndCurrent Apache Group in alphabetical order as of 17 March 2002:
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Greg Ames IBM Corporation, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Aaron Bannert Covalent Technologies, California
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Brian Behlendorf Collab.Net, California
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Ryan Bloom Covalent Technologies, California
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Ken Coar IBM Corporation, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Mark J. Cox Red Hat, England
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Lars Eilebrecht Freelance Consultant, Munich, Germany
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Ralf S. Engelschall Cable & Wireless Deutschland, Munich, Germany
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Justin Erenkrantz eBuilt, California
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Roy T. Fielding Day Software, California
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Tony Finch Covalent Technologies, California
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Dean Gaudet Transmeta Corporation, California
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Dirk-Willem van Gulik Covalent Technologies, California
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Brian Havard Australia
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Ian Holsman CNET, California
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Ben Hyde Gensym, Massachusetts
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Jim Jagielski jaguNET Access Services, Maryland
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Manoj Kasichainula Collab.Net, California
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Alexei Kosut Stanford University, California
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Martin Kraemer Munich, Germany
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Ben Laurie Freelance Consultant, UK
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Rasmus Lerdorf Linuxcare, California
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Daniel Lopez Ridruejo Covalent Technologies, California
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Doug MacEachern Covalent Technologies, California
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Aram W. Mirzadeh CableVision, New York
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Chuck Murcko The Topsail Group, Pennsylvania
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Brian Pane CNET Networks, California
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Sameer Parekh California
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd David Reid UK
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd William A. Rowe, Jr. Covalent, Illinois
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Wilfredo Sanchez Apple Computer, California
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Cliff Skolnick California
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Marc Slemko Canada
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Joshua Slive Canada
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Greg Stein California
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Bill Stoddard IBM Corporation, Research Triangle Park, NC
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Paul Sutton Seattle
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Randy Terbush Covalent Technologies, California
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Jeff Trawick IBM Corporation, Research Triangle Park, NC
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Cliff Woolley University of Virginia
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndApache Emeritus (old group members now off doing other things)
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Rob Hartill Internet Movie DB, UK
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd David Robinson Cambridge University, UK
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Robert S. Thau MIT, Massachusetts
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Andrew Wilson Freelance Consultant, UK
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndOther major contributors
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Howard Fear (mod_include), Florent Guillaume (language negotiation),
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Koen Holtman (rewrite of mod_negotiation),
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Kevin Hughes (creator of all those nifty icons),
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Brandon Long and Beth Frank (NCSA Server Development Team, post-1.3),
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Ambarish Malpani (Beginning of the NT port),
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Rob McCool (original author of the NCSA httpd 1.3),
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Paul Richards (convinced the group to use remote CVS after 1.0),
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd Garey Smiley (OS/2 port), Henry Spencer (author of the regex library).
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndMany 3rd-party modules, frequently used and recommended, are also
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndfreely-available and linked from the related projects page:
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd<http://modules.apache.org/>, and their authors frequently
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndcontribute ideas, patches, and testing.
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndHundreds of people have made individual contributions to the Apache
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndproject. Patch contributors are listed in the CHANGES file.
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndFrequent contributors have included Petr Lampa, Tom Tromey, James H.
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndCloos Jr., Ed Korthof, Nathan Neulinger, Jason S. Clary, Jason A. Dour,
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndMichael Douglass, Tony Sanders, Brian Tao, Michael Smith, Adam Sussman,
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndNathan Schrenk, Matthew Gray, and John Heidemann.
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd ============================================================================
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndHow to become involved in the Apache project
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndThere are several levels of contributing. If you just want to send
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndin an occasional suggestion/fix, then you can just use the bug reporting
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndform at <http://httpd.apache.org/bug_report.html>. You can also subscribe
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndto the announcements mailing list (announce-subscribe@httpd.apache.org) which
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndwe use to broadcast information about new releases, bugfixes, and upcoming
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndevents. There's a lot of information about the development process (much of
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndit in serious need of updating) to be found at <http://httpd.apache.org/dev/>.
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndIf you'd like to become an active contributor to the Apache project (the
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndgroup of volunteers who vote on changes to the distributed server), then
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndyou need to start by subscribing to the dev@httpd.apache.org mailing list.
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndOne warning though: traffic is high, 1000 to 1500 messages/month.
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndTo subscribe to the list, send an email to dev-subscribe@httpd.apache.org.
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndWe recommend reading the list for a while before trying to jump in to
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nddevelopment.
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd NOTE: The developer mailing list (dev@httpd.apache.org) is not
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd a user support forum; it is for people actively working on development
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd of the server code and documentation, and for planning future
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd directions. If you have user/configuration questions, send them
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd to users list <http://httpd.apache.org/userslist> or to the USENET
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662nd newsgroup "comp.infosystems.www.servers.unix".or for windows users,
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndThere is a core group of contributors (informally called the "core")
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndwhich was formed from the project founders and is augmented from time
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndto time when core members nominate outstanding contributors and the
53a17e7ebf0eec94856bc1c63d4bee52c412f662ndrest of the core members agree. The core group focus is more on
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9nd"business" issues and limited-circulation things like security problems
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndthan on mainstream code development. The term "The Apache Group"
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndtechnically refers to this core of project contributors.
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndThe Apache project is a meritocracy -- the more work you have done, the more
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndyou are allowed to do. The group founders set the original rules, but
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndthey can be changed by vote of the active members. There is a group
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndof people who have logins on our server (apache.org) and access to the
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndCVS repository. Everyone has access to the CVS snapshots. Changes to
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndthe code are proposed on the mailing list and usually voted on by active
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndmembers -- three +1 (yes votes) and no -1 (no votes, or vetoes) are needed
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndto commit a code change during a release cycle; docs are usually committed
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndfirst and then changed as needed, with conflicts resolved by majority vote.
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndOur primary method of communication is our mailing list. Approximately 40
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndmessages a day flow over the list, and are typically very conversational in
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndtone. We discuss new features to add, bug fixes, user problems, developments
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndin the web server community, release dates, etc. The actual code development
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndtakes place on the developers' local machines, with proposed changes
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndcommunicated using a patch (output of a unified "diff -u oldfile newfile"
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndcommand), and committed to the source repository by one of the core
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9nddevelopers using remote CVS. Anyone on the mailing list can vote on a
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndparticular issue, but we only count those made by active members or people
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndwho are known to be experts on that part of the server. Vetoes must be
ea981941b1e5ecfb1a27b9e9aff32b9c98640ed9ndaccompanied by a convincing explanation.
f3220f54126b25e1cf93cc26c17177b7aef850fdfieldingNew members of the Apache Group are added when a frequent contributor is
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardnominated by one member and unanimously approved by the voting members.
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardIn most cases, this "new" member has been actively contributing to the
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardgroup's work for over six months, so it's usually an easy decision.
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardThe above describes our past and current (as of July 2000) guidelines,
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardwhich will probably change over time as the membership of the group
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardchanges and our development/coordination tools improve.
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddard ============================================================================
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardThe Apache Software Foundation (www.apache.org)
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardThe Apache Software Foundation exists to provide organizational, legal,
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardand financial support for the Apache open-source software projects.
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardFounded in June 1999 by the Apache Group, the Foundation has been
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardincorporated as a membership-based, not-for-profit corporation in order
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardto ensure that the Apache projects continue to exist beyond the participation
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardof individual volunteers, to enable contributions of intellectual property
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardand funds on a sound basis, and to provide a vehicle for limiting legal
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardexposure while participating in open-source software projects.
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardYou are invited to participate in The Apache Software Foundation. We welcome
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardcontributions in many forms. Our membership consists of those individuals
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardwho have demonstrated a commitment to collaborative open-source software
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddarddevelopment through sustained participation and contributions within the
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardFoundation's projects. Many people and companies have contributed towards
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardthe success of the Apache projects.
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddard ============================================================================
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardWhy Apache Is Free
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardApache exists to provide a robust and commercial-grade reference
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardimplementation of the HTTP protocol. It must remain a platform upon which
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardindividuals and institutions can build reliable systems, both for
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardexperimental purposes and for mission-critical purposes. We believe the
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardtools of online publishing should be in the hands of everyone, and
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardsoftware companies should make their money providing value-added services
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardsuch as specialized modules and support, amongst other things. We realize
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardthat it is often seen as an economic advantage for one company to "own" a
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardmarket - in the software industry that means to control tightly a
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardparticular conduit such that all others must pay. This is typically done
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardby "owning" the protocols through which companies conduct business, at the
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardexpense of all those other companies. To the extent that the protocols of
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardthe World Wide Web remain "unowned" by a single company, the Web will
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardremain a level playing field for companies large and small. Thus,
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddard"ownership" of the protocol must be prevented, and the existence of a
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardrobust reference implementation of the protocol, available absolutely for
27c4fea6bf9f9008c0bf2042871d84e17fe4378epquernafree to all companies, is a tremendously good thing.
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardFurthermore, Apache is an organic entity; those who benefit from it
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardby using it often contribute back to it by providing feature enhancements,
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardbug fixes, and support for others in public newsgroups. The amount of
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardeffort expended by any particular individual is usually fairly light, but
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardthe resulting product is made very strong. This kind of community can
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardonly happen with freeware -- when someone pays for software, they usually
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardaren't willing to fix its bugs. One can argue, then, that Apache's
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardstrength comes from the fact that it's free, and if it were made "not
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardfree" it would suffer tremendously, even if that money were spent on a
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardreal development team.
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardWe want to see Apache used very widely -- by large companies, small
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardcompanies, research institutions, schools, individuals, in the intranet
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardenvironment, everywhere -- even though this may mean that companies who
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardcould afford commercial software, and would pay for it without blinking,
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardmight get a "free ride" by using Apache. We would even be happy if some
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardcommercial software companies completely dropped their own HTTP server
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddarddevelopment plans and used Apache as a base, with the proper attributions
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardas described in the LICENSE file.
1d76334bbce94162d9135b43b7d2517ab6f9ffacstoddardThanks for using Apache!