Additional word-smithing is welcome; I was interested in dropping some of the anachronisms, and trying to reflect the foundation in place of all the HTTP-centric focus of describing "Apache".
We could still use a brief summary of why 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and of course, why 2.0 exists. Possibly could make the pre-1.0 history a bit briefer. Actually this would be a pretty cool document to offer some translations of :) But save that a week or so till folks pipe up on the English master doc. Author: wrowe >Date: Sun Jun 12 21:51:46 2005 >New Revision: 190348 > >URL: http://svn.apache.org/viewcvs?rev=190348&view=rev >Log: >Bring another doc into the 21st century, feedback and improvements welcome > >Modified: > httpd/site/trunk/xdocs/ABOUT_APACHE.xml > >Modified: httpd/site/trunk/xdocs/ABOUT_APACHE.xml >URL: >http://svn.apache.org/viewcvs/httpd/site/trunk/xdocs/ABOUT_APACHE.xml?rev=190348&r1=190347&r2=190348&view=diff >============================================================================== >--- httpd/site/trunk/xdocs/ABOUT_APACHE.xml (original) >+++ httpd/site/trunk/xdocs/ABOUT_APACHE.xml Sun Jun 12 21:51:46 2005 >@@ -8,15 +8,16 @@ > <section id="WhatIs"> > <title>What IS the Apache HTTP Server Project?</title> > >-<p>The Apache Project is a collaborative software development effort aimed >-at creating a robust, commercial-grade, featureful, and freely-available >-source code implementation of an HTTP (Web) server. The project is >-jointly managed by a group of volunteers located around the world, using >-the Internet and the Web to communicate, plan, and develop the server and >-its related documentation. These volunteers are known as the Apache Group. >-In addition, hundreds of users have contributed ideas, code, and >-documentation to the project. This file is intended to briefly describe >-the history of the Apache Group and recognize the many contributors. >+<p>The Apache HTTP Server Project is a collaborative software development >+effort aimed at creating a robust, commercial-grade, featureful, and >+freely-available source code implementation of an HTTP (Web) server. >+The project is jointly managed by a group of volunteers located around >+the world, using the Internet and the Web to communicate, plan, and develop >+the server and its related documentation. This project is part of the >+Apache Software Foundation. In addition, hundreds of users have contributed >+ideas, code, and documentation to the project. This file is intended to >+briefly describe the history of the Apache HTTP Server and recognize the >+many contributors. > </p> > </section> > >@@ -102,10 +103,11 @@ > it retains that position today.</p> > > <p>In 1999, members of the Apache Group formed the <a >-href="http://www.apache.org";>Apache Software Foundation</a> to provide >+href="http://www.apache.org/";>Apache Software Foundation</a> to provide > organizational, legal, and financial support for the Apache HTTP > Server. The foundation has placed the software on a solid footing for >-future development.</p> >+future development, and greatly expanded the number of Open Source >+software projects, which fall under this Foundation's umbrella.</p> > > </section> > >@@ -126,12 +128,13 @@ > > <blockquote> > <strong>NOTE:</strong> >-The developer mailing list is not >-a user support forum; it is for people actively working on development >-of the server code and documentation, and for planning future >-directions. If you have user/configuration questions, send them >-to the <a href="../userslist.html">Users list</a> or the USENET newsgroup >- "<a href="news:comp.infosystems.www.servers.unix";><samp >+The developer mailing list is NOT a user support forum; it is for >+people actively working on development of the server code. There >+is also a 'docs' subproject for those who are actively developing >+and translating the documentation. If you have user/configuration >+questions, subscribe to the <a href="../userslist.html">Users list</a> >+or try the USENET newsgroups >+"<a href="news:comp.infosystems.www.servers.unix";><samp > >comp.infosystems.www.servers.unix</samp></a>" or > "<a href="news:comp.infosystems.www.servers.ms-windows";><samp > >comp.infosystems.www.servers.ms-windows</samp></a>" >@@ -141,21 +144,22 @@ > > <section id="Development"> > >-<p>There is a core group of contributors (informally called the >-"core") which was formed from the project founders and is >-augmented from time to time when core members nominate outstanding >-contributors and the rest of the core members agree. The core group >-focus is more on "business" issues and limited-circulation >-things like security problems than on mainstream code development. >-The term "The Apache Group" technically refers to this core of >-project contributors.</p> >- >-<p>The Apache Group is a meritocracy -- the more work you have done, the >-more you are allowed to do. The group founders set the original rules, but >-they can be changed by vote of the active members. There is a group >-of people who have logins on our server and access to the >-CVS repository. Everyone has access to the CVS snapshots. Changes to >-the code are proposed on the mailing list and usually voted on by active >+<p>There is a core group of contributors, formed from the project >+founders, which is augmented from time to time with the outstanding >+contributors. There are 'committers', who are granted access to the >+source code control respositories to help maintain the project or docs, >+and the core group now managing the project is called the Apache HTTP >+Project Management Committee (PMC, for short). In fact, each Apache >+Software Foundation project has its own PMC to determine committers, >+project direction and overall management. The terms "The Apache >+Group" or "Apache Core" are no longer used.</p> >+ >+<p>The project is a meritocracy -- the more work you have done, the more >+you are allowed to do. The group founders set the original rules, but >+they can be changed by vote of the active PMC members. There is a group >+of people who have logins on our server and access to the source code >+repositories. Everyone has read-only access to the repositories. Changes >+to the code are proposed on the mailing list and usually voted on by active > members -- three +1 (yes votes) and no -1 (no votes, or vetoes) are needed > to commit a code change during a release cycle; docs are usually committed > first and then changed as needed, with conflicts resolved by majority vote. >@@ -167,30 +171,31 @@ > in the web server community, release dates, etc. The actual code development > takes place on the developers' local machines, with proposed changes > communicated using a patch (output of a unified >-"diff -u oldfile newfile" command), and committed >-to the source repository by one of the core developers using remote CVS. >+"diff -u oldfile newfile" command), and then applied to the >+source code control repositories by one of the committers. > Anyone on the mailing list can vote on a particular issue, but we only > count those made by active members or people who are known to be experts > on that part of the server. Vetoes must be accompanied by a convincing >-explanation.</p> >+technical justification.</p> > >-<p>New members of the Apache Group are added when a frequent contributor is >-nominated by one member and unanimously approved by the voting members. >-In most cases, this "new" member has been actively contributing >-to the group's work for over six months, so it's usually an easy decision. >+<p>New members of the Apache HTTP Project Management Committee are added >+when a frequent contributor is nominated by one member and unanimously >+approved by the voting members. In most cases, this "new" member >+has been actively contributing to the group's work for over six months, so >+it's usually an easy decision. > </p> > >-<p>The above describes our past and current (as of January 1998) guidelines, >-which will probably change over time as the membership of the group changes >-and our development/coordination tools improve.</p> >+<p>The project guidelines continously evolve under the oversight of the PMC, >+as the membership of the group changes and our development/coordination tools >+improve.</p> > </section> > > <section> >-<title>Why Apache is Free</title> >+<title>Why Apache Software is Free</title> > >-<p>Apache exists to provide a robust and commercial-grade reference >-implementation of the HTTP protocol. It must remain a platform upon which >-individuals and institutions can build reliable systems, both for >+<p>Apache Software exists to provide robust and commercial-grade reference >+implementations of many types of software. It must remain a platform upon >+which individuals and institutions can build reliable systems, both for > experimental purposes and for mission-critical purposes. We believe the > tools of online publishing should be in the hands of everyone, and > software companies should make their money providing value-added services >@@ -203,31 +208,35 @@ > To the extent that the protocols of the World Wide Web remain > "unowned" by a single company, the Web will remain a level > playing field for companies large and small. Thus, "ownership" >-of the protocol must be prevented, and the existence of a robust reference >-implementation of the protocol, available absolutely for free to all >-companies, is a tremendously good thing.</p> >- >-<p>Furthermore, Apache is an organic entity; those who benefit from it >-by using it often contribute back to it by providing feature enhancements, >-bug fixes, and support for others in public newsgroups. The amount of >-effort expended by any particular individual is usually fairly light, but >-the resulting product is made very strong. This kind of community can >-only happen with freeware -- when someone pays for software, they usually >-aren't willing to fix its bugs. One can argue, then, that Apache's >-strength comes from the fact that it's free, and if it were made >-"not free" it would suffer tremendously, even if that money >-were spent on a real development team.</p> >+of the protocols must be prevented, and the existence of a robust reference >+implementations of various protocols and application programming interfaces, >+available free to all companies and individuals, is a tremendously good >+thing.</p> >+ >+<p>Furthermore, the Apache Software Foundation is an organic entity; those >+who benefit from this software by using it often contribute back to it by >+providing feature enhancements, bug fixes, and support for others in public >+lists and newsgroups. The amount of effort expended by any particular >+individual is usually fairly light, but the resulting product is made very >+strong. These kinds of communities can only happen with freely available >+software -- when someone pays for software, they usually aren't willing to >+fix its bugs. One can argue, then, that Apache's strength comes from the >+fact that it's free, and if it were made "not free" it would >+suffer tremendously, even if that money were spent on a real development >+team.</p> > >-<p>We want to see Apache used very widely -- by large companies, small >-companies, research institutions, schools, individuals, in the intranet >+<p>We want to see Apache Software used very widely -- by large companies, >+small companies, research institutions, schools, individuals, in the intranet > environment, everywhere -- even though this may mean that companies who > could afford commercial software, and would pay for it without blinking, >-might get a "free ride" by using Apache. We would even be >-happy if some commercial software companies completely dropped their >-own HTTP server development plans and used Apache as a base, with the >-proper attributions as described in the <a >-href="http://www.apache.org/licenses/";>LICENSE</a>. >-</p> >+might get a "free ride" by using Apache. We are even happy when >+some commercial software companies completely drop their own HTTP server >+development plans and used Apache as a base, with the proper attributions >+as described in the <a href="http://www.apache.org/licenses/";>LICENSE</a>. >+That is to say, Apache HTTP Sever only comes from the Apache Software >+Foundation, although many vendors ship their own product "based on the >+Apache {Project}". There is no "{Vendor} Apache {Product}", this is an >+abuse of the Apache Software Foundation's marks.</p> > </section> > > </body> --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
