GNUmed

Apache HTTP Server

Apache HTTPd Logo Apache HTTPd Logo
Developer(s)	GNUmed community
Stable release	0.1 / June, 2006
Repository	github.com/ncqgm/gnumed.git
Operating system	Cross-platform
Type	Medical practice management software
Website	www.gnumed.org

GNUmed is a free software/open source medical practice management software for Unix-like systems (BSD, Linux, and UNIX systems), Microsoft Windows, MacOSX and other platforms. The GNUmed community is busy building a medical software package that will be open source, free, secure, respectful of patient privacy, based on open standards , flexible, fully featured. networked (client-server architecture), easy to use, multi platform and multi lingual.

GNUmed is based on highly respected and tested third party projects such as free software/open source DBMS PostgresSQL and is written mostly in python. It is supported by a graphical user interface (GUIs) based on WxPython which provides an easy , more intuitive way to use GNUmed.

The GNUmed practice management is developed and maintained by an open community of developers.

History

The first version of the Apache web server was created by Rob McCool, who was heavily involved with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications web server, known simply as NCSA HTTPd. When Rob left NCSA in mid-1994, the development of httpd stalled, leaving a variety of patches for improvements circulating through e-mails.

Rob McCool was not alone in his efforts. Several other developers helped form the original "Apache Group": Brian Behlendorf, Roy T. Fielding, Rob Hartill, David Robinson, Cliff Skolnick, Randy Terbush, Robert S. Thau, Andrew Wilson, Eric Hagberg, Frank Peters, and Nicolas Pioch.

The author claims the name was initially chosen as a catchy name in order to be original, but the most widespread interpretation (which almost immediately surfaced) is that the name comes from the fact that when it was developed in early 1995, it consisted of changes in the code to the most popular HTTP server of the time, NCSA HTTPd 1.3 and was therefore "a patchy" server. However, in the FAQ on the server's official site, it is stated: "The name 'Apache' was chosen from respect for the Native American Indian tribe of Apache (Indé), well-known for their superior skills in warfare strategy and their inexhaustible endurance."

At the time, Apache was the only viable open source alternative to the Netscape web server (currently known as Sun Java System Web Server). It has since evolved to rival other Unix-based HTTP servers in terms of functionality and performance. Since April 1996 Apache has been the most popular HTTP server on the Internet. By May 1999 Apache installations served 57% of all web sites. Its popularity continued to rise, and in February 2006 Apache served 68% of all web sites (Netcraft Web Server Survey, February 2006). Microsoft's Internet Information Services (IIS) is the main competitor to Apache, trailed by Sun Microsystem's Sun Java Web Server and a host of other applications such as Zeus.

License

Main article: Apache License

The License under which software from the Apache Foundation is distributed is a distinctive part of the Apache HTTP Server's history and presence in the open source software environment. The Apache License is atypical in that it allows for the distribution of both open- and closed-source derivations of the source code.

Furthermore, it is perhaps surprising that the Free Software Foundation does not consider the Apache License to be "compatible" with version 2.0 of the GPL, meaning that software licensed under the Apache License cannot be integrated with software that is distributed under the GPL. Here is what the FSF says about the Apache License:

This is a free software license but it is incompatible with the GPL. The Apache Software License is incompatible with the GPL because it has a specific requirement that is not in the GPL: it has certain patent termination cases that the GPL does not require. (We don't think those patent termination cases are inherently a bad idea, but nonetheless they are incompatible with the GNU GPL.)

The current draft of Version 3 of the GPL includes a provision (Section 7e) which allows it to be compatible with licenses that have patent retaliation clauses, including the Apache License.

Usage

Apache is primarily used to serve static and dynamic content on the World Wide Web. Many web applications are designed expecting the environment and features that Apache provides.

Apache is the web server component of the popular web server application stack called LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP/Perl/Python).

Apache is redistributed as part of various proprietary packages, for example: the Oracle database or the IBM WebSphere application server. Mac OS X integrates Apache as its built-in web server. It is also supported in some way by Borland in the Kylix and Delphi development tools. Apache is included with Novell Netware 6.5, where it is the default web server.

Apache is used for many other tasks where content needs to be made available in a secure and reliable way. One example is sharing files from a personal computer over the Internet. A user who has Apache installed on their desktop can put arbitrary files in the Apache's document root which can then be shared.

Programmers developing web applications often use a locally installed version of Apache in order to preview and test code as it is being developed.

Features

Apache supports a variety of features, many implemented as compiled modules which extend the core functionality. These can range from server-side programming language support to authentication schemes. Some common language interfaces support Perl, Python, Tcl, and PHP. Popular authentication modules include mod_access, mod_auth, and mod_digest. A sample of other features include SSL and TLS support (mod_ssl), a proxy module, a useful URL rewriter (also known as a rewrite engine, implemented under mod_rewrite), custom log files (mod_log_config), and filtering support (mod_include and mod_ext_filter). Apache logs can be analysed through a web browser using free scripts such as AWStats or Visitors.

Apache 2

Version 2 of the Apache server was written from scratch and contains no code from NCSA. The Apache 2.x core has several major enhancements over Apache 1.x. These include UNIX threading, better support for non-Unix platforms (such as Windows), a new Apache API, and IPv6 support.

Version 2.2 introduced a new auth API that allows for more flexibility. It also features improved cache modules and proxy modules.

See also

• Comparison of web servers
• Stronghold, commercial version formerly distributed by Red Hat
• ApacheBench
• POSSE project

External links

• Apache official website
• Apache Win32 binaries
• Apache 2.x source code repository
• ONLamp.com Apache DevCenter
• Apache Week
• Apache News Online
• Installing and configuring Apache on Windows XP - step-by-step tutorial

describing virtual name-based hosting on Windows XP.

• Apache on Windows Knowledge base

Further reading

• Lopez, Daniel (June 12, 2002). Sams Teach Yourself Apache 2 in 24 Hours. Sams. ISBN 0672323559.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link) Excellent easy to use book, the 3rd chapter, which explains how to install Apache, can be viewed on Amazon.com here (must register with Amazon first before viewing book pages) Page 45 explains how to download Apache on windows.
• Wrightson, Katherine (September 5, 2001). Apache Server 2.0: A Beginner's Guide. Osborne/McGraw-Hill. ISBN 007219183X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link) Complex language makes this guide difficult to understand except for computer administrators familiar with the jargon.

This article is based on material taken from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing prior to 1 November 2008 and incorporated under the "relicensing" terms of the GFDL, version 1.3 or later.