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GNUmed

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Apache HTTP Server
Developer(s)GNUmed community
Stable release
0.1 / June, 2006
Repository
Operating systemCross-platform
TypeMedical practice management software
Websitewww.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 GNUmed was created by Horst, who .... When Horst left the projects in mid-19xx, the development of GNUmed was picked up by Karsten Hilbert who took over as project leader and has initiated a somewhat complete overhaul

Karsten Hilbert was not alone in his efforts. Several other developers from all around the world joined the team and helped helped ot one time or the other: Syan Tan, Ian Haywood, Hilmar Berger, Sebastian Hilbert, Carlos Moro, Michael Bonert, Rcihard Terry, Tony Lembke and many more. While some concentrated on coding many more tremendously helped by creating execellent documentation (Jim Busser) or submitted other valueable comments.

The name was initially chosen to give credit to the GNU project and GNUmed's obvious connection to the medical profession. The logo depicts a Gnu as a reference to the GNU project accompanied by a python as a reference to the programming language as well as to the medical profession.

At the time, GNUmed was just another open source project aiming to become an alternative to the etsablished EMRs. It has since evolved to rival other EMRs in terms of functionality and performance.

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

describing virtual name-based hosting on Windows XP.

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.