The Apache HTTP Server team recently released 1.3.42, the final release of the hugely-popular 1.3 codebase. I wrote a bit about our reasoning, and where we’re going next, in response to some questions from El Reg. A lot of people have been asking about the decision to stop support for 1.3, so I thought I’d republish what I wrote.
Overview
In June 1999, the Apache Software Foundation was incorporated in Delaware.
A year previously, Apache HTTP Server 1.3.0 had been released, and it was rapidly becoming the most popular web server on the planet.
Not known for resting on their laurels, it was barely nine months later that the Apache HTTP Server team released the first alpha of Version 2.0. This was a significant rewrite of much of the original code, focused on improving modularization and portability. It made general release in April 2002, and remained best-of-breed until Version 2.2.0 came out in December 2005.
More than ten years and forty revisions later, Apache HTTP Server 1.3 has reached end-of-life status. Version 2.2 has been available for more than four years, and is widely deployed across the internet. Although critical security fixes may be released as patches for Version 1.3, there will be no further releases or support from the Apache HTTP Server team. We encourage all users of Version 1.3 to upgrade to Version 2.2 as soon as possible.
If you’ve been reading closely, you might be wondering what happened to 2.1, and what the developers were doing between April 2002 and December 2005? Since the advent of Version 2.0, the Apache HTTP Server team have reserved even-numbered minor versions for stable versions of the software. The odd-numbered minor versions are made public as alpha and beta releases, allowing developers to try out the bleeding edge of new features, and giving module authors a chance to prepare their software for the next release.
For anyone working on code that integrates with the Apache HTTP Server, these odd-numbered revisions are your best opportunity to request changes in the API, before it is released as stable!
The current best-of-breed stable version of Apache HTTP Server is Version 2.2.14, released in September 2009. But if you’re already itching to take Version 2.4 for a test drive, you can get a headstart by installing the alpha Version 2.3.5, released just last month. This version includes significant improvements to caching and proxying behaviour, and will eventually be released as Version 2.4.
Why will the 1.3 code no longer be supported or updated?
As I previously mentioned, Apache HTTP Server 1.3.0 was originally released in June 1998. To put that in perspective, it would be another three weeks before Microsoft Windows 98 became available, a product which, despite significant commercial support, reached end-of-life four years ago. The first production 1GHz processors didn’t ship for another two years; today, if you want to buy a 1GHz processor, you’re probably in the market for a new phone!
Version 2 is a significant improvement over 1.3. The API has been rewritten to prevent many of the problems with module ordering and priority. Better support exists for non-Unix platforms, and smart filtering is now available. Version 2.0 includes support for IPv6 and multiple protocols, while Version 2.2 adds LFS, enabling you to serve files over 2GB in size. The core modules for authentication and authorisation have been greatly improved, as well as subsystems from caching to proxying.
In short, technology and the Internet have come a long way in the last twelve years, and Version 1.3 is simply no longer the best-of-breed solution it once was.
What has happened to 2.0? What should 1.3/2.0 users do now?
Version 2.0 continues to enjoy bugfix releases, but does not see active development.
We encourage all users to upgrade to Apache HTTP Server 2.2.14.
What’s the planned features roadmap and release schedule for the next version?
The Apache HTTP Server team release software when it’s ready – we prefer to ensure that our releases represent the best software available, rather than worrying about shipping deadlines. Features currently under development include further updates to auth modules, as well as state-of-the-art cache and proxy modules. If you’re impatient to try these things, you can check out Version 2.3.5 (alpha). Or, if you’d prefer a more academic look at the subject, you might enjoy Roy Fielding’s presentation, “Apache 3.0 (A Tall Tale)”.
Key facts
Apache HTTP Server Version 1.3 has now reached end-of-life status.
The current best-of-breed stable version of the Apache HTTP Server is Version 2.2.14 – we encourage all users to upgrade to this version as soon as possible.
For those who prefer to try out new features as soon as they become available, Version 2.3.5 provides an alpha preview of what will become stable Version 2.4.
The latest version of the Apache HTTP Server is always available from our download page.
Or “Turning Twenty-Five in the San Francisco Bay Area”
As the quarter-century creeps steadily up on me, I’ve been having a blast seeing the sights and meeting friends old and new. I can’t help thinking back to all the things I’ve enjoyed (and suffered through!) along the way. I’ve been incredibly lucky, and I hope that the next 25 years are as fun as the past 25 have been!
The following are just a few of the things that have set me off down memory lane
Winetasting in Napa made me reminisce about collecting Michelin stars with the Ellerays when all we (the kids!) wanted to do was see who could grow the biggest, coolest, oldest Tamagotchi.
A going-away party for the coolest kernel hacker around reminded me of the weekend I spent with Natasha, trying to create a working Linux boot floppy for a hand-me-down machine that didn’t have a bootable CD drive.
Hot-tubbing with engineers, dancers, and a girl who “does circus” was fun – but when we jumped in the (relatively) freezing pool, I was brought straight back to Ennareilly and our “punch, punch, punch-punch-punch” strategy for surviving the cold!
Paddling in the Pacific, well, I’ve done that before – on the other side! Remember Caloundra, and the pelicans?
Of course, the hour-long commute (in a very well-kitted-out bus) puts me more in mind of the camper van. Remember the ginger beer all over the camper? The flies all over the rest stop? The sugar-cane we begged for and then never got through?
Wandering around San Francisco, taking the cable-car to Ghirardelli Square, puts me in mind of our wanderings in Zurich, and all the wonderful times you’ve come to see me. I guess this year it’s my turn to come to you!
On the other hand, getting settled in the corporate apartment, checking out the farmers’ market for lunch, looking for the laundry room, and settling in to a glass of wine and a home-made dinner is more like Munich. That spag bol was great, although I’m glad to have graduated to a slightly bigger kitchen!
When Steve destroyed my new top in the laundry, how could I help but remember that beautiful white Susst top? And how could I help but be grateful for the thousands of loads of laundry you’ve done for me? Thanks mum!
Of course, the trip to Liz Claiborne afterwards? Let’s just say there are still things in your wardrobe I wish I could borrow
I haven’t found anything as good as your bread yet, and I miss our long, evening dinners catching up. I hope your year on the island is as fulfilling as all our childhood expeditions were – from the Giant’s Causeway to the Wicklow lighthouse, from Kilmainham to the Cliffs of Moher.
Thank you, mum and dad, for twenty-five wonderful years. (And Eoin & Rosie, for almost 45 between you )
Those of you who know me may have noticed that I don’t often respond to solicitations for charitable donations. Whether it’s a sponsored walk or a collection for malaria, I’m just not into “impulse buying”.
Those of you who know me better might know why this is. It’s not because I’m mean, honest I’ve maxed out corporate Gift Matching programs with the employers who’ve had them (even when I was just an intern), and I hope to continue to do so. But I prefer to give in a “concentrated” fashion – rather than sprinkling my charitable donations across the vast spectrum of worthy causes, I choose a few each year that I really believe in, and do my best not to feel guilty that I can’t do everything!
When I lived in Ireland, particularly while I was still in college, I tried to “give global, act local”. I volunteered with various groups, from a local literacy program to the St John Ambulance. I even indulged in retail therapy for the St Vincent de Paul, both groceries and Christmas presents
Living in Switzerland, however, I’ve found that the attitude towards volunteer work is very different. Add my frequent travels (particularly in 2010) into the mix, and it’s just not a model that’s working for me any more. But my employment situation and the local tax regime mean that I have room to expand my financial giving – yay!
But I’m not sure where to put my money. We’re not talking millions, but I still think it’s worth spending time making sure it goes to something I believe in. That way, when I do have millions, I’ve already done the tough part And this is where you come in.
Where do you think I should put my charity bucks?
To give you some background, I think if my giving had a “theme”, it would be this: Knowledge is Power.
I’m interested in improving access to knowledge, information, education. So one of my favourite charities is Literacy Bridge, which began with the idea “that the most effective approach towards ending global poverty requires empowering people with better access to knowledge”.
I’m also interested in preserving knowledge for future generations. Last year, for example, I sponsored the restoration and preservation of a collection of James Lind manuscripts, in celebration of dad’s birthday.
In general, I’m interested in charities serving those with the greatest need (not necessarily those who are easiest to reach), and I’m not looking for advocacy groups for one particular idea or cause.
What am I looking for?
Charities that understand the importance of inspiration. If I lived anywhere on the West Coast of the US, I’d already be a Friend of the California Academy of Sciences (and heck, I’m still considering it!). They understand that an interesting, engaging story is key to getting people to care. And whether the knowledge you want to impart is in science, the arts, or just basic literacy and numeracy, if you can’t get people to care about it, you’ll have a hard time achieving anything lasting.
Charities that engage in a personal connection. I prefer to share my donations among a smaller group of charities, which means each gets a larger share of the pot. In return, I’d like to hear what each charity is doing, and connect with more than just bank slips.
Charities that promote access to information over one particular message. Learning about family planning may be key to helping women in the developing world steer their fate, but if all you do is hand out contraceptives, they’re not going to learn how to run a small business that could give them a real degree of independence. Building people up, giving them the tools they need, is vital to sustainability.
Do you know a charity that fits the bill? Leave me a comment, or drop me an e-mail. Thanks!
If you’ve ever been to an ApacheCon, you’ll know that there are hundreds of great reasons to go. If you haven’t been before, check out Jeremy Thomerson’s Top Ten Reasons to attend ApacheCon. (Note that the trainings aren’t just for Wicket. Naturally, we’ll cover other top Apache projects, from Solr & Lucene to httpd & Tomcat. But we also have training on everything from dealing with the media to keeping your web applications secure!)
Of course, there’s more to attending a conference than deciding you want to go. I’m lucky enough to work for a company that “gets” open source, and is happy to give me time off to attend. (Wanna come work with me? )
What if your boss isn’t so keen to let you disappear off to California for a week? You might know that the value of the networking you can do at ApacheCon way outstrips the pricetag (and you know you can get a special discount if you’re staying at the conference hotel!), but “networking” is a bit of a vague proposition. Especially if your boss has to justify it to her boss, and so on.
So here’s just some of the business-friendly reasons you should come to ApacheCon:
Just started doing open source, and your team haven’t quite got the hang of open development, working with the community, or exactly how this “open source” thing works? Come along to the Hackathon, for a serious crash-course in collaboration–and a behind-the-scenes peek at the upcoming features of the products you use!
Oakland is just a stone’s throw from the Valley–whether you need to check-in with head office in Silicon Valley, or entertain a client in Napa Valley, why not combine it with a trip to ApacheCon, and kill two birds with that one stone?!
Two days of top-quality trainings (Monday and Tuesday) will bring you right up to speed on the technologies you need to know about, quickly and efficiently.
If you’re not attending trainings, the BarCamp gives you a chance to talk and learn about anything under the sun, with some of the coolest people in Open Source. If you want to know what’s going to happen in the next ten years of open development, you can’t afford to miss this. And it’s free
What other vendor invites you along to meet the Chairman of the Board!? At ApacheCon, you can meet the movers and shakers who are shaping the products you use, creating the technologies of the future, and paving the way for bigger and better opportunities yet! (Heck, you can even get training from our Chairman!)
Pick the ones that make the most sense to you, and put together a pitch for your boss. Check out the schedule to get an idea of the relevant trainings and tracks, and see if there’s a Meetup that would go into more detail on the projects you work with. There’s so much going on at ApacheCon, that there’s really no reason for your boss to say no!
P.S. If your boss is still a little unsure, why not offer to do a training session for your colleagues when you get home? You’ll learn more than enough at ApacheCon to justify the expense–heck, for the cost of hiring in an expert, your boss could send several people to ApacheCon to quiz a whole collection of experts!
My father has always been difficult to get presents for. If he needs something, he’ll buy it himself. If he knows he wants something, he’ll do the same. He doesn’t have my mother’s love of certain fabrics or patterns, so that we could just keep getting him Portmeirion china every year (sorry mum!)
And so it was, that many years ago, I drew up our family tree, as a birthday present for dad. I wrote to the Office of the Chief Herald to find out about the Plunkett and O’Callaghan coats of arms. I quizzed my mother and my grandmother to fill in as many details as I could. Unfortunately, I ran out of names before I ran out of paper, but dad smiled and thanked me for the gift anyway. It ended up in the attic and some point, and I have no idea where it is now. I recently threw out the photocopies the Chief Herald had sent me, while clearing through old boxes!
Family is important to me, but I don’t restrict that to blood or legal relatives. My “family” includes a small raft of honorary aunts, uncles and cousins Despite a passing interest in history and genealogy, I’ve never really done the research to find out who my family are beyond the living generations.
I would imagine that Ireland is a pretty awesome country for a genealogist to find herself in. Combine a relatively small population with religious homogeneity, and parochial records suddenly make your job more like looking for a needle in a bureau drawer, rather than a haystack. Add in a relatively small landmass, and you could quite reasonably go around the parishes and just look. Finally, a relatively low level of personal mobility – emigration aside, in an agricultural society if you inherit the farm why would you ever move? – means that if you know your family are from Dublin, or Cork, two generations back, there’s a good chance that’s where they were from three, four, five generations back.
But with all that said, I was always a bit too much of an armchair genealogist to ever go looking through the records, until about a week ago. What happened then? I discovered that the National Archives of Ireland had completed their project to digitise the 1911 census data.
Well, what a job they’ve done! You can find out more at their Census of Ireland 1911 page. They’ve highlighted some fun facts – Oliver St John Gogarty wrote “single” as his marital status, and then had to cross it out when he remembered he was married! And they have an absolutely fantastic interface for browsing and searching the data. Dad and I laughed when we noticed that the Head of Family at Dunsany Castle could not read, although the twelve assorted servants could both read and write. (Little Lord Plunkett was only four at the time – so it’s fair enough really!)
On a personal level, I’ve found the census records for George Plunkett, my paternal great-great-grandfather, the dockmaster at the South Dock in Dublin. I believe I’ve found the records for my maternal great-great-grandmother, who my mother knew as Anne-Marie Buckley Carney, but who the census records as Anne Buckley – she had been married to Patrick Buckley for just a year at the time, and they lived in a house with six windows at the front (and a stable and coach house at the back!)
It’s amazing stuff, and I think huge props should go to the National Archives for their stellar work. I look forward to doing more research when the 1901 census data is released, later this year/early next year. And if you’ve found family records, I’d be fascinated to hear their stories
No, it’s not really my birthday. But it’s a year today since Stephen and I moved. It’s been wonderful, horrendous, tiring, invigorating, bizarre and fun.
I’ve gotten used to things I thought I’d never be able to live with, like no shopping on Sundays or at night. I now get irritated by things that were a normal part of life before, like 30-minute bus journeys. Things I expected to stay the same have changed, and things I expected to change have remained the same.
Overall? Definitely a mixed year. I’m glad I did it, glad I came here, glad I’ve had the experiences I’ve had. It hasn’t all been fun and games, and if I knew then what I know now, I’d have been a lot more cautious about coming here. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s been a great opportunity, and I’d probably do it all over again. (Although I’d throw out a lot more stuff before the move!)
I’ve often said I could live anywhere (almost!) for a year. I still think it’s true – but in the case of Switzerland, I’m happy to report that a year is not enough Here’s to next year!
I’ve been wondering whether to blog about this. On the one hand, Dave Carroll’s written a song I can’t get out of my head and produced a great video to go with it. On the other, I think he was a complete idiot in not taking out his guitar as soon as he got to Omaha, given the situation.
Ultimately, the “I love this song” won, and thus let me present you with my favourite song this week: United Breaks Guitars, by Dave Carroll and Sons of Maxwell.
I truly can’t understand why, having seen the baggage handlers throwing the guitars around, he didn’t take his guitar out the moment he got it back. Any time I’ve flown with my harp, that’s the very first thing I do, the moment I get it back. Doesn’t matter if it delays things, if I’m tired, or if it’s a busy baggage hall. Open the case, take out the harp, open the soft cover, check it over. It doesn’t take that long, and it means I’m able to continue the journey without completely freaking out If I saw someone throwing it around, (after suggesting that they be considered for the Olympic weightlifting team!) there’s just no way I’d be able to go to my hotel and sleep without checking it out.
Still, the internet says Dave got sorted out after releasing this video. I’m glad, but I hope he’ll be more careful next time! And I’m looking forward to the other two videos he’s promised!
I had some computer troubles yesterday, so I’m posting my Ada Lovelace Day post a little late. It’s still March 24th in Hawaii though, so I think I’m alright really
Like many others, I had a seriously hard time trying to decide who to write about. I’ve been so lucky in many ways, and one of them was finding the right people at the right time.
In the end though, I had to go with Valerie Aurora. I cringe to re-read the email I sent Val, as she was known then, when I saw her book scholarship for Women Don’t Ask. But her response was warm and gracious, as I have always found her to be since. The book has certainly made a difference in my life. But Valerie has made an even bigger difference.
I’ve learned so much from Valerie, both from watching how she does things and from talking to her. She’s seriously smart, and yet she’s never once made me feel stupid. She’s tough as nails, up for a laugh, inspiring, funny, interesting, and just damn brilliant! And I still owe her dinner
So three cheers for Valerie Anita Aurora. And Valerie, if you’re reading this, big props on the name change. I think you now have the coolest name of anyone I know
Stephen and I threw a last-minute Pancake Day party on Tuesday, and had great fun. We used 3l of milk, 10 eggs, and more than a kilo of flour – all happily devoured by ten hungry engineers
A couple of people have now asked me for the basic pancake recipe, so here goes.
You’ll need 600ml of milk, two eggs, and 225g flour. The milk doesn’t have to be fresh – when I was a kid, we loved it when milk went sour, because it meant we’d get pancakes!
If you’re making it in an electric mixer, check the instructions, and just throw everything in and blitz it until it’s smooth.
If you’re doing it the old-fashioned way, put the flour in a bowl, make a hole in the middle of the flour, and break in the eggs. Mix in a small amount of milk with the eggs, and then mix the egg-milk mixture into the flour until you have a solid, doughy lump. Slowly add milk and keep mixing and stirring, until you have a beautiful, lump-free pancake batter.
Ideally, you should let the batter stand – half an hour if you can, overnight is even better (although you’ll need to mix it again in the morning, and might need to add another drop of milk).
Make sure the pan is super hot – the first pancake is nearly always dud, and it’s nearly always because you haven’t waited long enough for the pan to heat. Pour some batter in, cook it until it comes off the pan easily, flip, and repeat.
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