Hi,
I will try to be more risky than Ralf and to forecast something in
the future of Apache:
Currently, a major effort is focused in designing and developing a
"multi-layered I/O" into Apache. This will allow to put different
modules in separate layers, so the output of one module will be the
input of another one, etc. For example, the output of PHP may
include SSI commands (Server Side Includes, "shtml"), and so on.
(I must admit that years ago, when I heard about Apache the first
time, and I was told that it is very modular, I was sure that the
modules lay in separate layers, and I was amazed and disappointed
when I saw that the model is much more primitive and limited).
*IF* this will become a stable and safe implementation, there will
not be any need for EAPI or any other special API/hooks/whatever in
Apache; Just build your own layer - SSL layer - and chain it as the
last layer before passing the output to the client.
I emphasized the "*IF*", because - as Ralf wrote - there is a long
way for Apache2 yet to go (although I expect the first beta - not
alpha - to be as stable as other web-servers, such as IPlanet and
IIS). In addition, there is no guarantee that the layered I/O
project will succeed.
You probably read about "exciting" developments and new features of
2.0, like APR, MPM, etc.; Don't believe! MPM and the other features
which are mentioned usually, insert a lot of crap into Apache and
may even cause it to be unstable and too complex. The real surprises
of 2.0 are the layered I/O, and the changes in the configuration
model. If these 2 projects will succeed, we are going to have an
amazing and powerful web server (much more than now), with cool
features, and (finally!) ease and friendliness (the changes in the
configuration model may ease the development of GUI tools for REAL
management of Apache configuration). But these 2 projects are still
in question.
In any case, as Ralf wrote, it will not be clever to deal with 2.0
now, because its APIs are still in design.
--
Eli Marmor
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