By the way, Bill Lear's company is quoted in another part of this article. Sandberg, Jared. 1998. "Apache's Free Software Gives Microsoft, Netscape Fits." Wall Street Journal (19 March): p. B1. Apache, it turns out, doesn't come from a company at all. It's the loving labor of a loose confederation of programmers who, working in their spare time over gin and tonics at home and collaborating on the Internet, wanted to build a better way to serve up Web pages to the millions of people who want to see them. Once they had completed this server software three years ago, they triumphantly released all of the technical details on the Internet, letting any Web site use it gratis. "Direct remuneration itself wasn't an interest," says Brian Behlendorf, one of the chief organizers of the Apache Project -- so named because the team started with university-lab software and "patched" it with new features and fixes. Today Apache is said to have a 47% share of the Internet server market compared with 22% for Microsoft and about 10% for Netscape, according to Netcraft Ltd., a British consulting firm. Other sources reject those figures for several reasons, including that among the private internal "intranets" that companies install, Microsoft and particularly Netscape hold the lead. Still, even Microsoft's newly acquired subsidiaries -- Hotmail Corp. and WebTV Networks Inc. -- use Apache software on their Web sites. Apache server software is used by an impressive range of companies and organizations to run their Web sites, including Kimberly-Clark Corp., McDonald's Corp. and Texas Instruments Inc., as well as the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves. By some estimates, Apache is in place at close to half of the two million Web sites on the Internet, more than double the share held by Microsoft Corp. or Netscape. he Apache project began informally in early 1995, when a handful of Web developers were searching for robust and flexible software that could deliver Web pages to users' desktops quickly and reliably. Microsoft hadn't yet created a server program. Netscape had an early version that lacked sophisticated features the Apache contigent wanted. So Mr. Behlendorf and a few colleagues started zapping e-mail to and fro about how to create new features and work through problems. An original circle of eight programmers began working on some existing software code from a program written at a university lab, communicating via an Internet mailing list that updated everyone on each designer's progress. The list grew to 150 people, and 200 more contributors have pitched in, many of whom have never met face to face. The first version of Apache was ready in April 1995, and by year end it had become the No. 1 Web server program. One reason Apache came into its own is that the source code, the basic software coding that most developers keep secret, is readily available on the Internet. That allows users to make improvements and eliminate any bugs that emerge. Proponents of such "open" software believe that revealing a program's inner workings entices more outside programmers to devote their creative energy to building an even better version. "Apache is our biggest competitor," Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates declared at a Wall Street gathering over a year ago. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
