the.world.is.flat-第22节

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had　been　left　to　gather　virtual　dust　when　its　primary　programmer；　University　of　
Illinois　student　Rob　McCool；　had　been　scooped　up　（along　with　Marc　Andreessen　and　Lynx　
author　Eric　Bina）　by　a　little…known　company　in　Silicon　Valley　named　Netscape。　
Meanwhile；　the　Web　refused　to　stop　growing…and　
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kept　creating　new　problems　for　Web　servers　to　cope　with。〃　So　patches　of　one　kind　or　
another　proliferated　like　Band…Aids　on　bandwidth；　plugging　one　hole　here　and　
breaching　another　gap　there。　
Meanwhile；　all　these　patches　were　slowly；　in　an　ad　hoc　open…source　manner；　building　
a　new　modern　Web　server。　But　everyone　had　his　or　her　own　version；　trading　patches　
here　and　there；　because　the　NCSA　lab　couldn't　keep　up　with　it　all。　
〃I　was　just　this　near…dropout；〃　explained　Behlendorf。　〃I　was　having　a　lot　of　fun　
building　this　Web　site　for　Wired　and　learning　more　than　I　was　learning　at　Berkeley。　
So　a　discussion　started　in　our　little　working　group　that　the　NCSA　people　were　not　


answering　our　e…mails。　We　were　sending　in　patches　for　the　system　and　they　weren't　
responding。　And　we　said；　'If　NCSA　would　not　respond　to　our　patches；　what's　going　to　
happen　in　the　future？'　We　were　happy　to　continue　improving　this　thing；　yet　we　were　
worried　when　we　were　not　getting　any　feedback　and　seeing　our　patches　integrated。　So　
I　started　to　contact　the　other　people　I　knew　trading　patches。　。　。　Most　of　them　were　
on　the　standards　working　groups　＇the　Internet　Engineering　Task　Force＇　that　were　
setting　the　first　standards　for　the　interconnectivity　between　machines　and　
applications　on　the　Internet。。。　And　we　said；　'Why　don't　we　take　our　future　into　our　
own　hands　and　release　our　own　＇Web　server＇　version　that　incorporated　all　our　patches？'　
〃We　looked　up　the　copyright　for　the　NCSA　code；　and　it　basically　just　said　give　us　
credit　at　Illinois　for　what　we　invented　if　you　improve　it…and　don't　blame　us　if　it　
breaks；〃　recalled　Behlendorf。　〃So　we　started　building　our　own　version　from　all　our　
patches。　None　of　us　had　time　to　be　a　full…time　Web　server　developer；　but　we　thought　
if　we　could　combine　our　time　and　do　it　in　a　public　way；　we　could　create　something　
better　than　we　could　buy　off　the　shelf…and　nothing　was　available　then；　anyway。　This　
was　all　before　Netscape　had　shipped　its　first　commercial　Web　server。　That　was　the　
beginning　of　the　Apache　project。〃　
By　February　1999；　they　had　completely　rewritten　the　original　NCSA　program　and　
formalized　their　cooperation　under　the　name　〃Apache。〃　
〃I　picked　the　name　because　I　wanted　it　to　have　a　positive　connotation　of　being　
assertive；〃　said　Behlendorf。　〃The　Apache　tribe　was　the　last　tribe　

to　surrender　to　the　oncoming　U。S。　government；　and　at　the　time　we　worried　that　the　
big　companies　would　come　in　and　'civilize'　the　landscape　that　the　early　Internet　
engineers　built。　So　'Apache'　made　sense　to　me　as　a　good　code　name；　and　others　said　
it　also　would　make　a　good　pun〃…as　in　the　APAtCHy　server；　because　they　were　patching　
all　these　fixes　together。　
So　in　many　ways；　Bellendorf　and　his　open…source　colleagues…most　of　whom　he　had　never　
met　but　knew　only　by　e…mail　through　their　open…source　chat　room…had　created　a　virtual；　
online；　bottom…up　software　factory；　which　no　one　owned　and　no　one　supervised。　〃We　
had　a　software　project；　but　the　coordination　and　direction　were　an　emergent　behavior　
based　on　whoever　showed　up　and　wanted　to　write　code；〃　he　said。　
But　how　does　it　actually　work？　I　asked　Behlendorf。　You　can't　just　have　a　bunch　of　
people；　unmonitored；　throwing　code　together；　can　you？　
〃Most　software　development　involves　a　source　code　repository　and　is　managed　by　tools　
such　as　the　Concurrent　Versions　System；〃　he　explained。　〃So　there　is　a　CVS　server　out　
there；　and　I　have　a　CVS　program　on　my　computer。　It　allows　me　to　connect　to　the　server　
and　pull　down　a　copy　of　the　code；　so　I　can　start　working　with　it　and　making　
modifications。　If　I　think　my　patch　is　something　I　want　to　share　with　others；　I　run　
a　program　called　Patch；　which　allows　me　to　create　a　new　file；　a　compact　collection　
of　all　the　changes。　That　is　called　a　patch　file；　and　I　can　give　that　file　to　someone　
else；　and　they　can　apply　it　to　their　copy　of　the　code　to　see　what　impact　that　patch　
has。　If　I　have　the　right　privileges　to　the　server　＇which　is　restricted　to　a　tightly　
controlled　oversight　board＇；　I　can　then　take　my　patch　and　commit　it　to　the　repository　


and　it　will　become　part　of　the　source　code。　The　CVS　server　keeps　track　of　everything　
and　who　sent　in　what。。。　So　you　might　have　'read　access'　to　the　repository　but　not　
'commit　access'　to　change　things。　When　someone　makes　a　commit　to　the　repository；　that　
patch　file　gets　e…mailed　out　to　all　the　other　developers；　and　so　you　get　this　peer　
review　system　after　the　fact；　and　if　there　is　something　wrong；　you　fix　the　bug。〃　
So　how　does　this　community　decide　who　are　trusted　members？　
〃For　Apache；〃　said　Behlendorf；　〃we　started　with　eight　people　who　really　trusted　each　
other；　and　as　new　people　showed　up　at　the　discussion　forum　and　offered　patch　files　
posted　to　the　discussion　form；　we　would　
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gain　trust　in　others；　and　that　eight　grew　to　over　one　thousand。　We　were　the　first　
open…source　project　to　get　attention　from　the　business　community　and　get　the　backing　
from　IBM。〃　
Because　of　Apache's　proficiency　at　allowing　a　single…server　machine　to　host　thousands　
of　different　virtual　Web　sites…music；　data；　text；　pornography…it　began　to　have　〃a　
commanding　share　of　the　Internet　Service　Provider　market；〃　noted　Salon's　Leonard。　
IBM　was　trying　to　sell　its　own　proprietary　Web　server；　called　GO；　but　it　gained　only　
a　tiny　sliver　of　the　market。　Apache　proved　to　be　both　a　better　technology　and　free。　
So　IBM　eventually　decided　that　if　it　could　not　beat　Apache；　it　should　join　Apache。　
You　have　to　stop　here　and　imagine　this。　The　world's　biggest　computer　company　decided　
that　its　engineers　could　not　best　the　work　of　an　ad　hoc　open…source　collection　of　
geeks；　so　they　threw　out　their　own　technology　and　decided　to　go　with　the　geeks！　
IBM　〃initiated　contact　with　me；　as　I　had　a　somewhat　public　speaker　role　for　Apache；〃　
said　Behlendorf。　〃IBM　said；　'We　would　like　to　figure　out　how　we　can　use　＇Apache＇　and　
not　get　flamed　by　the　Internet　community；　＇how　we　can＇　make　it　sustainable　and　not　
just　be　ripping　people　off　but　contributing　to　the　process。　。　。'　IBM　was　saying　that　
this　new　model　for　software　development　was　trustworthy　and　valuable；　so　let's　invest　
in　it　and　get　rid　of　the　one　that　we　are　trying　to　make　on　our　own；　which　isn't　as　
good。〃　
John　Swainson　was　the　senior　IBM　executive　who　led　the　team　that　approached　Apache　
（he's　now　chairman　of　Computer　Associates）。　He　picked　up　the　story：　〃There　was　a　whole　
debate　going　on　at　thetime　about　open…source；　but　it　was　all　over　the　place。　We　decided　
we　could　deal　with　the　Apache　guys　because　they　answered　our　questions。　We　could　hold　
a　meaningful　conversation　with　these　guys；　and　we　were　able　to　create　the　＇nonprofit＇　
Apache　Software　Foundation　and　work　out　all　the　issues。〃　
At　IBM's　expense；　its　lawyers　worked　with　the　Apache　group　to　create　a　legal　framework　
around　it　so　that　there　would　be　no　copyright　or　liability　problems　for　companies；　
like　IBM；　that　wanted　to　build　applications　on　top　of　Apache　and　charge　money　for　
them。　IBM　saw　the　value　in　having　a　standard　vanilla　Web　server　architecture…which　
allowed　
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heterogeneous　computer　systems　and　devices　to　talk　to　each　other；　displaying　e…mail　
and　Web　pages　in　a　standard　format…that　was　constantly　being　improved　for　free　by　
an　open…source　community。　The　Apache　collaborators　did　not　set　out　to　make　free　


software。　They　set　out　to　solve　a　common　problem…Web　serving…and　found　that　
collaborating　for　free　in　this　open…source　manner　was　the　best　way　to　assemble　the　
best　brains　for　the　job　they　needed　done。　
〃When　we　started　working　with　Apache；　there　was　an　apache。org　Web　site　but　no　formal　
legal　structure；　and　businesses　and　informal　structures　don't　coexist　well；〃　said　
Swainson。　〃You　need　to　be　able　to　vet　the　code；　sign　an　agreement；　and　deal　with　
liability　issues。　＇Today＇　anybody　can　download　the　Apache　code。　The　only　obligation　
is　that　they　acknowledge　that　it　came　from　the　site；　and　if　they　make　any　changes　
that　they　share　them　back。〃　There　is　an　Apache　development　process　that　manages　the　
traffic；　and　you　earn　your　way　into　that　process；　added　Swainson。　It　is　something　
like　a　pure　meritocracy。When　IBM　started　using　Apache；　it　became　part　of　the　community　
and　started　making　contributions。　
Indeed；　the　one　thing　the　Apache　people　demanded　in　return　for　their　collaboration　
with　IBM　was　that　IBM　assign　its　best　engineers　to　join　the　Apache　open…source　group　
and　contribute；　like　everyone　else；　for　free。　〃The　Apache　people　were　not　interested　
in　payment　of　cash；〃　said　Swainson。　〃They　wanted　contribution　to　the　base。　Our　
engineers　came　to　us　and　said；　'These　guys　who　doApache　are　good　andthey　are　insisting　
that　we　contribute　good　people。'　At　first　they　rejected　some　of　what　we　contributed。　
They　said　it　wasn't　up　to　their　standards！　The　compensation　that　the　community　
expected　was　our　best　contribution。〃