Publication | Closed Access
The Apache HTTP Server Project
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1997
Year
Web ArchitectureComputational Social ScienceEngineeringLarge Scale CollaborationInternet Collaboration ReferSocial ComputingCloud ComputingOpen-source Software DevelopmentDistributed CollaborationDistributed DevelopmentWeb EngineeringWeb Information SystemComputer ScienceInformation ManagementTechnologyData ManagementWeb-based CollaborationSmall Scale Operations
Internet collaboration can scale to large projects, as exemplified by the Apache HTTP Server Project, whose free, high‑performance software has become a dominant public‑Internet server. The Apache Group, a geographically distributed volunteer community, coordinates development and distribution of the server and its documentation via the Internet, with hundreds of users contributing code and ideas. The collaborative effort produced a robust, feature‑rich HTTP server that, as of June 1997, dominated the public Internet market with 46 % share versus 16 % for Microsoft and 12 % for Netscape.
Most reports of Internet collaboration refer to small scale operations among a few authors or designers. However, several projects have shown that the Internet can also be the locus for large scale collaboration. In these projects, contributors from around the world combine their individual forces and develop a product that rivals those of multibillion dollar corporations. The Apache HTTP Server Project is a case in point. This collaborative software development effort has created a robust, feature-rich HTTP server software package that currently dominates the public Internet market (46 percent compared with 16 percent for Microsoft and 12 percent for Netscape, according to a June 1997 survey published by Netcraft). The software and its source code are free, but Apache's popularity is more often attributed to performance than price. The project is managed by the Apache Group, a geographically distributed group of volunteers who use the Internet and Web to communicate, develop, and distribute the server and its related documentation. In addition, hundreds of users have contributed ideas, code, and documentation to the project.