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Yahoo, Apache, Ebay, Amazon, Netscape Celebrate 10 Year Anniversaries

Posted by Zonk on from the i-love-the-90s dept.

tagish writes "Roy Fielding writes on the Apache dev mailing list: 10 years ago today, the Apache Group decloaked with the creation of the new-httpd archive and initial accounts on hyperreal.org. I had the lucky timing of having the first message archived on the list, though we had actually been talking about what to do for at least a week before that (sadly, without any archives)." At the same time, Mike Porter simply writes "Yahoo celebrates its tenth anniversary on March 2nd." News about some other anniversaries available via an MSNBC article.

8 of 222 comments (clear)

  1. Not Quite. by cacepi · · Score: 4, Informative

    Sorry, but Yahoo has been around since January 1994.

    1. Re:Not Quite. by DarkMantle · · Score: 4, Informative

      They seem to be celebrating the incorperation date, which according to the link you posted was March 1995.

      I hope you don't get marked insightful for not reading your own link and being able to think by yourself.

      --
      DarkMantle I been bored, so I started a blog.
  2. Re:Now please clean up your act by everdred · · Score: 5, Informative
    It's not in their business model.

    From the thus far print-only Wired article (available on wired.com on March 1), the average Yahoo! user spends 4.8 hours per month on their site. And Google users spend an average of 6/10ths of an hour on Google. And that's the way they both want it.

    Their approaches and goals are different. Google keeps their users coming back by getting them what they need as quickly as possible. Yahoo! seems to keep users coming back for Games! and Music! and Shopping! Oh my!

  3. Re:Now please clean up your act by everdred · · Score: 5, Informative

    By the way, if it's a clean, Google-like (search-centric) interface you'd like to see on Yahoo!, try search.yahoo.com.

  4. OpenBSD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    And let's not forget OpenBSD!

    Like their website says: "Free, Functional & Secure - since 1995".

  5. Re:life before apache by Marc+Slemko · · Score: 4, Informative

    NCSA.

    http://www.apache.org/history/timeline.html

    The Apache HTTP server was an evolution, not a revolution.

  6. "A PAtCHy server" -- myth? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative
    Why does everyone seem to want to perpetuate this myth? [ meaning the myth that 'Apache is "A PAtCHy server"'. ] It's not true.

    Ah, but it IS true. Or at least it was true at the time. If you don't believe me, take a look at the archive.org archives of the www.apache.org FAQ as of October 28, 1996, where it clearly says:

    4. Why the name "Apache" ?

    A cute name which stuck. Apache is "A PAtCHy server". It was based on some existing code and a series of "patch files".

    This is kind of an interesting development. I can see four possible explanations:

    1. It could mean that the apache.org people are misinformed. They may just not know their history. I don't know how many of the original people are still involved; maybe it's a whole different set of people.
    2. It could mean that the apache.org people were wrong in the past, i.e. this page as posted on October 28, 1996 was, though it was the FAQ on their own web page, not the correct description of how the name came about.
    3. It could mean that the official meaning behind the name has simply been changed. This has actually happened before. For instance, "gcc" used to stand for "GNU C Compiler", but now because the compiler suite supports so many languages, the name has been changed so that "gcc" now officially stands for "GNU Compiler Collection".
    4. Finally, it could mean that the apache.org people are being historical revisionists for whatever reason. I don't know for sure that this is the case, but I can't rule it out either, so I thought I'd include it.

    I have to say, at the very least, the current FAQ entry is so misleading that it's bordering on deceptive. If people who believe it stands for "A PAtCHy server" believe so incorrectly, the current FAQ ought to point out that the reason they believe that is that a previous version of the very same FAQ told them so!

    1. Re:"A PAtCHy server" -- myth? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Found some more information and thought I'd post it. archive.org has a page where you can see all the spidered revisions of the Apache FAQ (for as long as it was at the URL www.apache.org/docs/FAQ.html, at least).

      The October 28, 1996 archive entry (the earliest that archive.org has) has this explanation of the name:

      Why the name "Apache" ?

      A cute name which stuck. Apache is "A PAtCHy server". It was based on some existing code and a series of "patch files".

      Then, the May 6, 1999 snapshot captured this version:

      Why the name "Apache"?

      A cute name which stuck. Apache is "A PAtCHy server". It was based on some existing code and a series of "patch files".

      For many developers it is also a reverent connotation to the Native American Indian tribe of Apache, well-known for their superior skills in warfare strategy and inexhaustible endurance. Online information about the Apache Nation is tough to locate; we suggest searching Google, Northernlight, Infoseek, or AllTheWeb.

      In addition, http://www.indian.org/ and http://www.nativeweb.com/ are two excellent resources for Native American information.

      Then, in the October 4, 2004 snapshot, we see that the last paragraph (with the "excellent resources") has been removed.

      Then finally, in the December 15, 2002 snapshot, we see that it's been changed to make "A PAtCHy server" into an "incorrect" name.

      Why the name "Apache"? The name 'Apache' was chosen from respect for the Native American Indian tribe of Apache (Indé), well-known for their superior skills in warfare strategy and their inexhaustible endurance. For more information on the Apache Nation, we suggest searching Google, Northernlight, or AllTheWeb.

      Secondarily, and more popularly (though incorrectly) accepted, it's a considered cute name which stuck. Apache is "A PAtCHy server". It was based on some existing code and a series of "patch files".

      So basically, it wasn't until just over 2 years ago that "A PAtCHy server" was called incorrect by the FAQ. And Apache is, of course, nearing 10 years old, so for over 75% of its lifetime, "A PAtCHy server" has been the official explanation of the name given in the FAQ.

      So, I'm confused how the current FAQ can even endeavor to call it "incorrect". At the least they should say "no longer correct" or something.