CERN httpd

CERN httpd (later also known as W3C httpd) is an early, now discontinued, web server (HTTP) daemon originally developed at CERN from 1990 onwards by Tim Berners-Lee, Ari Luotonen[2] and Henrik Frystyk Nielsen.[1] Implemented in C, it was the first ever web server software.[3]

CERN httpd
Developer(s)CERN / World Wide Web Consortium
Initial release24 December 1990 (1990-12-24)
Final release
3.0A / 15 July 1996 (1996-07-15)[1]
Operating systemUnix, Unix-like
Available inC
TypeWeb server, proxy server
LicenseMIT Copyright Statement with acknowledgement to CERN
Websitewww.w3.org/Daemon/

History
This NeXT Computer used by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN became the world's first web server

CERN httpd was originally developed on a NeXT Computer running NeXTSTEP, and was later ported to other Unix-like operating systems, OpenVMS and systems with unix emulation layers, e.g. OS/2 with emx+gcc. It could also be configured as a web proxy server.[1][3] Version 0.1 was released in June 1991.[4] In August 1991, Berners-Lee announced in the Usenet newsgroup alt.hypertext the availability of the source code of the server daemon and other World Wide Web software from the CERN FTP site.[5]

The original, first generation HTTP server which some call the Volkswagen of the Web.[6]

The server was presented on the Hypertext 91 conference in San Antonio and was part of the CERN Program Library (CERNLIB).[5][7]

Later versions of the server are based on the libwww library.[2] The development of CERN httpd was later taken over by World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), with the last release being version 3.0A of 15 July 1996.[1] From 1996 onwards, W3C focused on the development of the Java-based Jigsaw server.[8]

The initial version was public domain software; the last one was under an MIT License.[9]

See also

References
  1. Official CERN httpd page
  2. Kahan, José (5 August 1999). "Why Libwww?". World Wide Web Consortium. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  3. The Server Guide: CERN httpd Archived 16 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Change History for httpd
  5. Stewart, Bill. "Tim Berners-Lee, Robert Cailliau, and the World Wide Web - Web development". Living Internet. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  6. "W3C Open Source Software - CERN Server". World Wide Web Consortium. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  7. Robert Cailliau (21 July 2010). "A Short History of the Web". NetValley. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  8. Baird-Smith, Anselm (April 1996). "W3C Activity: The CERN server". World Wide Web Consortium. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  9. The birth of the web Licensing the web on cern.ch (2014, archived)
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