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 web server software.[3]

CERN httpd
Original author(s)Tim Berners-Lee,
Ari Luotonen,
Henrik Frystyk Nielsen
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. Archived from the original on 11 February 2012. 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. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  9. The birth of the web Licensing the web on cern.ch (2014, archived)
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