GeneOff writes: "Xerces 2.0 is out! You can get it here. This XML parser features full XML Schema conformance and partial support for DOM Level 3. The XNI (Xerces Native Interface,) is very cool. Xerces is arguably the most widely deployed Java based XML parser. Open source projects like those from Apache do a very good job of tracking upcoming standards like XML Schema (no more weird DTDs.) Kind of like Linux 2.5 and the USB 2.0 spec."

meheler writes "Looks like the Apache Group have released version 1.3.23 of their popular web server. Here's a link to the Official Announcement as well as where you can download it, and even view the ChangeLog."

lisam writes: "The Wiki plugin integrates nicely with Slash and has a lot of cool features, says Chromatic who introduces Wikis and gives a detailed explanation of how and why the Wiki plugin works in this OnLamp article. (chromatic is coauthor of O'Reilly's upcoming Running Weblogs with Slash.)" A lot of people just think of Slashdot style sites when thinking of the Slash codebase, but this article goes on about how to extend slash in cool ways. If you are interested in plugins, the repository is a good place to start.

TonyG writes: "According to an item on InternetNews, the impending release of Apache 2.0 could very well mean the demise of IIS. Interestingly, the article asserts that Microsoft have already given up on IIS, the proof being its absence in XP Home and its non-standard presence in XP Pro. Apache.Net? Sounds catchy..." That's a silly argument by the internetnews.com writer - IIS isn't in the Home edition because Microsoft wants to charge more for "server" operating systems, not because they're "admitting defeat". But it's a decent look at the upcoming Apache 2.0.

jvanzyl writes "The Apache XMLRPC team is pleased to announce the 1.0 release! Apache XML-RPC is a Java implementation of XML-RPC, a popular protocol that uses XML over HTTP to implement remote procedure calls. Apache XML-RPC was previously known as Helma XML-RPC. If you have code using the Helma library, all you should have to do is change the import statements in your code from helma.xmlrpc.* to org.apache.xmlrpc.*."

AntiPasto asks: "I am working with a small business that wants to evaluate their "click streams[?]". I've investigated openstats and even commercial products like Funnel Web as being turn-key solutions, but they don't offer the sort of authenticated-user page-view detail that we're looking for. I've since decided to start a mod_usertrack implementation, but it looks like we need to write our own stuff to process this. Anyone have any experiences with tracking a user's visit?"

This is a major 2.0 beta release for the Apache HTTPD Project. The last publicly available beta was released in April (and the ChangLog is nearly 500k!). See what the new features are going into the 2.0 release. Please remember to use a mirror.

kilaasi points out this CNET story about the planned release on Monday of Apache 2.0, "or at least the version that has proprietary extensions. Covalent sells the core of Apache and its own extensions which make it easier to adapt for specific areas and simpler to administer. Covalent is confident that the next generation Apache is mature and is ready for prime time. Covalent employs some of the core members of the Apache-development-team." XRayX adds a link to Covalent's press release, writing: "It's not clear when the Open Source Edition (or whatever) will come out and I didn't find anything at the official Apache Site." Update: 11/10 16:37 GMT by T : Note that the product name is Covalent Enterprise Ready Server; though it's based on Apache software, this is not Apache 2.0 per se. Thanks to Sascha Schumann of the ASF for the pointer.

sammy.lost-angel.com asks: "What's the best web log analyzer out there today? It's time to upgrade our horribly out of date one and I'm not sure what's good out there at this time. Our site receives about 50,000 hits a day, so things like remembering what's already been analyzed can save a lot of time." What about log analyzers that can work on more than one type of web server? An analyzer that could parse access data for, say, IIS and Apache would be a nice tool!

primetyme writes: "Sick of email harvesting spam robots cruising your Apache based site? Here's an in depth article that shows one way you can configure a base Apache installation to keep those nasty bots of your site - and the spam out of your Inbox." Anything that helps annoy spammers is a good thing.

lmd writes: "Apache 1.3.22 is now available here. A list of mirrors is here. The changelog is here." Apache now supports AtheOS as well. Note: according to the Apache website, "everyone running 1.2.X servers or earlier are strongly urged to upgrade to 1.3, as there will not be any further 1.2.X releases."

Steven Yi asks: "This is a suggestion - why not consider IIS an 'application server', similar to they way we consider BEA WebLogic an app server? Continue using your Windows Servers to process your programming logic and ASP pages - but use a box running Apache as your true web server. This is the way many other app-server driven hardware setups are like. Internet --> (Apache Web Server) --> (IIS 'App Server'). The obvious point is that there isn't an Apache plugin to redirect Microsoft/ASP page requests, but couldn't this be written fairly quickly? I think this would be a much cheaper migration path where existing Microsoft applications/hardware can be preserved and your internet security would be greatly enhanced with a Linux/UNIX Apache server guarding the internet connection." Many saavy readers should realize that a mod_rewrite + mod_proxy combination should be all you need to implement such a feature. Has anyone deployed something similar for their production systems?

kfs27 asks: "One of my professor with some of his Java students would like to get into handheld devices and WAP interfaces. They want to first start with building pages which can be viewed on a WAP enabled device. How does one go about serving these pages. Is there a specific WAP webserver or are there modules to Apache? What are the choices and any other suggestions you may have regarding WAP programming."

Sheik Yerboutii asks: "The recent downtime caused by the Code Red and NIMDA worms has prompted my Manager to start considering moving away from IIS to Apache. I've been tasked with finding out just how difficult it will be to move to the new webserver. I've got to find out things like how to install and configure it (relatively easy, it's all documented at www.apache.org) but also, things like what do we de now that we've been working in VBScript ASP for about 6 moths?" We posted a similar question to this one, just over a year ago. Any changes or additions to the advice given in that discussion?

A reader writes "The latest version of the Apache Java Servlet engine has been released. 'The 4.0 release implements the Servlet 2.3 and JSP 1.2 specifications.' Read more at The Apache Group's Jakarta site."

santaclaws asks: "I'm considering using the free SSK certs available from FreeSSL. Do they work well enough in real life or are they a waste of time? Apparently, they only work with IE 5.01 browsers and later, so how will this affect the users of other browsers? I'd rather not have to keep paying for the privilege of using SSL, but I will if too many users freak out, so I don't want to sign my own certs. I'm hoping maybe this is a good compromise."

Michael writes "In the article "Will Open Source Lose the Battle for the Web?" a lot of people wondered what role Apache will play in a future that might be dominated by .Net. The company for which I work created a mod for Apache called NetHesive that converts a standalone library or application into a web service. NetHesive provides a wire format that's cleaner than SOAP and allows expert conversion between native data and the public interface. Most importantly, it supports SOAP 1.2 along with custom XML procedure calls. We're not sure we ever want to develop for .Net but we want to leave that possibility open. We thought other developers might feel the same way, so we created a method for deploying a web service that doesn't lock us out of any future frameworks. We're curious about Apache fans' reactions to NetHesive. Does this answer some of your concerns about Apache's future?"

snotty writes "A well written article by Ganesh Prasad over at linuxtoday arguing that the shift towards web services has reduced the attractiveness of the current generation of Open Source web products. He talks about the market share decrease in Apache. Also mentions how .NET, Microsoft, Sun, Java, and Open Source Software fit into the picture." I think that the decrease in Apache's share is a red herring, but the bigger picture of web services is a troubling one.

ankit writes: "Linux.com has an interesting interview with Brian Behlendorf, President of the Apache Software Foundation and CTO of CollabNet to talk about open source, the meaning of freedom, Richard Stallman and aliens from outside our solar system."

osi writes "The Avalon team is proud to A HREF="http://jakarta.apache.org/avalon/">announce the 4.0 final release of the Avalon Framework. The Avalon project is Apache's Java Server Framework. It is separated into six sub projects: Framework, Excalibur, LogKit, Cornerstone, Phoenix, and Testlet. Its purpose is to simplify server side programming for Java based projects. It formalizes serveral best of breed practices and patterns for server side programming."