Gordon Irlam wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I'd like to let people in on on Cygnus's plans for supporting Apache,
> and get whatever feedback people might have to offer.
>
> (Background: Cygnus is a company that specializes in providing
> commercial support for free software. Currently, our main product
> offerings are the GNU compiler suite, and Kerberos network security.
> There are also several otehr things we hack around on, and release to
> the net as free software, but as yet don't officially support: the
> DejaGNU testing framework, and the PRMS bug management system are two
> examples. Some people prefer to use Cygnus tools rather than
> retrieving software from the net because we offer: stable tested
> releases, pre-built binaries, documentation, a support number to call
> for help, a guarantee to quickly fix any bugs encountered, and
> complete unencumbered source code for all our products.)
>
> We are now in the process of creating a toolkit for use in Internet
> and Intranet environments. Our initial I*Net product will include
> commercial support for the following technologies: Apache, Perl,
> Tcl/Tk, and Expect.
>
> As much as possible we try and work with the net community in
> developing our software. Any enhancements or bug fixes we make we
> release back to the net community, and we try to do the right thing as
> far as listening to, working with, and supporting the net, is
> concerned.
>
> We fully intend to try and live up to these same goals in offering
> support for Apache.
>
> Our initial I*Net release will occur sometime towards the end of this
> month. For all intents and purposes the product we ship will be the
> same as Apache/1.0.5. In our initial release we will only be
> supporting Solaris, HPUX, IRIX, and AIX. We plan to improve this in
> the future. We expect to be able to provide a beta I*Net release that
> people can download and play with fairly soon. We'll send an email
> message to this list when it is available.
>
> We have been putting a fair amount of effort into our first release,
> but most of it is unseen since it has largely been a learning process
> for us, as we have been learning more about Apache, integrate it in
> with our source tree, and acquired the resources we need to be able to
> build and test releases.
>
> People at Cygnus you might like to know about include:
>
> - Tom Tromey, tromey@cygnus.com, our chief hacker
> - Gordon Irlam, gordoni@cygnus.com, hacker wannabe come project manager
> - Philip Peak, philip@cygnus.com, VP Engineering
> - Eilish McCaffrey, emccaffr@cygnus.com, ESD Business Manager
>
> Me and Tom can deal with most of the more technical issues, and we can
> always point you toward Philip or Eilish if you might are interested
> in any more business related issues.
>
> Assuming our product sells well, it is likely there will be a few new
> positions opening up in our group in the next 2-3 months. So, if you
> might be interested just drop us a line.
>
> Also, once again assuming our product is successful, we should be in a
> position to give something back to the Apache group in a few months
> time. So, if the Apache Group is in need of ftp space, improvements
> to the web site, release and testing resources, project management,
> just let us know. (We could actually offer some of this stuff before
> then, but I'd prefer to wait until we can guarantee the management
> backing to provide these things to the Apache Group long term).
> Please let me know of any specific needs, the above are just intended
> as examples. I can't make any promises, but I can try and do my best.
>
> Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions
> regarding our plans to offer support for Apache, and I will do my best
> to answer them.
I think the most valuable contribution we could have right now is a bug/pending
patch/ideas tracking system that we can all use. Would PRMS fit the bill (I
know nothing about it!).
Cheers,
Ben.
>
> thanks,
> Gordon Irlam
> I*Net development
> Cygnus Support
>
> PS: BTW, this isn't intended to be an official product announcement.
>
>
--
Ben Laurie Phone: +44 (181) 994 6435
Freelance Consultant and Fax: +44 (181) 994 6472
Technical Director Email: ben@algroup.co.uk
A.L. Digital Ltd, URL: http://www.algroup.co.uk
London, England.
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