In this issue

If you missed the Apache conference last month in London you'll be pleased to know that there are plenty of places to find out what happened. Over the last few weeks Apache Week has given our view of the conference in "ApacheCon 2000 Europe". We also have a photo of the main conference hall before the opening session (jpeg, 105k).

In Apache Today, Rich Bowen gives a brief narrative overview of the conference in "Apache Guide: ApacheCon Europe" and Kevin Reichard reviews the Douglas Adams keynote in "Editor's Note: Douglas Adams: Predict the Future by Inventing It". For a chance to win an autographed book see the end of this issue.

Network World Fusion News covered some of the keynotes in their articles "IBM pitches its open source side", "Sun says Java moving towards full open source", and "Tips on pitching Apache to the big wigs"

The handouts and slides for the ApacheCon sessions in London have been put up on the ApacheCon web site. However in order to view these notes you must have attended ApacheCon and been a paid delegate.

If you want to set up a secure version of Apache yourself you are left with a choice of two modules to link Apache to the cryptography provided by OpenSSL; Apache-SSL by Ben Laurie, or mod_ssl by Ralf Engelschall. At ApacheCon in London, Ben and Ralf met for the first time. Apache Week was there at the historic moment and took this photo as proof (jpeg, 68k) (Ralf is the one who is smiling, with short hair, glasses, and a blue top).

Apache Site: www.apache.org/httpd
Release: 1.3.14 (Released 13^th October 2000) (local download sites)
Beta: None
Alpha: 2.0a7 (Released 9^th October 2000) (local download sites)

Apache 1.3.14 is the current stable release. Users of Apache 1.3.12 and earlier on Unix and Windows systems should upgrade to this version. Read the Guide to 1.3.14, the Guide to 1.3.12, the Guide to 1.3.11 for information about changes between 1.3.9 and 1.3.11 and the Guide to 1.3.9 for information about changes between 1.3.6 and 1.3.9.

Most bugs listed below include a link to the entry in the Apache bug database where the problem is being tracked. These entries are called "PR"s (Problem Reports). Some bugs do not correspond to problem reports if they are found by developers.

These bugs have been found in 1.3.14 and will be fixed in the next release.

• UnixWare 7 does not work correctly with some DSOs (such as PHP) due to a missing library. PR#6780
• On Win32 and NetWare, directives using paths with a syntax like c:oo are incorrectly appended to the server root rather than replacing it.
• RewriteMap truncates the string if the lookup had a syntax error
• There are problems with caching the results of a directory index generated by mod_autoindex. A new option for the IndexOptions directive has been added which will return the Last-Modified date of the directory in order to aid caches. This option will not work on all filesystems however.
• Content-Length calculations when doing Range header processing are incorrect. This causes problems for example when serving byte-ranged PDF files. PR#6711
• The mass virtual hosting module, mod_vhost_alias, has had a number of security issues in the past due to it's handling of the Host: header. Although these issues have been fixed, the Host: header checking is now too strict and can not handle internationalised DNS for example. PR#6635

The following features have been recently added to Apache and will be part of the next release.

• Linux 2.2 kernels do not need to have a serialised single listener, instead sysv semaphores can be used to increase performance.
• A new LogFormat directive, %c will be available to log the connection status. The field will distinguish between a connection that was aborted before the response was completed, and a completed connection either closed or kept-alive.
• Allow shared library creation on OpenBSD 2.8
• Support will be added for BeOS BONE. BeOS BONE is much closer to Unix than BeOS R5.

This occasional section contains short announcements of jobs that require significant Apache experience. To see more jobs or find out how to submit your vacancy visit the Apache Week Jobs section.

Apache Support Tech Rep (Guildford,Surrey,UK)

Red Hat Europe is seeking an Apache expert for a fulltime support position. Required are strong skills in Apache to support apache and related software like Stronghold Secure Server, PHP, SSL and CGI and Unix skills (Linux, Solaris). Competitive market salary + benefit package are offered. Contact: Thomas Ploss at thomas@redhat.com

Apache Software Engineer (Fairfax, VA)

quantumStream is a pre-IPO internet company seeking an Apache/low level internet (TCP/IP, HTTP) expert for a full-time development position. Compensation and benefits are competitive, colleagues great, culture emphasizes out-of-the-box and inventive thinking. Put your creative juices to work! Contact: Brian at jobs@quantumStream.com

Software Development Engineer (USA)

Covalent technologies seeks Software Development Engineer with strong Unix, Internet, programming (C/C++, Java, Tk, Perl), and Apache skills. Duties may include Apache server development, PKI cryptography applications, as well as product development and GUI design.

Here's your last chance to enter to win an autographed copy of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy kindly donated by Covalent. All you have to do is answer this simple question before November 15th.

Which of the following is not a book by Douglas Adams?

A) So Long and Thanks for All the Fish
B) The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
C) The Hitchhiker's Guide to Japan

Please send your answer (A, B, or C) to zz9@apacheweek.com. Your e-mail address will not be used for anything other than to let you know if you have won. One winner will be drawn at random from all correct entries submitted; one entry per person, no cash alternative and editors' decision is final. Multiple entries will be fed to the ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal. Only your final answer will be accepted but you may phone a friend.