The Apache Web server

What is Apache?

The Apache web server is essentially a program that parses types of hypertext markup language (HTML) and sends it back to you as a human readable web page. Development started in early 1995 initially as a series of patches to the then popular NSCA HTTPd web server. The name Apache reportedly came from the developers who began calling it "A patchy server". The Apache Project's FAQ however, claims that the name Apache is out of respect for the Apache Native American tribe, whose warriors were famous for their endurance. The truth is that the web server is famous too for its endurance. More than 60% of the web servers on the World Wide Web are running Apache.

Where do I get Apache?

You can download the web server from The web site of the Apache Software Foundation is http://www.apache.org/. However, it's probably better to use your favorite distribution's package. Normally, unless you need something exotic (which we'll talk about next), your distribution's package system will install not only Apache but many add on modules needed to run Perl, Python and/or PHP scripts and to interact with databases like MySQL and PostgreSQL. But as I mentioned, if you need something exotic, you'll have to download and compile your own. Let's take a look at how to do that.