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Posted to dev@httpd.apache.org by "Jason A. Dour" <ja...@bcc.louisville.edu> on 1997/06/13 04:48:27 UTC
Last draft of letter...call for signatures...
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OK. Here's my last revision. Hopefully everyone will like it... PLEASE
like it...I don't want to change this thing again... 8)
Finally, this is a call for signatures to the letter. I think I've
already got everyone's name who has expressed direct interest... Anyone
else want on? Send me or the list a note before ~6AM EST tomorrow. 'Kay?
Kay,
Jason
# Jason A. Dour <ja...@bcc.louisville.edu> 1101
# Programmer Analyst II; Department of Radiation Oncology; Univ. of Lou.
# Finger for URLs, PGP public key, geek code, PJ Harvey info, et cetera.
=====
It's always pleasing to see your product praised in print. That's why the
Apache Group was at first happy with the positive press it received in
Michael Moeller's cover story, "FORT APACHE" (PCWeek, June 9, 1997) and
Jim Rapoza's related article, "IT'S NOT EASY. SO WHAT?" (PCWeek, pg18,
June 9, 1997). We were dismayed, however, by a statement made by Mr.
Moeller and by what we feel to be a misleading account of Apache's
performance in the benchmark graph from PC Week Labs.
Mr. Moeller's article did a good job of explaining Apache's strengths and
popularity -- until the last column. He writes, "Anyone unfamiliar with
hard-core Unix programming will not be able to get Apache running, said
users." To this statement, we must take strong exception. Of the
hundreds of thousands of installations of Apache, how many does Mr.
Moeller believe to be administered by "hard-core Unix programmers?"
Apache end-users are a diverse bunch: from computer novices, to system
administrators of varying ability and station, to Mr. Moeller's
"hard-core" example, to everyday people who need good solid web server
software. Mr. Moeller's "quote" from undisclosed "users" is a
disappointing low-point for an otherwise well crafted article.
As for the benchmark on page 18, we must wonder about the validity of the
claims it made. Microsoft's IIS is shown overall to triple the
performance of two versions of Apache. These figures are hard to believe.
Internal testing as well as repeated user feedback indicates that Apache's
performance meets or far exceeds any of the competition's. Your labs did
correspond with an Apache Group member in regards to tuning the server.
However, we believe the reported numbers would be much different if the
Apache configuration were better optimized to meet the benchmark's
performance metrics.
The Apache Group would welcome and appreciate having an opportunity
to work with PC Week Labs to verify and possibly correct these
benchmark results. We would like to provide a configuration that
would be more appropriate to the platform and benchmark conditions
while remaining relatively unbiased toward the specific tests. If
it can be demonstrated to our satisfaction that the test environment
was fair across the various servers, we will confirm the fact.
Sincerely,
Jason A. Dour <ja...@bcc.louisville.edu>
Ken Coar <co...@decus.org>
Sameer Parekh <sa...@c2.net>
Ben Laurie <be...@gonzo.ben.algroup.co.uk>
Alexei Kosut <ak...@nueva.pvt.k12.ca.us>
Dean Gaudet <dg...@arctic.org>
Rasmus Lerdorf <ra...@lerdorf.on.ca>
Randy Terbush <ra...@zyzzyva.com>
Nathan Schrenk <ns...@neog.com>
On behalf of The Apache Group.
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Re: Last draft of letter...call for signatures...
Posted by Chuck Murcko <ch...@topsail.org>.
With the clarification below, you can go ahead and add my signature.
Jason A. Dour wrote:
>
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>
> OK. Here's my last revision. Hopefully everyone will like it... PLEASE
> like it...I don't want to change this thing again... 8)
>
> Finally, this is a call for signatures to the letter. I think I've
> already got everyone's name who has expressed direct interest... Anyone
> else want on? Send me or the list a note before ~6AM EST tomorrow. 'Kay?
>
> Kay,
> Jason
> # Jason A. Dour <ja...@bcc.louisville.edu> 1101
> # Programmer Analyst II; Department of Radiation Oncology; Univ. of Lou.
> # Finger for URLs, PGP public key, geek code, PJ Harvey info, et cetera.
>
> =====
> It's always pleasing to see your product praised in print. That's why the
> Apache Group was at first happy with the positive press it received in
> Michael Moeller's cover story, "FORT APACHE" (PCWeek, June 9, 1997) and
> Jim Rapoza's related article, "IT'S NOT EASY. SO WHAT?" (PCWeek, pg18,
> June 9, 1997). We were dismayed, however, by a statement made by Mr.
> Moeller and by what we feel to be a misleading account of Apache's
> performance in the benchmark graph from PC Week Labs.
>
> Mr. Moeller's article did a good job of explaining Apache's strengths and
> popularity -- until the last column. He writes, "Anyone unfamiliar with
> hard-core Unix programming will not be able to get Apache running, said
> users." To this statement, we must take strong exception. Of the
> hundreds of thousands of installations of Apache, how many does Mr.
> Moeller believe to be administered by "hard-core Unix programmers?"
> Apache end-users are a diverse bunch: from computer novices, to system
> administrators of varying ability and station, to Mr. Moeller's
> "hard-core" example, to everyday people who need good solid web server
> software. Mr. Moeller's "quote" from undisclosed "users" is a
> disappointing low-point for an otherwise well crafted article.
>
> As for the benchmark on page 18, we must wonder about the validity of the
> claims it made. Microsoft's IIS is shown overall to triple the
> performance of two versions of Apache. These figures are hard to believe.
> Internal testing as well as repeated user feedback indicates that Apache's
> performance meets or far exceeds any of the competition's. Your labs did
> correspond with an Apache Group member in regards to tuning the server.
corresponded...and most of the competition is more truthful. 8^)
Jason, they didn't make the changes I suggested; instead they just ran
the benchmark with the default values. Sorry I didn't make this clearer.
> However, we believe the reported numbers would be much different if the
> Apache configuration were better optimized to meet the benchmark's
> performance metrics.
>
...or that of any sanely configured site subjected to an equivalent
load.
> The Apache Group would welcome and appreciate having an opportunity
> to work with PC Week Labs to verify and possibly correct these
> benchmark results. We would like to provide a configuration that
> would be more appropriate to the platform and benchmark conditions
> while remaining relatively unbiased toward the specific tests. If
> it can be demonstrated to our satisfaction that the test environment
> was fair across the various servers, we will confirm the fact.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Jason A. Dour <ja...@bcc.louisville.edu>
> Ken Coar <co...@decus.org>
> Sameer Parekh <sa...@c2.net>
> Ben Laurie <be...@gonzo.ben.algroup.co.uk>
> Alexei Kosut <ak...@nueva.pvt.k12.ca.us>
> Dean Gaudet <dg...@arctic.org>
> Rasmus Lerdorf <ra...@lerdorf.on.ca>
> Randy Terbush <ra...@zyzzyva.com>
> Nathan Schrenk <ns...@neog.com>
>
> On behalf of The Apache Group.
> =====
>
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> Version: 2.6.2
>
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> 6anI8YcFEj8=
> =HqIG
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
--
chuck
Chuck Murcko
The Topsail Group, West Chester PA USA
chuck@topsail.org
Re: Last draft of letter...call for signatures...
Posted by Brian Behlendorf <br...@organic.com>.
Include my name too. Excellent letter!
Brian
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