Apache’s open source governance model
In our industry the market dominant players often have the worst products, but that’s pretty clearly not true for the Apache Foundation.
The core Apache servers power the web: combining dominant market share with dominant performance and stunning software reliability - and because that combination is unusual, we have to ask why and how?
A big part of the why is historical: Apache got its start with the first NCSA servers and so inherited an installed base, a solid code base, and, most importantly, the loyalty of many of those involved in building out the original server ideas.
Part of this is a matter of perception: Apache dominates only the middle market, not its fringes. If you want the easiest possible route to customer sign-off and don’t care about the costs of ownership - then Apache is not the answer. Similarly if you really only care about a specific subset of secure transaction management, can dictate all other software used in the system, and face hardware limitations requiring that you focus on server cycles - then Apache/Tomcat is not the answer.
But a majority share of the long term how has to be put down, I think, to an effective governance model for the foundation and its community.
