Apache also resembles Linux in that it has begun spawning companies that support and enhance the core software. Among those companies are Covalent Technologies and C2Net . Finally, just as Red Hat and other companies have avidly hired key Linux programmers, Covalent employs van Gulik and Bloom, as well as another core programmer, Randy Terbush, who this week ceded his chief executive post to John Jack. C2Net, meanwhile, employs a key programmer of its own, Mark Cox. There are several major changes to the new version of Apache.
Threads are much easier for a computer to create, requiring less memory and other resources.
That means they can be spawned faster than processes, Bloom said. A further advantage is that threads often can let software take better advantage of systems with multiple processors. However, threads have a major drawback in that they are grouped together, so if one thread fails, it will take down all its comrades. Processes, by comparison, are better insulated from one another. Another major change to the software is the ability to plug in different core engines, Bloom said.