From: Gregory Alan Bolcer (gbolcer@endtech.com)
Date: Tue Apr 04 2000 - 15:28:27 PDT
Magi Server v0.5 Beta Release 1
===============================
4/4/2000 - Endeavors Technology is proud to announce
the initial beta release of Version 0.5 of its open source,
Apache-based, personal desktop Web server software. Magi combines
HTTP-based buddy and presence information with dynamic
WebDAV access controls to allow users, their buddies, or agents to
share, remotely author, or synchronize documents and data
across a variety of machines--even if they are connected to the
Internet through a dialup or behind a firewall.
More information is available at http://magi.endeavors.org/
In addition, several mailing lists have been set up:
magi-announce - List for announcements of Magi news and releases.
magi-bugs - Address for sending sending magi bug reports (and fixes).
magi-builds - Notification, status, history of nightly builds.
magi-discuss - General discussion of Magi features and uses.
magi-dev - List for Magi developers.
As this is an initial beta-release, we are seeking beta testers and comments.
The site currently has binary installs for Win32 platforms, but several
unix variants are forthcoming. All code is designed to compile and run on most
platforms.
Thanks!
The Magi Team
About Magi (http://magi.endeavors.org/)
=======================================================================================
What is Magi?
Simply stated, Magi is a personal Web server that
allows users to easily store and retrieve information.
A Magi server restricts who has access to download
and view files using a buddy list. Users can share and synchronize information on
their own desktop, laptop, or palmtop using a Magi server from anywhere as if it
were a local directory.
What is the Magi Project?
The Magi Project is an open source effort to standardize the personal Web
server components, tools, and protocol extensions to build Internet-scale
electronic services. These e-services can be constructed from Web applications
that speak the same HTTP methods. Magi uses HTTP, WebDAV, XML, and
other evolving Web technologies to accomplish this. Applications built in the Magi
style enjoy the network-effect of being interoperable with current Web
applications as well as future smart applications that take advantage of the Web's
more collaborative extensions.
The Magi Project hopes to open new doors for developers building and
deploying Internet-scale applications involving notification, knowledge
management, mobile agents, file sharing, data synchronization, automated content
publishing, e-commerce, e-business, and more.
What can it do for me? Why would I need a Magi server?
Today the Web is mostly read-only. Putting an HTTP server on every desktop
and device turns the Web into your own personal Extranet. Not only can you
access your data from any device at hand, you can edit your information in place
and automatically share it across any Web device.
o Access a work file from home rather than emailing it back and forth to
yourself--even if it's behind a firewall.
o Edit in place an original file rather than managing multiple copies.
o Publish documents or other content from your favorite browser or office
tools to your own Magi server.
o Drag and drop files between your work, home, laptop, and other Magi
devices and manage the handoff of the files if they aren't immediately online.
o Find important documents and information by quickly searching just the
particular machines, not the whole Web.
o Identify changes to files on a remote machine or laptop--even if it's using a
dynamic IP dialup without it having to explicitly update to a shared server.
o Control who gets to view and download your files.
o Synchronize your bookmarks, addresses, or other information across a
variety of Web devices.
o Notify a coworker or buddy by sending a multimedia short-message from
any Web device.
o Handoff online documents and work to coworkers or buddies.
Determine whether or not a document has been downloaded or received.
How does it work? How does it help me build Web apps?
Magi is a full-featured, fully-configurable, highly-customizable application server
that becomes an event destination for any client-to-server or server-to-server call.
There are thousands of tool integrations, software modules, protocol extensions,
and application add-ons that can be incorporated. Magi helps Web application
developers overcome several problems.
o Application Servers are difficult to configure & update; Magi makes the
configuration and construction of XML and Java distributed apps easier.
o Dialup clients typically can't run a Web server because they are allocated
dynamic IP addresses; initiating a server-to-client callback is difficult without
Magi 's dynamic DNS registration and URL name mapping.
o Web security & access control is a difficult task; Magi provides the XML
tools and interfaces to accomplish this dynamically.
o Size typically limits HTTP services to run solely on a fixed machine with lots
of memory; the Magi Project's goal is to componentize the Apache HTTP
server to reduce the runtime size such that it fits on all Web-capable
devices.
Yes, but, how is that done?
The technology to do this is available in a variety of existing Web protocols, open
source projects, and software installations that you are probably already using.
Configuring these technologies is well beyond the abilities of all but the most
technical webmasters or programmers. Magi makes the installation, configuration,
customization, and use of these technologies easier.
In particular, Magi implementations can be built using and may include:
o Apache HTTP Server
o Java, Java Servlet Interfaces, & Graphical User Interface Components
o XML & Document Object Model and Management
o Distributed Authoring and Versioning Protocol & Dynamic Access Controls
o Buddy and Presence Information Management
o Dynamic IP Registration and URL redirection
o XML messaging engines and formats
o Default Security Management of Document Directories & Services
=======================================================================================
The Magi Project is sponsored by:
Endeavors Technnology, Inc.
Tadpole Technology, PLC
Magi Software Consulting
Magi includes software developed by the Apache Software
Foundation (http://www.apache.org/). Copyright (c) 2000 The Apache
Software Foundation. All rights reserved.
Magi includes software developed by the Java Apache Project for
use in the Apache JServ Servlet Engine <http://java.apache.org/>.
Copyright (c) 1997-1999 The Java Apache Project. All rights reserved.
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