taler-www

2024-04.html.j2 (5297B)

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 <h1>GNU libmicrohttpd 1.0 released</h1>
 <p>
 We are glad to announce the release of GNU libmicrohttpd v1.0, and
 future plans for the library.
 </p>
 <h2>About GNU libmicrohttpd</h2>
 <p>
 GNU libmicrohttpd is a small C library that makes it easy to run an
 HTTP server as part of another application. GNU libmicrohttpd is free
 software and an official GNU package.
 </p>
 <p>
 Key features that distinguish
 GNU libmicrohttpd from other projects are:
 <ul>
 <li>C library: fast and small</li>
 <li>API is expressive and fully reentrant</li>
 <li>Implementation is HTTP 1.1 compliant</li>
 <li>HTTP server can listen on multiple ports</li>
 <li>Various threading modes</li>
 <li>Three different sockets polling modes</li>
 <li>Broad platform support</li>
 <li>Support for IPv4 and IPv6</li>
 <li>Support for incremental processing of POST data</li>
 <li>Support for basic and digest authentication</li>
 <li>Support for TLS (requires libgnutls)</li>
 </ul>
 <p>
 Do not use GNU libmicrohttpd if you are looking for a standalone HTTP
 server, there are many other projects out there that provide that kind
 of functionality already. However, if you want to be able to serve
 HTTP requests from within your C or C++ application, check it out!
 </p>
 <p>
 GNU libmicrohttpd has been primarily developed by the GNU maintainers
 Evgeny Grin and Christian Grothoff over the last 16 years with the
 help of a large community contributing features, bug reports and bug
 fixes. We are especially grateful for code security audits performed
 or paid for by Mozilla and Red Hat.
 </p>
 
 <h2>Changes</h2>
 <p>
 This is the first non-bugfix release since version 0.9.75 and the first
 ever stable release of GNU libmicrohttpd. It is a huge one with new features
 and fixes.
 </p>
 The major changes include:
 <ul>
 <li>Rewritten parsing of clients' requests, fully aligned with current
   RFCs (9110 and 9112) requirements. Added detailed control of strict
   or lenient specification enforcement. Application may choose between
   more compatible mode or more strict and secure mode.</li>
 <li>Reworked Digest Auth, greater enhanced support for current RFC 7617
   features. MHD currently is the only known server-side implementation
   with support for SHA-512/256, userhash and username in extended
   notation. At the same time the very old RFC2069 is supported, as
   well as MD5 and SHA-256.</li>
 <li>Improved functionality in multi-threading environment, especially with
   external sockets polling modes.</li>
 <li>Reworked Basic Auth, adding new convenient API functions.</li>
 <li>Re-implemented GnuTLS initialisation. Now supported
   libmicrohttpd-specific system-wide configuration, as well as generic
   GnuTLS system-wide configuration. Application may adjust settings based
   on system configuration instead of specifying its own full
   configuration.</li>
 <li>Tons of other new functionality and various fixes. For detailed changes
   see the ChangeLog or Git commit logs.</li>
 </ul>
 
 <h2>Download</h2>
 <p>
 You can download GNU libmicrohttpd from:
 <ul>
 <li><a href="https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/libmicrohttpd/ and all GNU FTP mirrors">https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/libmicrohttpd/</a> and all GNU FTP mirrors.</li>
 <li>Our Git repository at <a href="https://git.gnunet.org/libmicrohttpd.git">https://git.gnunet.org/libmicrohttpd.git</a></li>
 </ul>
 </p>
 <p>
 Please report bugs to our
 <a href="https://bugs.gnunet.org/set_project.php?project_id=10">bugtracker</a>.
 </p>
 <p>
 The documentation (including a reference manual and tutorial) can be
 found at <a href="https://gnu.org/s/libmicrohttpd">https://gnu.org/s/libmicrohttpd</a>.
 </p>
 
 <h2>Future Development</h2>
 <p>
 We will now begin work on a 2nd major version of GNU libmicrohttpd.  This
 version will have an easier to use API, add support for HTTP2 and HTTP3, as
 well as multiple TLS backends.  Initial work on this will be done by <a
 href="https://taler-ops.ch/">Taler Operations AG</a> under a commission from
 the <a href="https://mastodon.social/@sovtechfund">German Sovereign Technology
 Fund</a>.  The Sovereign Tech Fund supports the development, improvement, and
 maintenance of open digital infrastructure. Its goal is to sustainably
 strengthen the Free Software ecosystem, focusing on security, resilience,
 technological diversity, and the people behind the code.  The result will of
 course be Free Software and continue to be released under the Lesser GNU
 General Public License.
 </p>
 
 <p> If you are interested in commercial support or would like to financially
 support our development, please <a href="mailto:mhd@taler-ops.ch">contact
 us</a>. We would like to see if we can transition from purely volunteer work
 to paid work to accelerate development.  We would especially like to hear from
 you if your business might be interested in purchasing (CE) certifications for
 GNU libmicrohttpd (say for compliance with the EU 
 <a href="https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/cyber-resilience-act">
 Cyber Resilience Act</a>). That would help Taler Operations AG to assess this
 potential business case.
 </p>
 
 <p>
 Of course we will continue our best to provide gratis support -- but
 no warranties -- to developers via the GNU libmicrohttpd mailing-list.
 </p>
 <p>
 Happy hacking!
 </p>
 <p>
 Evgeny &amp; Christian
 </p>
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