On Mac OS versions 9 and earlier, once could write applications that ran as "ACGI programs" in AppleScript or other languages that could handle Apple Events. Under OS X, Apache doesn't know how to send Apple Events, so you're out of luck. Apple includes an "ACGI Enabler" program with OS X Server, but chose not to include that with the standard edition. ACGI Dispatcher allows you to use traditional AppleScripts - or other programs that ran as ACGI programs under OS 9 - on OS X with Apache.
Version 3.0 adds/changes the following:
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
AmphetaDesk is a remarkable program. In short, AmphetaDesk is a news aggregator - it sits on your desktop, downloads the latest news that interests you, and displays them in a quick and easy to use (and customizable) web page. AmphetaDesk actually functions as a simple web server (written in Perl but not requiring a separate download of the MacPerl package) that contacts and collects news from selected XML-based (RSS) news sites to be combined and served in a simple web page format that is served to your web browser (or to other people's browsers, should you care to broadcast the address of your server) by your very own computer.
All this is not as complicated as it sounds; using it is a download-and-double-click affair, and customization and selection of content is done through your web browser. Because it's written in Perl, however, AmphetaDesk runs more slowly than you might like, and it may have a speed impact on other running applications. That said, it's an awful lot of fun, and since it's absolutely free and the source code is available, it's worth a look by any geek who can't get enough news - yours truly included.
Version 0.93.1 makes a whole slew of changes, all of which are fully detailed on the AmphetaDesk CHANGELOG page.
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
New Atlanta Communications, LLC produces BlueDragon, a low-cost ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML) application server that is widely used and admired. BlueDragon is available for Mac OS X in two editions: Server and Server JX.
The BlueDragon Server family of Java-based servers (Server and Server JX) enables the stand-alone deployment of CFML. Both BlueDragon Server versions contain a built-in web server for development and testing, and each integrates with Microsoft IIS, Sun ONE/Netscape/iPlanet (JX only), and Apache web servers for deployment.
Those looking to replace CFML with ASP or PHP due to budgetary reasons might consider sticking with CFML instead, deploying the base version of BlueDragon Server on Windows, Mac OS X or Linux platforms for free. BlueDragon Server includes support for CFCs, XML, Web Services, and Java and C++ CFX tags.
BlueDragon Server JX adds additional functionality to BlueDragon Server, including precompiled/encrypted CFML templates, J2EE session management, enterprise database drivers, support for SSL, support for additional OS/web server combinations - plus the ability to deploy hybrid CFML/JSP web applications (including shared access to data within J2EE sessions, ability to perform includes between CFML and JSP pages, calling Java objects from CFML, and more).
BlueDragon Server is free and BlueDragon Server JX is $899. See the BlueDragon Feature Comparison matrix for more information on the differences between BlueDragon Server and BlueDragon Server JX.
Version 7.0.1.352 adds/changes the following:
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Adobe (formerly Macromedia, Inc.) produces the ColdFusion web content server, written in Java for Mac OS X.
Version 9 includes a variety of fixes and enhancements that are best described in the online release notes. Highlights include:
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
Stalker Software makes the incredibly powerful and robust CommuniGate Pro Internet messaging server, which covers the gamut from faxing to POP mail.
Single server and cluster licenses are available, with prices ranging from $849 and up.
Version 5.2.20 adds/changes the following:
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
CrushFTP is a cross-platform, Java-based file server that provides FTP, SFTP (SSH FTP), FTPS (FTP over SSL), HTTP, HTTPS, WebDAV, and WebDAV SSL services. The "Crush" in CrushFTP comes from its ability to compress transfers on the fly seamlessly.
CrushFTP provides an expandable feature set via plugin support. Currently, most CrushFTP plugins are free, and they include:
Version 5.1.1 adds/changes the following:
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
DansGuardian is an award winning web content filtering proxy for Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, Mac OS X, HP-UX, and Solaris that uses Squid to do all the fetching. It filters using multiple methods. These methods include URL and domain filtering, content phrase filtering, PICS filtering, MIME filtering, file extension filtering, POST limiting. The content phrase filtering will check for pages that contain profanities and phrases often associated with pornography and other undesirable content. The POST filtering allows you to block or limit web upload. The URL and domain filtering is able to handle huge lists and is significantly faster than squidGuard. The filtering has configurable domain, user and source ip exception lists. SSL Tunneling is supported. The configurable logging produces a log in an easy to read format which has the option to only log the text-based pages, thus significantly reducing redundant information such as every image on a page. Pretty much all parts of DansGuardian are configurable thus giving the end administrator user total control over what is filtered and not some third-party company.
DansGuardian 2 is:
Version 2.10 is the first new "stable" release since August 2005, and includes a host of changes from the 2.8 series. Here are the highlights:
Version 2.10.1.1 is a bugfix release that makes the following additional changes:
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
Digi-Net Technologies, Inc. produces DigiChat, a Java-based client and server chat system for Web content providers. DigiChat and its sister product - DigiChat AV - feature a number of features that are summarized on the DigiChat Feature Set page.
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
NetWin, Ltd. produces DNEWS, one of the few NNTP news server systems available for the Mac, although it does not see much updating these days, as NetWin appears to be pushing its heir apparent, SurgeNews, which isn't yet available for Mac OS X.
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
DNS Enabler is an inexpensive shareware application that takes the work out of configuring BIND, the DNS server built into Mac OS X. According to the authors, DNS Enabler "tries to be as buzzword-compliant as possible - it handles multiple virtual domains, multiple subnets, aliases, MX records (including specifying back-up servers on other networks), and creating the right number of reverse pointer and CNAME records - while doing it all using a single window, the Mac way."
Version 2.1.1 - the latest release for Mac OS X 10.3 & 10.4 - adds/changes the following:
Version 3.0.4 - the latest release for Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) - adds/changes the following:
Version 4.0.5 - the latest release for Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) - adds/changes the following:
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
DNS Helper is a free application that takes the work out of configuring BIND, the DNS server built into Mac OS X. DNS Helper allows you to:
Currently, DNS Helper does not do the following:
With the 1.5 release, DNS Helper became a full replacement for Mac OS X Server's Server Settings DNS module. Actually, it can do quite a bit more than the Apple software can as of Spring, 2003.
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
Periodik Labs (formerly Corriente Networks LLC) produces Elektron, which is a software-based server that provides RADIUS/802.1X authentication services for Wi-Fi networks.
While version 2.1 is a bugfix release, version 2.0 added/changed the following:
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
Formerly known as Apple Internet Mail Server (AIMS), Qualcomm once bought and renamed this freeware SMTP server program that can be used on its own or in tandem with Eudora. As of December, 2001, however, original author Glenn Anderson licensed the product back to himself for future development, while keeping the Eudora badge.
EIMS - as it is commonly known - is very easy to set up, and quite reliable. Version 3.2.10 makes several fixes that are described in detail in the online release notes.
EIMS involves two pieces of software: the actual server itself, and the EIMS Admin administrative console application.
Version 3.3.9 of the server adds/changes the following:
Version 3.3.7 of the administrative console adds/changes the following:
An upgrade from version 3.2.x costs $60; a full version costs $400. EIMS Light is also available for $200; it supports all of the features of the full version of EIMS, except it only supports one domain (with domain aliases), has no IMAP server, no directory server (LDAP and Ph), no AppleEvent/AppleScript support, and no Incoming Mail folder.
Qualcomm sales and technical support are not supporting EIMS 3. Qualcomm will, however, continue to support EIMS 2.x and 3.0.x; see http://www.eudora.com/techsupport/eims/ for more information.
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
the standard Classic Mac OS demonstration server (3.3.7).
the standard Mac OS X (Carbon) demonstration server (3.3.7).
to the EIMS updater page to choose from a huge variety of updaters to suit different scenarios.
the "Classic" administrative console (3.3.7).
the Mac OS X (Carbon) administrative console (3.3.7).
EvoCam (formerly CoolCam) is a webcam server application for Power Macintosh, PowerBook, iMac and iBook computers running Mac OS X 10.4 (or higher). EvoCam provides true WYSIWYG editing of text captions, picture badges, clocks and blur items, all floating on top of live video from your camera. Mac OS X users: Currently, Mac OS X supports only FireWire DV cameras. Please contact the manufacturer of your camera to ask about support for Mac OS X.
Version 3.6.8 adds/changes the following:
EvoCam is shareware. Site licenses are $250 and world-wide site licenses are $500.
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
Powerlan USA, Inc. produces the eXodus series of X servers for Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X. Features include:
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
Centrinity produces the FirstClass email and workgroup communication/collaboration system. Server software includes FirstClass Business Edition and FirstClass Education Edition.
FirstClass Client 10.009 is primarily a bugfix release; version 10.0 added/changed the following:
FirstClass Server 10 also introduces a number of changes that are fully detailed in the online release notes.
FirstClass Client requires Mac OS X 10.5.2 or later; FirstClass Server requires Mac 10.5.4 or later running on a 64-bit Intel processor. More details are available.
You can find the latest version on FirstClass Online in the Conferences/Downloads/FirstClass Product Updates section of your software. Ensure that you review the Upgrade Instructions located there, and have your FirstClass upgrade license before proceeding with an upgrade. You should find the upgrade license in your FirstClass Online account mailbox or can complete an online request form for it.
See the online support page for more information.
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Limit Point Software produces iForm, a specialized form-generating and form-processing server that simplifies implementation of web-based forms, with no separate web server or CGI processor required.
Version 2.4.8 makes the following changes:
The software requires a demo registration code in order to take it for a test drive.
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Interaction is an application that adds threaded discussion forums, chat rooms, and a shopping cart system to any WebStar, MacHTTP, Web Server 4D, WebTen, Quid Pro Quo, NetPresenz, Zeus, or Mac OS Web Sharing server.
Versions 4.0 and higher can generate WAP documents and other XML based formats using XSL, making the pages available both for web browsers and PDAs. It can extract and include data from other sites (included web enabled databases) using the revised Resource entity type, with form data optionally forwarded from the original request based on configuration in a dialog on the Mac.
Interaction 4.5 is "Carbonized" and runs on Mac OS X Classic (but not natively on Mac OS X), in addition to Mac OS 8.6 and 9.x with CarbonLib 1.4 or higher.
Version 5.0 is the first "native" Mac OS X version, and version 5.0.2 is presumably a bugfix release. Changes are somewhat detailed in the online release notes.
Version 6.0 is the first new release in almost four (!) years, and makes the following enhancements:
"Interaction is a great tool. I'm currently using it to support a web-based bulletin board that is used extensively by students in a web-enhanced distance learning class that I teach. It is a little confusing to set up, and much of its considerable power is not readily apparent, but this is one program with a whole lot of potential! And Terje Norderhaug, the program's author, issues frequent updates and bug fixes and also responds quickly to messages from his users."
—Dan Mitchell
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Note: As of February 1, 2007 - in what amounted to an employee buyout - Interarchy's lead developer, Matthew Drayton, formed a new company, Nolobe Pty Ltd, and acquired Interarchy. Matthew has been working on Interarchy for six years and has led the development of Interarchy for the last several years. See the press release for more information.
Interarchy, formerly known as Anarchie, is, perhaps, the most popular Mac FTP client - but today it is much more than an FTP tool. One of the most compelling pieces of Mac OS Internet software ever produced, the version 9 series includes the following major new features:
Version 9.0.1 makes the following additional changes:
Version 9.0 is the latest release for Mac OS X 10.4.11 and later. Versions 4.0 through 8.5.4 of Interarchy incorporated the functionality of many older separate Stairways Software products, including MacTCP Watcher, OTSessionWatcher, Daemon, Finger and others. Network traffic watching and packet display were particularly useful tools for Web developers who want to see watch the interactions between servers and browsers. Unfortunately, version 9 eliminates these tools, which is presents a huge step backward in Interarchy's usefulness.
Interarchy has always had some great features, but their unique combination hasn't always made sense to certain people, primarily those who merely sought a simple, straightforward file transfer application. Interarchy has historically been, rather, a power user's FTP client. In recent years, other FTP clients such as Transmit have continued to refine the FTP experience, while Interarchy more or less struggled with what it should be, trying to be all things to all people. Version 7 significantly raised the bar, cleaning up the interface and its various features considerably, with custom views for each bookmark, and with a Finder-like attention to detail. "Tabbed" FTP browsing - identical to the Web browsing breakthrough that people have grown to love in Mozilla, Firefox and Safari - was a welcome addition, as were customizable toolbars, "icon" views, scheduling, and other niceties. The network analysis tools became prettier, and the package began to feel a bit more cohesive. However, versions 8 and later finally make great strides in bringing all of Interarchy's great power to the masses with an intuitive user interface.
Interarchy has always been a tool that every serious Mac Internet user should consider, and today it's a tool that even the less-serious Mac Internet user will feel at home with.
Through February 29, 2008 Interarchy 9 is available at an introductory price of US $39, with a suggested retail price of US $59 effective March 1, 2008. Registered owners of Interarchy 8.5.4 or earlier can upgrade for the discounted price of US $29.
"I'm convinced, after having used [Interarchy] for 1 hour (I've used 2.0.x and 3.0 in the past) that [it] may be the best Internet application ever on any platform. It has an interface that every Mac application should have, fully greyscale-appearance compliant, no modal dialogs or alerts, live, growable scroll bars, Navigation Services, and it works just like the Finder. It can view web sites as a series of links, it can keychain your FTP site passwords, it can perform Sherlock searches, it can slice, dice and julienne. I am no longer placing Fetch on the ISP software site: all our users should now use [Interarchy]."
—Charlie Saeger
"I have been a registered user of Anarchie for several years and was more than happy with that product. I have been part of the beta test for Interarchy and have been using the various incarnations for the past three months. Interachy is miles ahead of Anarchie, trust me. This is by far the best FTP client on the market. It is a bit pricey, but considering what you get and what it will do, it is more than worth the money."
—Jerry Garrison
"[7.3.2] Back when Interarchy was Anarchie (silly personal bias, but I really liked the old name and dislike the new one) it was my favourite FTP client for quite some time. I loved the ability to perform Archie searches (boy do I miss that, can nothing replace it? Whatever happened to Archie servers?), a lovely user interface and stability. If I could bring back the FTP client I enjoyed back then, Interarchy - despite the silly name - would be my current pick of the bunch. It feels like Stairways Software has lost their way somewhere along the line. I don't want the MS Office of FTP applications. Even Stairways' Kagi hosted web site is a pale image of their old site. It feels like Stairways have lost their groove and it shows in Interarchy."
—Jamie Kahn Genet, 3/10/2005
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Tenon Intersystems produces iTools for Mac OS X, which provides many of the graphical services offered by NetTen for use with Mac OS X's implementation of the Apache Web server (version 7 supports Apache 2). In addition to extensions and enhancements to the Mac OS X Apache web server, iTools provides a WEBmail server, a domain name server, a multihoming FTP server, an SSL encryption engine to support eCommerce, a caching engine with proxy support, and a Sherlock-savvy search engine.
Version 9.0.5 adds/changes the following:
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
From the iVPN web site: "iVPN is an application that makes use of the standards based PPTP and L2TP IPSec VPN server installed with Mac OS X. This VPN server is usually only available on Mac OS X Server and configured through the Server Admin application. iVPN makes it possible to use the same server utility on the client version of Mac OS X. All you have to do to set it up is to enter the user name and password that you want your VPN clients to use, the IP address range you want to give to your clients and then click start server. iVPN will handle all the other settings and start the VPN server."
Version 4.8 adds/changes the following:
Do not use iVPN on Mac OS X Server; you will no longer be able to use Mac OS X's Server Admin to configure your VPN server if you do.
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
Adobe (formerly Macromedia, Inc.) produces the JRun Java application server, written in Java for Mac OS X. New features include drag-and-drop deploy, XDoclet integration, and optimized Macromedia Flash Player connectivity.
Version 4 Updater 7 fixes many bugs and includes the following enhancements:
The online release notes have further information, including a complete list of bugfixes.
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
Kerio Technologies Inc. produces Kerio Connect (formerly Kerio MailServer), an email server and collaboration platform (similar to Microsoft Exchange) designed primarily for small to medium-sized organizations. Its critical components includes integrated ActiveSync support, McAfee anti-virus with dual anti-virus options using built-in third party plugins, multiple anti-spam technologies, cross-platform groupware functionality in Outlook, Entourage, Treos, Windows Mobile Devices and Kerio WebMail. Groupware features include shared and public email, calendars, contacts, notes and tasks. Users can be defined internally or managed through Microsoft Active Directory or Apple Open Directory. A migration tool for Microsoft Exchange is also inlcuded to migrate users and folders to Kerio MailServer. Kerio MailServer runs on Windows, Red Hat Linux, SUSE Linux, and Mac OS X.
Pricing varies, depending upon the desired number of users.
While version 7.0.2 Patch 1 fixes a few bugs, version 7.0.2 made a number of improvements, including the following:
The release makes many other changes to the Administration Console various modules (Administration Console, WebMail, Web Administration, Synchronization Plug-in, Outlook Connector, etc.) that are more fully detailed in the complete release notes.
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
L-Soft International, Inc. produces the LISTSERV line of email list management software for Mac OS X Version 10.4.2 and later. LISTSERV Classic is L-Soft's full-featured email list management software, featuring a high level of flexibility, scalability and performance. LISTSERV Lite is L-Soft's entry-level email list management software, primarily designed for customers with small workloads who do not require the more advanced features of the "Classic" product.
Evaluation copies are limited only in capacity, and are governed by an expiration date. An installation guide is available that explains the installation process.
LISTSERV is available in a variety of sizes and options; LISTSERV Classic runs between $500 and $9,400, whereas LISTSERV Lite runs between $450 - $2,800. See the LISTSERV license page for more information.
Version 15.5 makes a number of usability and other improvements that are fully detailed in the downloadable release notes.
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
From the LiteSpeed Web Server home page: "LiteSpeed Web Server is a high performance, secure and easy-to-use web server that can handle thousands of concurrent connections with a small memory footprint. It is less vulnerable when facing various attacks."
Features include:
The program is available in two editions:
Version 4.0.15 adds/changes the following:
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Macjordomo is a powerful, easy-to-use freeware listserver. Version 1.6a3 - the latest version for Mac OS X - makes the following changes:
Please visit the Macjordomo home page before downloading the program for the first time.
"I use [Macjordomo] to run 12 lists, ranging in size from 5 to 100 people per list, on a IIvx with 8Mb of RAM (and it is also running MacHTTP, AIMS and a Quickmail server for 100 people). It's never let me down once. The application seems almost crash proof, and handles all these lists brilliantly. The interface is useful, and Macjordomo provides a bunch of filtering options that make Unix gurus jealous. And the best ad for it: apparently the Windows 95/NT mailing list is run on it :)"
—Michael Cutter
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MailServe is a graphical application that helps you set up the built-in Postfix mail server on Mac OS X. It sets up SMTP, UW/IMAP, POP3 and Fetchmail services, including support for SSL and SMTP authentication.
By using MailServe in conjunction with its Fetchmail capability, you can funnel all of your email from remote mail servers to your own local server, and check email using POP or IMAP from that server instead.
Version 3.0.4 - the latest version for Mac OS X 10.5 - adds the following:
Version 4.1.4 - the latest version for Mac OS X 10.6 - adds the following:
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
Mailtron Gateway is a POP (and for Mac OS X, a POP/IMAP) email gateway from Studiotron Software that allows multiple people at a single domain to share a single email account. The license key that is required after the initial 30-day usage period is free for "Classic" Mac OS. Version 3.x (for Mac OS X only), however, comes as a fully-functional demo that runs for 30 days (except that he fetchmail daemon will not automatically run after a system restart) and can be registered for $69. The Mac OS X version features "industrial strength" mail forwarding using fetchmail, and automatic protocol detection, including IMAP.
Version 3.0 - the latest release for Mac OS X - adds/addresses the following:
"This fine, free program works as advertised. It is easy to set up and runs like a champ. We use it to route all the Internet email for our entire company (15 users)."
—Rob Fiorendino
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UserLand Software - founded by legendary Mac programmer Dave Winer - produces a number of web application server products that work not only on the Macintosh, but on Windows as well. Manila (formerly Frontier) is a comprehensive web scripting / content management system/ weblog publishing system that makes it simple for anyone to create and use web content, collaborate on projects, manage online discussion groups, podcast and share documents.
Downloads are available as free 30-day trials. Frontier includes an integrated HTTP server but works with third-party server software as well.
Manila 9.6 includes a large number of improvements and bug fixes that are fully detailed in the online release notes.
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
Men & Mice produces DNS and IP management software that enables users, through a graphical interface, to simultaneously manage standard DNS and DHCP servers on different platforms, as well as keep track of IP addresses. The Men & Mice Suite comes in both an enterprise version and a small business version (the latter which was formerly called "QuickDNS"). The Suite is comprised of three components: a client, called "Men & Mice Management Console"; a data storage and web server, called "Men & Mice Central"; and DNS gateway software, called "Men & Mice Server Controller".
Version 6.1.4 adds/changes the following:
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
MP3 Sushi is a set of two applications: MP3 Sushi Server and MP3 Buddies. MP3 Sushi Server allows you to turn your Mac into a jukebox or a radio broadcast station in a few clicks, allowing you to share and stream your music among a local network or the Internet. Thanks to the Rendezvous technology (aka ZeroConf), MP3 Buddies makes it easy to find every jukebox and radio server on your local network. Once MP3 Buddies is launched on a user computer, a list of servers is displayed and in just one click the user can browse the jukebox songs in his favorite navigator or listen to the radio in iTunes.
Version 1.5 adds/changes the following:
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Muffin is an interesting beast. It's one of the few Java applications that I list on the Orchard (if I were to include every Java application that had useful Internet capability, I would never have time to maintain this site), and while its functionality is useful for users of all levels, installing and getting it up and running - while not difficult for experienced Mac users - is not for the faint of heart.
Basically, though, I include it here because it provides incredibly useful functionality that is not really provided by any other free Macintosh software.
Briefly, Muffin is a World Wide Web "filtering system" that acts as a proxy server to filter out content to your own specifications. It can be used to filter any or all of the following:
. . . and a whole lot more. Its core features include:
Figuring out how to run Muffin on Classic Mac OS from the instructions on its Web site is needlessly intimidating. To save you the trouble, I've written a simplified set of instructions here:
To use Muffin, you'll need the following downloads (all free):
Once you have the two Apple MRJ products installed, you'll need to:
By the way: you'll never have to do this again; now, you'll be able to double-click on the applet whenever you want to use Muffin (but you'll have to be online for it to run).
In order to use Muffin, you'll have to configure your Web browser's proxy settings (dig around your browser's preferences to find this) to point to Muffin so that it can intervene between you and the Web (which is exactly what a proxy server does). This is accomplished by setting your proxy server address to 127.0.0.1 (the magic "loopback" IP address that points to your own machine) and using port 51966.
Sit back, configure Muffin from its "Edit" menu, and you'll be ready to roll! It uses about 6-7 MB of RAM when running, and has excellent performance under MRJ 2.2.
For more information on Muffin, including documentation, visit the Muffin Web site.
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
From the NFS Manager home page: "NFS Manager is a graphical user interface to control all built-in NFS features of Mac OS X. It can manage a whole network of Mac OS X computers to setup a distributed NFS file system via a few simple mouse clicks. The application is designed to use the latest technologies available in Mac OS X, like Open Directory, Bonjour, or Kerberos. If your network is setup as a Kerberos realm, secure NFS with authenticated and encrypted connections can be configured."
NFS Manager 3 is for Mac OS X Leopard or later only. Previous generations of Mac OS X use a very different implementation of NFS and therefore need a different management tool. Use NFS Manager 2 for legacy systems (Mac OS X 10.2.5 to 10.4.11).
Version 3.0 was redeveloped completely for Mac OS X 10.5 because Leopard uses a different NFS implementation. All aspects of the application have changed.
Version 3.31 makes the following additional changes:
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Paros is an essential tool for all web application developers and web site security auditors. It is a Java-based HTTP/HTTPS proxy for assessing web application vulnerability, supporting editing/viewing HTTP messages on-the-fly. Features include spiders, client certificate, proxy-chaining, intelligent scanning for XSS and SQL injections, and more.
Version 3.2.13 adds/changes the following:
See the installation instructions for more information.
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Aktiv Software Corporation produces the the Phantom web crawler/search robot formerly distributed by Maxum. Running on your web server, Phantom makes it possible for users to search your web site or other web sites. Phantom works like AltaVista (but on a smaller scale) so it can provide searching for remote web sites you specify using its built-in web crawler. Phantom supports indexing thousands of documents in a variety of formats including text, HTML and PDF. With its HTML form interface and web-based administration, Phantom makes it simple to implement basic searching but is also completely customizable for the more advanced Webmaster.
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
For Mac OS X, Tenon has developed a direct port of the popular Post.Office mail server / list server, bundled with the SpamAssassin plugin. Post.Office is a SMTP/POP3/IMAP messaging server designed to meet the needs of small and mid-sized ISPs.
Version 3.8.4 Rev. 115 adds/changes the following:
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From the Privoxy web site: "Privoxy is a web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for protecting privacy, modifying web page content, managing cookies, controlling access, and removing ads, banners, pop-ups and other obnoxious Internet junk. Privoxy has a very flexible configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and tastes. Privoxy has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user networks." Privoxy is freeware, released under the GNU General Public License.
Version 3.0.16 (the latest source release) adds/changes the following:
The online release notes have more details.
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
PureFTPd Manager is a simple Cocoa frontend to PureFTPd, "a free (BSD), secure, production-quality and standard-conformant FTP server based upon Troll-FTPd", for Mac OS X. PureFTPd Manager bundles pureftpd 1.0.18 for both Jaguar (10.2.x) and pureftpd 1.0.21 for Panther/Tiger (10.3.x, 10.4.x).
Version 1.8 - the first release in almost two (!) years - adds/changes the following:
The online release notes have more details.
Please note that the download below includes separate versions for Mac OS X 10.2/10.3 and Mac OS X 10.4.
Currently, no user reviews have been submitted. Send me yours!
Open System Consultants Pty Ltd produces Radiator, one of two RADIUS implementations for the Mac that I'm aware of. Radiator is written in Perl and runs an just about any OS, including Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X.
Version 4.6 makes the following changes:
The software is available for online purchase for $840 - $7,140.
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UserLand Software - founded by legendary Mac programmer Dave Winer - produces a number of web application server products that work not only on the Macintosh, but on Windows as well. Radio is a $39.95 Web application development and runtime environment. Radio includes a bundled application that streams news from authoritative publications (such as Red Herring, Wired News, Salon, CNN, Reuters, the San Jose Mercury-News, Motley Fool, Internet.Com, and from weblogs such as Tomalak's Realm, AppleSurf, Slashdot.Org, XML.Com, Freshmeat and Scripting News) and allows you to select stories for publishing on your own weblog, or "Blog". Radio supports RSS 0.90 or greater, <scriptingNews> 1.0 or greater for input; and RSS 0.92 for output.
Downloads are available as free 30-day trials. Radio includes an integrated HTTP server but works with third-party server software as well.
Version 8.2 includes many upstreaming improvements, new features for Radio's folder viewer, and additional bug fixes and developer features. The Radio 8.2 release does not include a new application file to upgrade. Simply update Radio.root to get the new version.
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RumorMill (formerly made by Stairwars Software, creators of Interarchy), is the only shareware NNTP news server for the Mac. Although this server is not really designed to handle a full modern-day (40,000+ groups) newsfeed, the software is quite powerful, and quite easy to administer. Version 1.3.4 adds/changes the following:
RumorMill requires a 680x0 or Power Mac running Mac OS 7.1 or higher (the setup application, though, requires Mac OS 7.6 or higher). The program is shareware with a fee of $90 for commercial use, $35 for private or educational use. RumorMill 1.3.x is a $15 update to registered users of RumorMill 1.2. The authors hope to carbonize RumorMill for use on Mac OS X some time in late 2002. The server portion will be ported first; the setup program will be ported later. There will be no upgrade charge to registered users of version 1.3.
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the software.
the documentation.
Version 1.4a13 (January 14, 2007) is now available for Mac OS X (Carbon). While this version is fully functional and stable, it has some limitations. Please see the release notes provided with the application for details.
Maxum Development produces the Rumpus FTP server, featuring:
Version 6.2.10 - the latest version for Mac OS X - adds/changes the following:
Rumpus comes in two editions: standard and professional. The standard version supports up to 32 simultaneous users and 32 user accounts defined in Rumpus' built-in security. For larger sites and ISPs, Rumpus Pro supports up to 256 simultaneous connections, and user accounts defined in built-in security are limited only by RAM. Besides these differences, the Standard and Pro versions are identical. Pricing for Rumpus standard ranges from $249 (1 server) to $1,494 (10 servers); pricing for Rumpus professional ranges from $395 (1 server) to $2,370 (10 servers). The Rumpus ordering page has more information.
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Secure Shell Helper (formerly SSH Admin) is a useful little utility that allows you to configure Mac OS X's command-line-based OpenSSH (Secure SHell) server application. Secure Shell Helper allows you to do the following:
Version 1.3 adds/changes the following:
Mac OS X 10.1 or higher is recommended. The software is free, and the source code is available upon request, and the author does accept donations.
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From the SHOUTcast web site:
"SHOUTcast is a free-of-charge audio homesteading solution. It permits anyone on the internet to broadcast audio from their PC to listeners across the Internet or any other IP-based network (Office LANs, college campuses, etc.). SHOUTcast's underlying technology for audio delivery is MPEG Layer 3, also known as MP3 technology. The SHOUTcast system can deliver audio in a live situation, or can deliver audio on-demand for archived broadcasts.
"This SHOUTcast server runs on Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server 2. It is a UNIX-style app without an Aqua interface, and has to be run in a terminal window. This server should be considered beta."
Version 1.9.8 adds/changes the following:
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SnapperHead is an unusual and fun application that allows you to serve up captures of your screen to anyone with a web browser (not guaranteed to be compatible with Windows browsers, however). Think of it as a special-purpose web server: you simply launch SnapperHead, then send a friend your IP address (it is shown on the SnapperHead window under "Snaps Served"). When they type that Internet address into the location field of a web browser, they will be sent - as an image in their browser - a picture of your screen. That's all SnapperHead does, but it does it well. SnapperHead is absolutely free (although the author could use a donation), and is Carbonized to run under Mac OS 8.5.1 or higher, with Carbon Lib 1.2 or higher. Version 4.6 adds/changes the following:
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Like Muffin, above, SpeedManiac is a World Wide Web "filtering system" that acts as a proxy server to filter out content to your own specifications. However, it's not written in Java; it's a native Mac OS X application that is much easier to set up and use. While it cannot filter the variety of things that Muffin can, it is capable of filtering graphics, selected sites, and Flash animations, which is good enough for mere mortals who might not have the time to master Muffin.
In order to use SpeedManiac, you'll have to configure your Web browser's proxy settings (dig around your browser's preferences to find this) to point to the program so that it can intervene between you and the Web (which is exactly what a proxy server does). Here's how you do that:
Version 1.33 adds/changes the following:
SpeedManiac - which is written by Ricardo Batista, celebrated author of the Extensions Manager for the "Classic" Mac OS - is shareware, and works as a trial version for 15 days.
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SSH Agent is a graphical front-end to some of the OpenSSH tools included with Mac OS X. Specifically, it allows you to start an ssh-agent, generate identities, and add identities to an agent. Additionally, it allows you to make the ssh-agent global so that, for example, Project Builder and CVL can use it to do version control over SSH, and it has some functionality to set-up a secure tunnel.
Version 1.1 adds/changes the following:
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NetWin, Ltd. produces the industrial-strength SurgeMail "carrier class" email server that supports any number of users or domains, virus scanning, spam filtering, integrated webmail access, integrated WAP support, and fast browser based administration tools. SurgeMail supports all relevant RFC protocols: POP3, SMTP, IMAP4, LDAP, HTTP, and TLS/SSL, and has optional calendar, file sharing, instant messaging, forum, and chat room modules available.
Version 4.3g4 makes the following changes:
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the Mac OS X (Darwin / PowerPC) demonstration version.
the Mac OS X (Darwin / Intel) demonstration version.
Version 5.0e2 (July 23, 2010) is available for PowerPC-based Macs and version 5.0e2 (July 23, 2010) is available for Intel-based Macs, making "lots" of changes. See the online release notes for more information.
TFTP Server is a simple, free utility that helps you to use and configure the TFTP server shipped with the standard Mac OS X distribution. TFTP is a simple protocol used to transfer files, and therefore was named the Trivial File Transfer Protocol, or TFTP. The only thing it can do is read and write files from/to a remote server. It cannot list directories content or change the working directory, and currently has no provisions for user authentication, so a TFTP server must have set a dedicated working directory from which send and receive files.
With this application, you can easily start/stop the TFTP server and change the path where the files are sent and received from TFTP clients (e.g. Cisco routers and switches) which connect to your Mac acting as TFTP server. This is useful if you have a lot of network devices and want to store in a safe place all their configuration text files and operating system binary images. These files can also be reused later (as is or modified using a text editor on your Mac) to easily configure from scratch or update other similar devices.
While there is no information regarding what's new in version 3.3.1 (presumably, it's a Snow Leopard compatibility update, as it's the first new release in exactly two years), version 3.1 added/changed the following:
"It provides a nice checks and balances for the FTP services that come with the OS. I found its ability to verify services status as well as its file path very helpful. I would recommend this for anyone who wants to run a scan-to-FTP function in a Mac networked enviroment. It will also show transaction status with FTP services!! Yeah!"
—C. Street
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From The NATural home page: "The NATural is a GUI tool to manage the NAT settings of Mac OS X Server. The NATural allows you to configure many of the settings that Server Admin will pass to natd. Apple's Server Admin software provides only a limited interface to control NAT routing functions. The underlying process, natd, can accept many more arguments. Although Server Admin does not provide an interface to these functions, it does respect all settings that natd supports." The NATural allows you to easily configure the following settings (and many others):
Version 1.0b2 adds/changes the following:
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Tomcat is well-known in Unix circles as a preferred Web server (often used in conjunction with Apache) that supports JSP (Java Server Pages) and the running of Java Servlets. Tomcat is actually a Java application itself (and a free one at that), and it runs quite well on the Macintosh.
Tomcat 6.0.x (for Servlet/JSP Spec 2.5/2.1) is the latest major release. Tomcat 6.0 is designed to run on J2SE 5.0 and later. In addition, Tomcat 6.0 uses the Eclipse JDT Java compiler for compiling JSP pages. This means you no longer need to have the complete Java Development Kit (JDK) to run Tomcat, but a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) is sufficient. The Eclipse JDT Java compiler is bundled with the binary Tomcat distributions. Tomcat can also be configured to use the compiler from the JDK to compile JSPs, or any other Java compiler supported by Apache Ant.
Tomcat 5.5.x remains available for Servlet/JSP Spec 2.4/2.0, and it, too, is designed to run on J2SE 5.0 and later. See the online release notes for more details.
Version 4.1.40 (for Servlet/JSP Spec 2.3/1.2) makes a number of changes, which are completely detailed in the online release notes.
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version 4.1.40 for Servlet/JSP Spec 2.3/1.2.
version 5.5.30 for Servlet/JSP Spec 2.4/2.0.
version 6.0.29 for Servlet/JSP Spec 2.5/2.1.
Version 7.0.0 beta is also available, making (as of June 30, 2010) several changes.
Vine Server (also known as OSXvnc) is a native VNC server for OS X that allows you to view and interact with your Mac OS X desktop from another computer over a network. Vine Server is free software and is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License.
Vine Server 3.11 includes the following enhancements:
An OS 9 version - called "OS9vnc" - is also available for download.
"I've been using OSXvnc on three OS X boxes that I'm using on servers. I have it installed to load automatically on start-up and it has been rock-solid and surprisingly fast. There is only one major glitch -the cursor isn't an arrow; it is just a small dot. Nevertheless, I can maintain these servers remotely over the Internet. Terrific! Now if I could just find a really nice listserver instead of Majordomo for OS X..."
—Gordon Goodman
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Web Crossing, Inc. produces Web Crossing, a high-end, high performance news/chat/discussion server system that runs on many platforms, including Mac OS and Mac OS X. Web Crossing may be extended via a host of plugins that provide a great variety of additional functionality, from blogs to wikis, and beyond. Features include:
Web Crossing also produces bundled solution suites (groups of plugins forming a complete, integrated package) that provide the Web Crossing product in special configurations for three select environments:
Pricing depends upon the combination of users, page views, and features that you choose. See the official pricing page for more information.
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WeirdX is a Java-based, open source X Window server that happens to run successfully under Mac OS and Mac OS X. While I don't generally list Java applications on the Orchard (they're a different breed entirely, and many fine sites track Java-based software), when the program in question provides a service that Mac users find themselves wanting, I happily make an exception. Free X server software is such a beast; MI/X is good but it hasn't been updated since 1998, and XFree86 only runs on Mac OS X. Commercial alternatives exist, to be sure, but for many Mac users who need only occasional access, the pricing of these products makes them impractical. WeirdX is free (and distributed under the GNU GPL) and has a bunch of truly nice features:
Version 1.0.32 adds/changes the following:
WeirdX supports core protocols of X11R6.3 partially, and I haven't been able to fully test it just yet. WeirdX will not be suitable to execute "heavy" X clients, but you may find that twm, xterm, etc. will run fine on it. The WeirdX home page has links to ready-to-run (double-clickable) applications for Mac OS and Mac OS X, but they may be a release or two behind the current version; if you really want the latest release, you'll have to work a bit harder. If you're running "Classic" Mac OS (i.e., not Mac OS X), begin by downloading the following files:
Once you have the two Apple MRJ products installed, you'll need to:
(Mac OS X users have it much easier: download the WeirdX Java archive, open up a terminal window, navigate to the directory where the .jar file resides, and type "java -jar weirdx-1.0.32.jar".). Paul Schaap has provided an unofficial installer for the uninitiated (1.0.31).
By the way: you'll never have to do this again; now, you'll be able to double-click on the applet whenever you want to use WeirdX. Once you have this ready, you'll need to have access to a machine that has X client applications available for running, and you'll need to use the "export" or "setenv" commands to tell this machine to use your Mac as the X Server (talk to your local sysadmin for more info.)
"Works for simple X-connections only. To configure without having to edit the source Java files, create a file named props in a folder named config and place this folder in the same place as your application. Here are possible entries to make in your props file to alter the defaults: weirdx.windowmode=RootlessWM (and on another line) weirdx.display.acl=+ (can't type carriage returns according to the review guidelines here!!). For more info, see the FAQ link in the developer's product info page. Don't forget that the default window number is 2 (configurable also via the props file)!"
—Alan Sill
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X11 for Mac OS X - from Apple itself - offers a complete X Window System implementation for running X11-based applications on Mac OS X 10.3 Panther (users of prior versions of Mac OS X should use XFree86, and Tiger users have the latest version on their installer DVDs). Based on the de facto-standard for X11, the open source XFree86 project, X11 for Mac OS X is compatible, fast and fully integrated with Mac OS X. It includes the full X11R6.6 technology, including a window server, libraries and basic utilities such as xterm.
X11 for Mac OS X takes advantage of the Mac OS X Quartz graphics system to deliver hardware-accelerated 2D and 3D graphics. Quartz provides snappy scrolling speeds for text, live drag and resize of windows, as well as 3D animation through OpenGL Direct Rendering. X11 for Mac OS X combines the display and client libraries into a single download and install, so getting X11 running on Mac OS X is easy. The installer sets up your environment with your path and DISPLAY. It also makes it simple to start xterm sessions and other popular X11 utilities. Additionally, you can use any three-button USB mouse with X11 for Mac OS X.
Version 1.0 - the latest version for Mac OS X 10.3 - adds/changes the following:
Version 1.1.3 - the latest version for Mac OS X 10.4 - adds/changes the following:
Version 2.1.6 - the latest version for Mac OS X 10.5, and available only as part of the Mac OS X 10.5.7 update (and which reports itself as version 2.0 in the Finder) - makes unspecified changes.
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The "client" version of Mac OS X comes with a variety of perfectly capable open source languages, servers and utilities (such as Apache, Perl, Ruby, etc.) that comprise a comprehensive web-serving package. However, many of the versions Apple has chosen to include with "plain vanilla" Mac OS X (as opposed to Mac OS X Server) are a few versions behind the most current offerings. This makes for a stable, functional, yet somehow conservative collection of services that are missing some "bleeding edge" features that more seasoned users may have come to expect. While it's quite possible to download and use these more recent versions on your own (compilation sometimes required), it can be difficult - if not maddening - to try to keep tabs on the latest releases of all these pieces of software. Enter XAMPP, a free package from Apache Friends, which is a non-profit project to promote the Apache web server, founded in the spring of 2002 by Kai 'Oswald' Seidler and Kay Vogelgesang.
XAMPP is an easy-to-install Apache distribution containing a more recent version of the Apache web server, along with more recent versions of supporting applications such as MySQL, PHP, Perl, and more. XAMPP is really very easy to install and to use - just download, extract and start. It comes as a Mac OS X Installer package which contains all the necessary files and requires no dependencies.
XAMPP version 1.7.3 for Mac OS X contains the following software: Apache 2.2.14, MySQL 5.1.44, PHP 5.3.1, Perl 5.10.1, ProFTPD 1.3.3, phpMyAdmin 3.2.4, OpenSSL 0.9.8k, GD 2.0.35, Freetype 2.3.5, libjpeg 6b, libpng 1.2.32, libungif-4.1.4, zlib 1.2.3, expat 2.0.1, Ming 0.4.2, Webalizer 2.01-10, pdf class 009e, mod_perl 2.0.4, SQLite 3.6.3, gdbm-1.8.3, libxml-2.7.2, libxslt-1.1.24, openldap-2.3.43, imap-2004g, gettext-0.16.1, libmcrypt-2.5.8, mhash-0.9.9, zziplib-0.13.48, bzip2-1.0.5, freetds-0.64.
Please see the online installation guide before downloading.
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XFree86 is a freely redistributable open-source implementation of the X Window System that runs on UNIX(R) and UNIX-like (like Linux, the BSDs, Mac OS X (aka Darwin) and Solaris x86 series) operating systems and OS/2. XFree86 is the underlying software that is between the hardware and graphical user interface (aka gui) that people see and use. If you are using KDE, GNOME, Enlightenment, Blackbox, AfterStep, twm or fvwm then you are already using and running XFree86 as these run as XFree86 clients.
Although Apple includes XFree86 in a special, optimized form in Mac OS X (see X11 for Mac OS X, above, for more information), this version is a little more on the "bleeding edge" and may be used on earlier Mac OS X releases as well.
The version 4.8.0 release includes the XDarwin application. Previous versions of the XDarwin application (up to v1.0.6) were available from the "XonX" site as updates to XFree86 4.1. With this addition, you can run both X Window and Aqua simultaneously - a very nice benefit. X Window on OS X has grown out of infancy into early adulthood, and that's a good thing indeed. (Thanks to Adrian Umpleby for clarifications to these descriptions.)
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Tenon Intersystems the Xtools X Window server package for Mac OS X. From the Xtools web site: "Xtools is a new, built-from-the-ground-up, object-oriented, multi-threaded Cocoa application that takes full advantage of CoreGraphics and Quartz. Xtools is optimized for the velocity engine and multiple processors and supports hardware accelerated OpenGL. Xtools is not only a vehicle for displaying remote X11 client applications, but also for developing local X11 clients. The Xtools X11 libraries let developers build clickable X applications that can be minimized in the Dock. Xtools is based on open source industry standards and is tightly integrated with Mac OS X and Apple technologies."
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Zeus Technology Ltd. produces Zeus Web Server, a scalable, ultra-high-performance (used by eBay and several other high-traffic sites) UNIX-based Web Server that now runs on Mac OS X.
ZWS 4.3r4 is a minor revision of ZWS 4.3r3, containing a number of bug fixes. Customers are recommended to upgrade as soon as possible. Changes include:
Note: From 10th June 2008, Zeus will no longer support Zeus Web Server (ZWS) on several platforms, including Mac OS X. For more details, see the end-of-life announcement page.
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Can't find what you're looking for? Try a search:
Also, if you have an older Mac, be sure to check out the "Classic" applications page for more options.
Finally, take a look at ALEMIA if you think you know that name of an application, but aren't quite sure.
Mac OS X has a huge amount of TCP/IP-based server software built into it that I don't specifically cover here. Your "Sharing" Preference Pane allows you to enable and disable these services with a click of the mouse. The software running behind the scenes to provide many of these services is generally of the open source variety. The standard release of Mac OS X includes, among many others:
Of course, Mac OS X Server includes many more, in addition to offering more recent versions of many of the above servers.
Graham Orndorff has written a superb collection of articles on setting up email servers and secure email clients on Mac OS X.
These are applications that are newer and of potential interest, but which I haven't yet selected for permanent inclusion. Have a look, and let me know if you think they deserve to be part of the permanent collection!