Yes, servers can be end-user

These days there's an unfortunate assumption that servers have to be for programmers only. They do not.

On the Mac in the 1990s, we had HTTP, FTP, email servers that were totally end-user. Launch the app, fill in a few blanks in a dialog, or just accept the defaults, and you've got a server.

What happened was tragic. On his return, Steve Jobs wiped the whole market out with one move, by bundling Unix servers with the OS. The message was clear. Servers are not for users.

In their defense, they might not have even known there was an ecosystem. Those were days of wiping the slate clean. Apple never really noticed the developers they had attracted. We left, shaking our heads about what could have been.

Well the art isn't lost. We still know how to do it.


Last built: Tue, Jan 7, 2014 at 3:59 PM

By Dave Winer, Wednesday, December 11, 2013 at 10:30 AM.