randomErr's Journal: Apple releases Rendezvous code

Apple releases Rendezvous code

By JACK KAPICA
Globe and Mail Update

The source code for Apple's new Rendezvous networking technology will be released to the public, Apple Canada announced Thursday.

The move will allow developers to use Rendezvous technology in their network devices or software.

Rendezvous support is built into Mac OS X version 10.2 (Jaguar) and is used by Apple's iChat application. The source code includes software to support UNIX, Linux, and Windows-based systems and devices.

Apple said it is submitting Rendezvous to the IETF Zeroconf Working Group to develop the zero-configuration IP networking technology as an open standard. The procedure is part of the IETF standardization process.

Based on open Internet Engineering Task Force Standard Protocols such as Internet Protocol (IP), Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) and Domain Name System (DNS), Rendezvous automatically discovers and connects devices over any IP network, such as Ethernet or 802.11-based wireless networks such as Apple's Airport.

Apple said that a number of manufacturers of network products - such as network printers, consumer electronics, enterprise database management and educational applications - have said they will support Rendezvous. Among them are Canon, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, Lexmark, Philips, Sybase, World Book and Xerox.

"By supporting an open standards process and providing open source software that is available today, Apple is encouraging the rapid adoption of Rendezvous technology,"
Apple worldwide product marketing vice president Philip Schiller said in making the announcement.

Developers can download the source code for Rendezvous under the Apple Public Source License from Apple beginning immediately.

Also available from the same download site as open-source releases are the Darwin 6.0.1 operating system and additional Open Directory plug-ins.