The Web Grows
Next computer platform was accessible by a few users. Later, the
development of 'line-mode' browser, which could run on any system, started. In
1991, Berners-Lee introduced his WWW software with 'line-mode' browser, Web
server software and a library for developers.
In March 1991, it was available to colleagues who were using CERN
computers. After a few months, in August 1991, he introduced the WWW software
on internet newsgroups, and it generated interest in the project across the
world. Graphic interface for the internet, first introduced to the public on 6
August 1991 by Tim Berners-Lee. On 23 August 1991, it was available to
everyone.
Becoming Global
The first Web server came online in December 1991 in the United
States. At this time, there were only two types of browsers; the original
development version which was available only on NeXT machines and the
'line-mode' browser which was easy to install and run on any platform but was
less user-friendly and had limited power.
For further improvement, Berners-Lee asked other developers via
the internet to contribute to its development. Many developers wrote browsers
for the X-Window System. The first web server, outside Europe, was introduced
at Standard University in the United States in 1991. In the same year, there
were only ten known web servers across the world.
Later at the beginning of 1993, the National Center for
Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) introduced the first version of its Mosaic
browser. It ran in the X Window System environment. Later, the NCSA released
versions for the PC and Macintosh environments. With the introduction of
user-friendly browsers on these computers, the WWW started spreading
tremendously across the world.
Eventually, the European Commission approved its first web project
in the same year with CERN as one of its partners. In April 1993, CERN made the
source code of WWW available on a royalty-free basis and thus made it free
software. Royalty-free means one has the right to use copyright material or
intellectual property without paying any royalty or license fee. Thus, CERN
allowed people to use the code and web protocol for free. The technologies that
were developed to make the WWW became an open source to allow people to use
them for free. Eventually, people started creating websites for online
businesses, to provide information and other similar purposes.
At the end of 1993, there were more than 500 web servers, and the
WWW has 1% of the total internet traffic. In May 1994, the First International
World Wide Web conference was held at CERN and was attended by around 400 users
and developers and popularly known as the "Woodstock of the Web." In
the same year, the telecommunication companies started providing internet
access, and people have access to WWW available at their homes.
In the same year, one more conference was held in the United
States, which was attended by over 1000 people. It was organized by the NCSA
and the newly-formed International WWW Conference Committee (IW3C2). At the end
of this year (1994), the World Wide Web had around 10000 servers and 10 million
users. The technology was continuously improved to fulfill growing needs and
security, and e-commerce tools were decided to be added soon.
Open
standards:
The main objective was to keep the Web an open standard for all
rather than a proprietary system. Accordingly, CERN sent a proposal to the Commission
of the European Union under the ESPRIT program "WebCore." This
project's objective was to form an international consortium in collaboration
with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the US. In 1994, Berners-Lee
left CERN and joined MIT and established the International World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C) and a new European partner was needed for W3C.
The European Commission approached the French National Institute
for Research in Computer Science and Controls (INRIA), to substitute the CERN's
role. Eventually, in April 1995, INRIA became the first European W3C host and
in 1996 Keio University of Japan became another host in Asia.
In 2003, ERCIM (European Research Consortium in Informatics and
Mathematics) replaced INRIA for the role of European W3C Host. Beihang
University was announced as the fourth Host by W3C in 2013. In September 2018,
there were over 400 member organizations around the world.
Since its inception, the Web has changed a lot and is still
changing today. Search engines have become more advanced at reading,
understanding, and processing information. They can easily find the information
requested by users and can even provide other relevant information that might
interest users.
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