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In a recent development within the world of web servers, the highly regarded service Nginx has undergone a significant transformation. Russian developer Maxim Dounin has made waves by announcing a new fork of the Nginx web server and caching proxy. The new fork is called freenginx. This move is strategically aimed at steering clear of the corporate control wielded by F5, the current owner of Ngnix.
What is Nginx?
For those of us who aren’t overly technical, Nginx is known for its versatility, serves as a robust web server, a reverse proxy, and offers formidable security features. It offers a broad range of applications which has made it a favorite among developers and IT professionals. The decision to fork Nginx comes as a response to concerns about corporate influence and the desire to maintain the open-source ethos that has been pivotal to its success.
What role does Nginx play in WordPress hosting:
Given that approximately 34.1% of websites rely on Nginx servers, this fork has potential repercussions, especially in the enterprise space and for those involved in hosting reselling. The future landscape of Nginx will undoubtedly be closely monitored, as the developments in this space could have a cascading impact on the digital infrastructure that supports a significant portion of the internet.
What’s next?
In speaking with some of my contacts at a variety of WordPress hosting companies, the overall sentiment was both a wait-and-see approach along with some light concern and trepidation. One contact responded with, “If the fork takes and diverges it could make Nginx support a little harder.” Another added, “It will be interesting to see what happens and how the licensing changes. I suspect a lot of commercial hosts are on the commercial version but even that could be shaken up a bit, in the long term, with this Nginx [version] has been so steady for so long though that any change will raise eyebrows.”
Of course there is the big looming question: How might this shake things up for commercial hosts in the long run? With the usual uncertainty that comes with change, hosting providers, developers, and businesses are keeping a close eye on the outcome. For those working in the web hosting industry, only time will tell to see what happens with this fork in the road.
“This move is strategically aimed at steering clear of the corporate control wielded by F5, the current owner of Ngnix.”
More context: Maxim Dounin had a disagreement with F5 (acquired Nginx in 2019) about assigning CVEs for several security issues related to experimental features.