Rich Bowen

Areas of Expertise:

Apache

Biography

Rich Bowen is a member of the Apache Software Foundation, working primarily on the documentation for the Apache Web Server. He lives in Lexington, Kentucky, where he spends his free time GeoCaching. He also enjoys flying kites and reading stuff by Charles Dickens and his contemporaries.

Rich is a coauthor of Apache Administrators Handbook and Apache Cookbook.

Rich, or DrBacchus--his handle on IRC--also spends entirely too much time on #apache. You can find him on the web at http://www.drbacchus.com/journal/.

Books

Apache Cookbook by Rich Bowen , Ken Coar Second Edition December 2007 Print: $34.99 Ebook: $27.99 (4) (Read Reviews)	What's New in Apache Web Server 2.2? by Rich Bowen February 2007 Print: $9.99
Apache Cookbook by Ken Coar , Rich Bowen November 2003 Print: $29.95 Ebook: $23.99 (4) (Read Reviews)

Articles

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Making Apache httpd Logs More Useful
Publish Date: Feb. 1, 2007Apache httpd's standard text logfiles are well understood and useful, but they don't always give you enough information to troubleshoot problems. Apache 2.x provides several new modules that produce more logfile information--the number of bytes transferred, the rewrite rule matching, which requests complete and why, and the complete output of all headers. Rich Bowen explores these options. Caching Dynamic Content with Apache httpd
Publish Date: Nov. 16, 2006Dynamic websites tend to be easier to manage than large collections of similar static files, but they often get many times more reads than they do writes. Every database hit and page generation can eat up precious CPU cycles. Rich Bowen shows off mod_cache, which trades disk space or memory for CPU and can help improve performance on your servers. Sending Apache httpd Logs to Syslog
Publish Date: Oct. 12, 2006Apache httpd's standard text logfiles are well understood and useful, but sometimes they're not the best option. The mature and flexible Unix syslog system offers plenty of opportunities to improve reporting and security. Rich Bowen explains how to join these two systems together. A Day in the Life of #Apache
Publish Date: Sep. 8, 2005Rich Bowen is back with another installment in his occasional series based on conversations on #apache. In this article, Rich discusses a particular Apache Web Server annoyance, the Options directive, and he explains how it works and why it does what it does. Rich is a coauthor of O'Reilly's Apache Cookbook A Day in the Life of #Apache
Publish Date: Apr. 28, 2005Rich Bowen is back with another installment in his ongoing series based on conversations on #apache. This week, he provides examples of using RewriteMap--which are lacking in its documentation and online--in this mini-tutorial. Rich is a coauthor of O'Reilly's Apache Cookbook. A Day in the Life of #Apache
Publish Date: Mar. 24, 2005If you've tried editing in WebDAV, you've likely encountered a permissions problem, as well as the problem of needing to edit your PHP files. Rich Bowen has a simple and effective solution to both of these problems in his latest #apache column. Rich is a coauthor of O'Reilly's Apache Cookbook. A Day in the Life of #Apache
Publish Date: Feb. 17, 2005Rich Bowen is back after a hiatus with another column based on his conversations on the IRC channel #apache. Rich explains why it is in fact possible to run name-based SSL virtual hosts on Apache. Rich is a coauthor of O'Reilly's Apache Cookbook. A Day in the Life of #Apache
Publish Date: Sep. 23, 2004In this month's column, Rich Bowen tackles an Apache security issue. Learn how to configure Apache to send a different Server response so no one can identify what version of Apache you're running or any of the modules you have installed. The less information your server reveals, the safer it will be from crackers. Rich is a coauthor of O'Reilly's Apache Cookbook. A Day in the Life of #Apache
Publish Date: Aug. 19, 2004Rich Bowen is back this month after a brief summer hiatus with his latest column based on his conversations on the IRC channel #apache. Want to know how to make your web site faster? Rich has some tips to enhance your server's performance. Rich is a coauthor of O'Reilly's Apache Cookbook. A Day in the Life of #Apache
Publish Date: Jun. 17, 2004In Rich Bowen's latest column based on his conversations on the IRC channel #apache, he attempts to answer a question that comes up at least once a day, but which doesn't have one clear answer: whether to use Apache 1.3 or 2.0. Find out why the answer is not a simple one. Rich is a coauthor of O'Reilly's Apache Cookbook. A Day in the Life of #Apache
Publish Date: May. 27, 2004File permissions are a major topic of conversation on #apache -- the IRC channel on which Rich Bowen often lends a helping hand. In this latest article in the series based on his #apache conversations, Rich covers the hows and whys to setting up file permissions on Unix machines. Rich is a coauthor of Apache Cookbook. A Day in the Life of #Apache
Publish Date: Apr. 22, 2004In this latest installment in the series based on his conversations on the IRC channel #apache, Rich Bowen walks through three error condition scenarios administrators have encountered and shows what to do about them, in order to create a more welcoming, less "Forbidden" web site for end users. Rich is the coauthor of O'Reilly's Apache Cookbook. A Day in the Life of #Apache
Publish Date: Mar. 18, 2004In this latest installment in the series based on his conversations on the IRC channel #apache, Rich Bowen takes you on an interesting trip through the history of mod_imap, and why some modules hang around long after they're no longer in use. Rich is a coauthor of O'Reilly's Apache Cookbook. A Day in the Life of #Apache
Publish Date: Feb. 26, 2004Rich Bowen tackles yet another common Apache dilemma in the latest installment in this series based on his conversations on the IRC channel, #apache. This week he delves into the sometimes confusing world of modules: when to enable them, when to disable them, and why. A Day in the Life of #Apache
Publish Date: Jan. 8, 2004In this installment of his new series based on conversations on the IRC channel, #Apache, Rich Bowen tackles configuration issues in the sometimes bewildering world of virtual hosts. By the time he's through, Rich will have even the most confused Apache administrator creating a functioning virtual host configuration. Rich is coauthor of the recently released Apache Cookbook.

Blog

Rich's blog posts are hosted at:
http://wooga.drbacchus.com/

The Wall

November 09 2009

We're reading the accounts of November 9, 1989 in Berlin, and, in retrospect, it seems almost absurd. A wall? Between two halves of the same city? Ludicrous? But it was *only* 20 years ago, and I remember that day so very clearly.And, at the same time, almost daring to hope… read more

Happy 10th Birthday Apache

November 05 2009

I do a podcast called Feathercast, about technologies and people within the Apache Software Foundation. I do this for a number of reasons.I love playing with technology, even when I don’t really understand it. Using it is the best way to understand it, and I’ve learned a lot about audio… read more

ApacheCon US 2009, days 1 and 2

November 04 2009

I'm in Oakland for ApacheCon US 2009, and we're about to start the first day of the main conference. Monday and Tuesday were for half-day and full-day training classes. Jim Jagielski and I did the two-day Apache web server training class, with him doing day one and me doing day… read more

mod_rewrite docs rewrite at ApacheCon

October 29 2009

The plan, (assuming I don't get sidetracked on a million other things, which is what usually happens) is to do a major overhaul of the mod_rewrite documentation during the hackathon at ApacheCon. Please speak up if you have specific comments or recommendations. So far, the outline is something like this.1)… read more

Influential in Open Source?

October 27 2009

Yes, I have to agree with Grant, the list of the "most influential people in Open Source" is perplexing, at the very least, containing names like Steve Balmer, Scott Mcnealy, and Mårten Gustaf Mickos, while missing the blindingly obvious names like Linus Torvalds, Brian Behlendorf, Michael Widenius, and either Larry… read more

Anatomy of a scam

October 26 2009

The more I think about it, the angrier it makes me.Someone tried to commit check fraud on us this morning, and used one of my wife's paintings as the bait. They initially contacted my wife via her Etsy store, and offered to buy one of her paintings. The email had… read more

Ode to an RSS Feed

October 24 2009

271 unread items.Someone’s soul, poured out on paper,wrestled through the editorial process.Two, five, a dozen rejection letters.Tears of frustration and weariness,wondering if this thought was reallyworth putting down.Somehow, published, birthed with fearand embarrassment and pride and trepidation,Would anyone care?Would they read it, connect on that levelwhere we can’t really put… read more

Pumpkin Party

October 24 2009

The pumpkin photos from the pumpkin party are here. Not quite as elaborate as in years past, but still an awful lot of fun.And the rain stayed away for long enough that I got to use the new firepit, and made quite an impressive inferno. read more

Magento: Beginner's Guide (Packt books)

October 22 2009

Long, long ago, Packt sent me a copy of the book "Magento: Beginner's Guide" by William Rice, and asked me to review it. I finally got around to it, and over the last few evenings have been reading this fine book. I just got done with it, and feel like… read more

Chivalry

October 20 2009

We live in an age where the notion of chivalry has become something of a dirty word. I think that this is because the concept is misunderstood.When people here the word chivalry, they think of helpless, powerless, defenseless, and, perhaps, pathetic women, protected by strong in-control men. Which is to… read more

Truth in advertising

October 17 2009

We got an ad in the mail this week offering us membership at a local gym - Urban Active - for $19.95 a month, and no monthly contract. It prominently said that there would be no pressure, no intimidation, blah, blah, blah.So we went over there yesterday, with our membership… read more

The Tyger

October 13 2009

And here's the other "tiger, tiger" poem, by William Blake:The Tyger. read more

Tiger! Tiger!

October 13 2009

"Tiger! Tiger!", by Rudyard KiplingYou can listen to it here, or subscribe to my podcast via iTunes. read more

MikeeUSA and other loonies

October 13 2009

Those of you who follow me on Twitter may have noticed me mention, in the last few days, a loonie by the name of MikeeUSA, who posts all sorts of anti-woman things on his website.This morning, he posted a comment on this website, having apparently made a connection between me… read more

Arrack in Kitulgala

October 13 2009

Arrack in KitulgalaOctober 12, 2009As the old sayingdoesn’t go, but should,experience is the best seasoning.One can’t expect arrack to taste the samein a quiet, well lit parloras it did in the coal-black night,lit only by a few starsand the gently glowing cell phonesof a dozen new friends,with the roar of… read more

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