Editing Netatalk (section)

{{Short description|Free, open-source implementation of the Apple Filing Protocol}}
{{Infobox software
| name                   = Netatalk
| logo                   = File:Netatalk logo.svg
| caption                =
| author                 = [[University of Michigan]]
| developer              = [https://netatalk.io/contributors Contributors to the Netatalk project]
| released               = {{start date and age|df=yes|1990}}
| latest_release_version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q1235942|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest_release_date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q1235942|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}
| programming language   = {{#statements:P277|from=Q1235942}}
| operating_system       = {{#statements:P306|from=Q1235942}}
| genre                  = {{#statements:P279|from=Q1235942}}
| license                = {{#statements:P275|from=Q1235942}}
| website                = {{#statements:P856|from=Q1235942}}
| repo                   = {{#statements:P1324|from=Q1235942}}
}}
'''Netatalk''' (pronounced "ned-uh-talk")<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.umich.edu/~rsug/netatalk/faq.html |title=Netatalk FAQ |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=19 February 1996 |website=Research Systems Unix Group |publisher=The University of Michigan |archive-date=23 December 1996 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961223055550/http://www.umich.edu/~rsug/netatalk/faq.html | access-date=11 January 2023 |quote=How do I {{sic|nolink=y|reason=error in source|pronouce}} netatalk? Ah, good question! The unenlightened often mis-pronounce this word \'net-'a-to.k\. The correct {{sic|nolink=y|reason=error in source|pronouciation}} is \'ned-*-to.k\ (the 't' is soft, like d, and the first 'a' is a schwa).}}</ref> is a [[Free software|free]], [[Open-source software|open-source]] implementation of the [[Apple Filing Protocol]] (AFP). It allows [[Unix-like]] operating systems to serve as file servers for [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]] computers running [[macOS]] or [[Classic Mac OS]].

Netatalk was originally developed by the '''Research Systems Unix Group''' at the [[University of Michigan]] for [[Berkeley Software Distribution|BSD-derived Unix systems]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070127103530/http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/ | archive-date=2007-01-27 | title=Netatalk - Networking Apple Macintosh through Open Source }}</ref> and released in 1990. Apple had introduced [[AppleTalk]] soon after the release of the original Macintosh in 1985, followed by the file sharing application [[AppleShare]] (which was built on top of AFP) in 1987. This was an early example of [[zero-configuration networking]], gaining significant adoption in educational and small to mid size office environments in the late 80s. Netatalk emerged as a part of the software ecosystem around AppleTalk.

In 1986, [[Columbia University]] published the ''Columbia AppleTalk Package'' (CAP), which was an open source implementation of AppleTalk originally written for BSD 4.2, allowing Unix servers to be part of AppleTalk networks.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://github.com/mabam/CAP/blob/master/README | title=Mabam/CAP | website=[[GitHub]] }}</ref> CAP also had its own implementation of AFP/AppleShare, but Netatalk appearing in 1990 claimed better performance due to software design advantages.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.umich.edu/~rsug/netatalk/faq.html#1.8 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011126202953/http://www.umich.edu/~rsug/netatalk/faq.html#1.8 | archive-date=2001-11-26 | title=Netatalk faq }}</ref> CAP and Netatalk were also interoperable, the latter being able to be run on an AppleTalk backend provided by CAP.

As part of transitioning the software into an open source community project, the codebase was moved to [[SourceForge]] for [[revision control]] in July 2000, then re-licensed under the terms of the [[GNU General Public License]] with version 1.5pre7 in August 2001.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sourceforge.net/p/netatalk/mailman/message/7656969/ |title=Netatalk-devel Mailing List |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=28 August 2001 |website=SourceForge |access-date=11 January 2023 |quote=As of 1.5pre7, netatalk is now being distributed under the GNU Public License (GPL). Versions up to 1.5pre7 can still be modified under the BSD License, and all terms of the BSD License that do not conflict with the GPL are still in force.}}</ref>

Since Classic Mac OS uses a [[resource fork|forked file system]], unlike the host operating systems where Netatalk would be running, Netatalk originally implemented the [[AppleSingle and AppleDouble formats|AppleDouble]] format for storing the resource fork separately from the data fork when a Mac OS file was transferred to the Unix-like computer's file system. This was required in order not to ruin most files by discarding the resource fork when copied to the Netatalk served [[AppleShare]] volume. With the release of Netatalk 3.0, the backend was re-implemented to use the [[extended file attributes|Extended Attributes]] format that Apple had introduced with Mac OS X for backwards compatibility with Classic Mac OS resource forks.