Netatalk

Netatalk
Original author(s)University of Michigan
Developer(s)Contributors to the Netatalk project
Initial release1990; 34 years ago (1990)
Stable release
4.0.0 / September 29, 2024; 20 days ago (2024-09-29)
Repositorygithub.com/Netatalk/netatalk
Operating systemPOSIX-compliant *NIX/*BSD systems
TypeRemote Access
License2001: GPL-2.0-or-later[a]
1990: Other permissive licenses[1]
Websitenetatalk.io

Netatalk (pronounced "ned-uh-talk")[2] is a free, open-source implementation of the Apple Filing Protocol (AFP). It allows Unix-like operating systems to serve as file servers for Macintosh computers running macOS or Classic Mac OS.

Netatalk was originally developed by the Research Systems Unix Group at the University of Michigan for BSD-derived Unix systems[3] 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.[4] CAP also had its own implementation of AFP/AppleShare, but Netatalk appearing in 1990 claimed better performance due to software design advantages.[5] 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.[6]

Since Classic Mac OS uses a forked file system, unlike the host operating systems where Netatalk would be running, Netatalk originally implemented the 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 Attributes format that Apple had introduced with Mac OS X for backwards compatibility with Classic Mac OS resource forks.


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  1. ^ "Netatalk/COPYRIGHT at main · Netatalk/Netatalk". GitHub.
  2. ^ "Netatalk FAQ". Research Systems Unix Group. The University of Michigan. 19 February 1996. Archived from the original on 23 December 1996. Retrieved 11 January 2023. How do I pronouce [sic] netatalk? Ah, good question! The unenlightened often mis-pronounce this word \'net-'a-to.k\. The correct pronouciation [sic] is \'ned-*-to.k\ (the 't' is soft, like d, and the first 'a' is a schwa).
  3. ^ "Netatalk - Networking Apple Macintosh through Open Source". Archived from the original on 2007-01-27.
  4. ^ "Mabam/CAP". GitHub.
  5. ^ "Netatalk faq". Archived from the original on 2001-11-26.
  6. ^ "Netatalk-devel Mailing List". SourceForge. SourceForge. 28 August 2001. Retrieved 11 January 2023. 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.