Apple Opens Rendezvous Code

Apple Computer Inc. on Wednesday delivered a new gift to the open-source community when it opened the code for Rendezvous, its hands-off networking technology.

Developers can download Rendezvous as open source under the Apple Public Source License. The Cupertino, Calif., company simultaneously released Version 6.0.1 of Darwin for PowerPC- and x86-based systems. Darwin, Apples open-source OS, shares technology with Mac OS X, including its Mach Unix kernel.

Rendezvous, which Apple unveiled at Mays Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif., as a feature of the companys new “Jaguar” Mac OS X 10.2, lets computers and devices dynamically seek out each others addresses over any IP network, including Ethernet or 802.11-based wireless networks such as Apples own AirPort technology.

Via Rendezvous, users can connect wirelessly to supported printers and other hardware without configuration. According to Apples press release, Canon, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, Lexmark, Philips, Sybase, World Book and Xerox are among third-party vendors that have announced Rendezvous-compatible products, including network printers and consumer electronics.

The Rendezvous source includes code to support Unix, Linux, and Windows-based systems and devices in addition to Jaguars built-in support. Apple said it is working with the Internet Engineering Task Forces Zeroconf Working Group to advance zero-configuration IP networking, and it is submitting Rendezvous to the IETF as an open standard.