Where did HylaFAX/FlexFAX come from?
Sam Leffler, while working at Silicon Graphics (SGI), wrote a fax server for SGI’s IRIX servers called FlexFAX and released it to the public in 1991. Sam and others worked for several years on FlexFAX, adding new features and porting the software to new platforms. In 1995 FlexFAX was renamed HylaFAX to avoid potential trademark issues. Sam eventually decided to leave the project to pursue other interests which, even with the best intentions of the HylaFAX developers, caused development to slow dramatically. In 1998 HylaFAX development was revitalized by the creation of hylafax.org, a central repository for HylaFAX development, downloads, documentation, etc. and the project remains very active to this day. So, to answer the question: HylaFAX, nee FlexFAX, was born of Sam Leffler and through the hard work and contributions of many other people, has grown to become what it is today. Some old newsgroup postings that may be of interest: Original FlexFAX announcement (mirrored here) Announce
Sam Leffler, while working at Silicon Graphics (SGI), wrote a fax server for SGI’s IRIX servers called FlexFAX and released it to the public in 1991. Sam and others worked for several years on FlexFAX, adding new features and porting the software to new platforms. In 1995 FlexFAX was renamed HylaFAX to avoid potential trademark issues. Sam eventually decided to leave the project to pursue other interests which, even with the best intentions of the HylaFAX developers, caused development to slow dramatically. In 1998 HylaFAX development was revitalized by the creation of hylafax.org, a central repository for HylaFAX development, downloads, documentation, etc. and the project remains very active to this day. So, to answer the question: HylaFAX, nee FlexFAX, was born of Sam Leffler and through the hard work and contributions of many other people, has grown to become what it is today.
