<s>
Simple	B-Protocol
Machines	I-Protocol
Forum	I-Protocol
(	O
SMF	O
)	O
software	O
is	O
an	O
open-source	B-Application
web	O
application	O
that	O
provides	O
Internet	B-Application
forum	I-Application
and	O
message	B-Application
board	I-Application
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Simple	O
Machines	O
won	O
the	O
forum-software.org	O
best	O
free	O
forum	B-Application
software	I-Application
award	O
in	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Simple	B-Protocol
Machines	I-Protocol
Forum	I-Protocol
is	O
an	O
open-source	B-Application
discussion	B-Application
board	I-Application
software	O
project	O
of	O
volunteers	O
participating	O
in	O
various	O
operating	O
functions	O
including	O
development	O
,	O
customization	O
,	O
documentation	O
,	O
localization/translation	O
,	O
user	O
support	O
,	O
and	O
marketing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
June	O
16	O
,	O
2001	O
,	O
16-year-old	O
Zef	O
Hemel	O
along	O
with	O
collaborators	O
Jeff	O
Lewis	O
,	O
Corey	O
Chapman	O
,	O
T	O
.	O
Oswalds	O
,	O
and	O
Matt	O
Mecham	O
released	O
the	O
first	O
open	O
source	O
bulletin	O
board	O
written	O
in	O
Perl	B-Language
called	O
YaBB	O
1.0	O
(	O
Yet	O
Another	O
Bulletin	O
Board	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
YaBB	O
1.0	O
was	O
the	O
leading	O
free	O
forum	B-Application
software	I-Application
package	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ultimately	O
,	O
users	O
of	O
this	O
rough	O
PHP	B-Application
port	O
of	O
YaBB	O
also	O
reported	O
resource	O
and	O
security	O
problems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lewis	O
and	O
Fung	O
did	O
a	O
complete	O
rewrite	O
of	O
the	O
code	O
and	O
changed	O
the	O
brand	O
name	O
to	O
Simple	B-Protocol
Machines	I-Protocol
Forum	I-Protocol
(	O
SMF	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
October	O
23	O
,	O
2006	O
,	O
the	O
Simple	B-Protocol
Machines	I-Protocol
Forum	I-Protocol
project	O
was	O
split	O
off	O
from	O
Lewis	O
Media	O
for	O
the	O
purpose	O
of	O
"	O
[	O
solidification	O
of ]	O
the	O
team	O
’s	O
commitment	O
to	O
continuously	O
providing	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
,	O
without	O
the	O
perceived	O
risks	O
of	O
corporate	O
influence	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
it	O
is	O
source-available	B-License
,	O
redistribution	O
and/or	O
distribution	O
of	O
modified	O
components	O
is	O
limited	O
to	O
authorized	O
entities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Simple	B-Protocol
Machines	I-Protocol
Forum	I-Protocol
(	O
SMF	O
)	O
software	O
is	O
written	O
in	O
PHP	B-Application
and	O
uses	O
MySQL	O
for	O
database	O
management	O
–	O
it	O
is	O
built	O
around	O
established	O
industry	O
standards	O
and	O
is	O
generally	O
valued	O
for	O
its	O
high	O
security	O
standards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
use	O
of	O
PHP	B-Application
,	O
MySQL	O
and	O
the	O
fact	O
that	O
SMF	O
is	O
freeware	O
,	O
helped	O
spawn	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
a	O
large	O
and	O
relatively	O
active	O
volunteer	O
development	O
community	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SMF	O
is	O
commonly	O
deployed	O
on	O
basic	O
web	O
hosting	O
packages	O
,	O
usually	O
Linux	O
,	O
Apache	O
,	O
MySQL	O
,	O
PHP	B-Application
(	O
LAMP	O
)	O
compliant	O
servers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Package	B-Application
Manager	I-Application
included	O
in	O
SMF	O
is	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
flagship	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
though	O
the	O
sources	O
were	O
available	O
from	O
the	O
start	O
,	O
SMF	O
has	O
been	O
criticized	O
by	O
the	O
open	O
source	O
community	O
for	O
not	O
being	O
available	O
under	O
a	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
license	O
.	O
</s>
