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The Mozilla Foundation

gemal writes "We're very pleased to announce the creation of the Mozilla Foundation, a non-profit organization that will serve as the new home for mozilla.org. The Mozilla Foundation will continue mozilla.org's work of coordinating the development of the Mozilla codebase. With an independent non-profit as the legal home for Mozilla, we will also promote the distribution and adoption of Mozilla applications and technologies. In addition, we will raise funds to ensure Mozilla's long-term survival." Update: 07/15 21:47 GMT by T : Yablo writes "MozillaZine is running a blurb about how since earlier today, when the Mozilla Foundation was created, AOL has laid off all the Gecko developers. Ex-mozilla.org has a list of the casualties."

493 comments

  1. Sayonara by tomblackwell · · Score: 5, Funny

    We're pleased to be dumping Mozilla, er, forming the Mozilla Foundation. This money pit, er, worthy cause is something we'd love to see the back of, er support.

    1. Re:Sayonara by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now that Mozilla is non-profit, can I write off my bandwidth cost for downloading it as a tax deduction?

    2. Re:Sayonara by chundo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think this is a big positive for Mozilla. I've always been worried that AOL's lack of dedication to Mozilla and Netscape would lead to its demise. The creation of an independent organization to manage the project (and own all IP, trademarks and associated domain names - thanks AOL!) is huge.

      AOL may be pleased to "dump" it. But I'm pleased they are too. In addition to the autonomy, perhaps other ISPs (Earthlink, etc) may be more willing to adopt Mozilla as their default browser now that it's disassociated with AOL.

      It's too popular and useful to die. The foundation will continue to be supported by the major Linux players (with developers, hardware and money) just like Linux itself is.

      -j

    3. Re:Sayonara by malfunct · · Score: 2, Insightful

      ISP's will be willing to switch to mozilla when thier userbase is comfortable using it. Right now most ISP's require windows as an OS to use thier services (mainly support) and so IE is a given that they know everyone has and can teach them to use.

      --

      "You can now flame me, I am full of love,"

    4. Re:Sayonara by los+furtive · · Score: 1

      ISP's will be willing to switch to mozilla when thier userbase is comfortable using it.

      Comfortable? It has worked the same way aS Netscape for years! What's so hard about that?

      --

      I'm a writer, a poet, a genius, I know it. I don't buy software, I grow it.

    5. Re:Sayonara by MindStalker · · Score: 1

      Have to wonder, will netscape in the future have to pay mozilla for the right to produce a closed-source version. In the same way I would have to pay MySQL if I wanted to include their source in my code and keep it closed.

    6. Re:Sayonara by Horny+Smurf · · Score: 1
      80% of netscape employees were laid off this morning.

      Coincidence? Of course, slashdot hasn't mentioned it.

    7. Re:Sayonara by Gerv · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Have to wonder, will netscape in the future have to pay mozilla for the right to produce a closed-source version.

      Your question implies that Netscapes 6 and 7 were closed source. This is only partially true - the bits like AIM were closed, but the MPLed bits were open.

      In the future, as now, any use of the code by Netscape/AOL will be under the MPL (or another license like the LGPL, if all Mozilla code is available under it, and AOL chooses to use it instead for whatever reason.)

      No-one will ever have to pay mozilla.org for the right to use the source. That's what open source means. And no-one will be able to pay anyone for the right to produce a closed-source version - because doing that requires permission from several thousand copyright holders. mozilla.org does not own the copyright to Mozilla.

      Gerv

      (gerv@mozilla.org)

    8. Re:Sayonara by greenrd · · Score: 1
      Netscape's use of mozilla is entirely allowed under the Mozilla Public License, as far as I'm aware. They public all the source code to the files they've modified, and they don't have to publish the source code to the files they added. It's not like the GPL in that regard.

    9. Re:Sayonara by drinkypoo · · Score: 1
      I think this is a big positive for Mozilla. I've always been worried that AOL's lack of dedication to Mozilla and Netscape would lead to its demise.

      Given their presumed destruction of the WASTE I'm more worried about other issues. It would be too late to kill Mozilla but they could certainly have dealt it a more serious blow than giving Mozilla US$2M and a pat on the ass, which is like unemployment; you get a chance to find a new source of income.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    10. Re:Sayonara by tenchiken · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Exactly.

      To the Mozilla Developers. Take this opportunity to be radical. Let's go back and view what the browser is and what it could be. I suggest that they take a look at things like:
      DashBoard.
      Haystack
      and Echo.
      Information begs to be consolidated and made useful. We can do more with the browser then just view static stateless pages.

    11. Re:Sayonara by mslinux · · Score: 1

      It's too popular and useful to die.

      Well said. Mozilla is to IE what Linux is to Windows. They are equally important. The world *needs* open source and free software. It's innovative, fun and useful to a broad range of people. Without it, the Tech industry really would be dead!

      Why is open source so popular? IMO, it's because users are empowered by it. They don't have to buy a c compiler (thanks RMS), they don't have to use a closed OS kernel that they have no control over (thanks Linus). Now, they can make their machines useful w/o having to buy extra items or ask permission from the vendor to alter the product.

      Open source and free software are all about freedom, the freedom of the user. And to me, the world would be much less enjoyable without it.

    12. Re:Sayonara by pod · · Score: 1

      But it doesn't work the same way as IE. For one, you need to install plug-ins again, something that like 90% of the users haven't had to do in years, thanks to activex.

      --
      "Hot lesbian witches! It's fucking genius!"
  2. ODP by Dynamoo · · Score: 2, Interesting

    And how about it being the new home of the Open Directory Project too? Just a thought..

    --
    Never email donotemail@WeAreSpammers.com
    1. Re:ODP by swtaarrs · · Score: 1

      We're working on that. A few other people at the foundation suggested it to me, and I think there's a serious chance of it happening within 6-7 months. First, we'll have to make sure the transition to the new site style goes smoothly and work out any kinks. Once we're in place and stable, discussions like this will start.

  3. the big mo by sstory · · Score: 0, Insightful

    I love Mozilla for the pop-up blocking, but I wish they'd optimize it much more. It really shouldn't be sluggish on a damn 2.4 ghz machine.

    1. Re:the big mo by cK-Gunslinger · · Score: 1
    2. Re:the big mo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Firebird

      Firebird

      Firebird

    3. Re:the big mo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      I'm running a 1.8 laptop and it's not sluggish.

    4. Re:the big mo by Zurk · · Score: 5, Informative

      its sluggish because the event loop in mozilla which handles PREvents isnt that hot. with applets and javascript it tends to send invalid events to objects which dont exist and corrupt the stack. well known problem, no fix.
      the event handling code probably needs a good overhaul. see my bug for more info :
      http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=211 436

      particularly this comment by a sun engineer :

      http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2114 36 #c19

      the code in my bug can demonstrate it -- just download and run the class/html file and click ok to corrupt your event Q/stack. may crash the browser or may just hang it.

    5. Re:the big mo by Mooncaller · · Score: 1

      Hmm, I find Moz painfully slow ( e.g. almost a minute to save anything during which time all of Moz is locked up), but I thought it was due to the ancient 200Mhz PPro hardware I'm using. I just assumed that it would run alright on a snappier machine. I guess I should have not been so optimistic for an app that has a 400+MB footprint. BYW, does anyone know if some of this is due to its use of GTK?

    6. Re:the big mo by MarcQuadra · · Score: 1

      And I'm running it on a 500MHz laptop and it's zippy.

      --
      "Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
    7. Re:the big mo by Darth+Maul · · Score: 1

      I don't understand all these complaints about Mozilla being "slow". I use it on a 500 MHz Linux machine with no problems whatsoever. I also use it on 1.7 GHz and 2.0 GHz Linux machines. On a new 2.0 GHz Windows XP box, Mozilla is far more responsive than IE.

      --
      --- witty signature
    8. Re:the big mo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And on my 450MHz AMD machine with 2000 Pro, Firebird even loads faster than IE.

    9. Re:the big mo by BZ · · Score: 2, Interesting

      > for an app that has a 400+MB footprint.

      The only time I've seen Mozilla have such a footprint is when I've been running memory stress-tests.

      Are you sure you're not just adding up the memory of all the threads (which _share_ all that memory)? There are typically 8-10 threads, and 40-50MB sounds about right for memory usage during heavy browsing.

    10. Re:the big mo by usotsuki · · Score: 1

      On my 700 MHz Celeron - 64MB RAM - Win98SE

      Mozilla 1.4's just as snappy as Internet Exploder 5.5.

      -uso.
      And I use Galeon on Linux ;)

      --
      Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
    11. Re:the big mo by sstory · · Score: 1

      I'm using Firebird and Tbird and they're absurdly slow on various installations.

  4. So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by JoeBuck · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Does this mean that Netscape (rather, AOL-Time-Warner) is withdrawing its support? Will they still be providing facilities, network connectivity, etc. or will the Mozilla Foundation have to raise all that on its own? Will Netscape be providing any money to the Mozilla Foundation?

    1. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by Kai_MH · · Score: 1

      So it would seem. Didn't they announce this some time ago? Or were they never really supported by the m at all?

    2. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by The+Evil+Couch · · Score: 3, Informative
      The Mozilla Foundation will also promote the distribution and adoption of our flagship applications based on that code. AOL, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Red Hat, and other companies will continue to support Mozilla through the Foundation.

      off the front page of the site. Moz continues to get its support, they're just polishing up a bat to hit Gates with a few times.

    3. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by iceT · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Think of it this way:

      1) Mozilla development and advocacy becomes a non-profit organization.

      2) AOL/Time Warner contributes all the same money that they used to contribute.

      3) AOL/Time Warner now gets to write off the contribution because it's to a non-profit organization.

      --
      -- You can't idiot-proof anything, because they're always coming out with better idiots.
    4. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by Kai_MH · · Score: 1

      Oh, wait. Nevermind. Yeah, AOL's still supporting them. They're still going to support the new Foundation.

    5. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah that's what it is and not just an easier way to dump them without drawing a lot of ire from the OS community.

    6. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by kworthington · · Score: 1

      So to sum it up:

      1) Create non-profit Mozilla Foundation
      2) ???
      3) NO profit

      ;)

    7. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AOL/Time Warner now gets to write off the contribution because it's to a non-profit organization.

      Not all not-for-profits are deductible. They have to register with the IRS and meet certain criteria(warning PDF file).

    8. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by ad0gg · · Score: 1

      Not just the $2 million budget, they also get write off the trademark and other service they will provide to the non profit organization.

      --

      Have you ever been to a turkish prison?

    9. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by joelgrimes · · Score: 3, Insightful

      IANAAccountant, but since Mozilla was a legitimate business expense, the money that AOL put into it was already a write-off, in the sense that it was money that didn't show up on the bottom line.

    10. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      3) NO profit

      Yes, that's generaly considered to be the definition of "non-profit".

    11. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by connsmythe96 · · Score: 1

      Hmmm...you may have a point...

      --
      if(!cool) exit(-1);
    12. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So what?

      They were writing it off as an expense before.

    13. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by The+Evil+Couch · · Score: 1
      I don't think AOL cares about the OS community. I could be wrong, but I don't think that AOL has ported any of their own software to any *nix. and I don't think that Sun and IBM are much different in their support of open source.

      what it looks like to me is a bunch of corporations see a good product that they can use free of charge and want to dump some cash into it to ensure it stays alive long enough for them to use it to their advantage, namely hitting MS and stealing away some customers.

    14. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whereas before they got to write it off as a business expense.

    15. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by joelgrimes · · Score: 1

      I guess the difference is that now they can stop putting actual dollars into it, but still write off the less tangible (more easily fudge-ible) items like hosting.

      Also, as a non-profit, it may be easier for other companies like IBM, Sun, Red Hat, etc to write off their contributions to the project. If Mozilla is just a part of AOL, then IBM couldn't easily donate to the project and take it as a legitimate expense.

      IANAAccountant

    16. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You obviously don't read much slashdot. Mozilla is AOL's software, Sun has given code to the OS community and IBM is probably the biggest supporter of Linux out there.

    17. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by etrnl · · Score: 2, Interesting

      All non profits are... not all not-for-profits are.

      I'm pretty sure they'll be a "non-profit" foundation.

      This also allows them to write off assets that they would otherwise be depreciating. I'm sure those computers have been mostly depreciated at this point, so they aren't 1M like some wiseass said.

      Any money they give now on they know is stroight-out deductible. The other business expenses would not be 100% writeoffs, I'm sure.

      --etrnl--

    18. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by theblackdeer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      what about AIM for linux?

      i use gaim becuase it's better, but AOL *did* port some of their branded, own software to a *nix.

      http://aim.com/get_aim/linux/latest_linux.adp?aolp erm=

      ralph hogaboom

    19. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by usotsuki · · Score: 1

      No, more like

      1. Spin off non-profit
      2. Keep throwing same amount of money at it
      3. Write off that money as tax deductions
      4. Pay less in income tax
      5. ???
      6. PROFIT!!!

      -uso.

      --
      Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
    20. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by Gherald · · Score: 1

      3)Less taxes

    21. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      OS doesn't mean 'port it to *nix'.

      For the record, AOL did release netscape/mozilla as open source, and also released their custom webserver as open source as well.

      Of course Sun, IBM, RHAT, LNUX, AOL, etc. "don't care" about open source. Why should they? They care about profits and revenue, not promoting hippy ideals. If Open Source helps them increase marketshare or revenue, why do care?

    22. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by MrJones · · Score: 1

      Thats what I think.
      The foundation will provide the money now to Mozilla.org, no more AOL.
      This is a surprise, but not a crazy idea.

      --
      Get my e-mail after a captcha test in: http://tinymailt
    23. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by irc.goatse.cx+troll · · Score: 1
      --
      Pain lasts, kid. Its how you know you're alive. Sometimes I think this growing up thing is just pain management-TheMaxx
    24. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by follower-fillet · · Score: 1

      > 3) NO profit
      > Yes, that's generaly considered to be the definition of "non-profit".
      Well, actually there's nothing to stop a non-profit making a "profit", it's just that it gets reinvested in the organisation rather than going to shareholders (whether public or private).

      In fact, if it doesn't interfere with the organisation's ability to perform their mission, it's a *good* thing for them to generate a profit and reinvest it, as this means they are potentially self-sustaining.

    25. Re:So, no more AOL/Netscape support? by InfiniteWisdom · · Score: 1

      In other words...

      1. Mozilla development and advocacy becomes a non-profit organization.

      2. OL/Time Warner contributes all the same money that they used to contribute.

      3. ???

      4. Non-profit!!!!

  5. Wow by Plutor · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is nothing but a Good Thing(TM). Congrats to the Mozilla team on their (apparent) independance. In other news, check out the redesigned web page.

    Isn't it ironic that the top cells don't render the way they meant in Mozilla 1.4? They shouldn't be using tables for layout!

    1. Re:Wow by Cyclopedian · · Score: 1
      The new layout is nice (better grouping of information, and I especially like the direct interface to Bugzilla), but what caught my eye was that 1.4 final is out now. I had been using /.'s Mozilla sidebar to keep me up to date on current version releases. It's still stuck 1.4rc3. With a large part of the readers actively following Mozilla, I'm surprised /. let their "up-to-date" information stagnate.

      -Cyc

    2. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      the new design looks, well, the decriptive words are inapropriate for general viewing.

      who picked those colors? christsake. grey, orange, light orange, light blue, red of the lizard logo... uhg. and none of the sections visually line up or lead to each other.

      thats one ugly website. too much dissimilar material on one page, which is quite an accomplishment considering the website is for one thing, and that is Mozilla.

      I'll continue using mozilla in linux, but hopefully i can avoid that website.

    3. Re:Wow by Plutor · · Score: 1

      1) I guess you missed the article.

      2) The slashbox is likely based on an RSS feed from mozilla.org. If anyone's at fault, it's the Mozilla team for not updating their feed.

      3) The fixed 11pt font on mozilla.org is actually the worst part of all. I finally get around to upgrading to Phoenix 0.6 and this is the reward I get? Unreadable text? Yucch.

    4. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I couldn't agree more that tables are now outdated as a formatting device, but sadly there's still one modern browser around that forces people to use tables as the only 100% effective way to position their material. If you carry the icon of the W3C for xhtml and css, you're garanteed to have a mere 10 or 15 percent of people viewing your web page correctly.

    5. Re:Wow by jeremyds · · Score: 4, Funny

      From the http://www.mozilla.org source:

      @import url("/frontpage/nav4Sucks.css");

      This wouldn't happen to be a reference to Netscape Navigator 4, would it?

    6. Re:Wow by IthnkImParanoid · · Score: 1

      Exactly what cells are you talking about? As far as I can tell, the page renders the same in Mozilla 1.3, 1.4, Opera 7, IE 6, and *shudder* Netscape 4.7.

      Also, in the interest of learning (read: not a troll) what should be used for layout if one does not use tables. I'll admit I use tables for just about everything.

      --
      It's nothing but crumpled porno and Ayn Rand.
    7. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think that as far as the look goes, it's a vast improvement. But they've made all the classic errors people with just half a clue make.

      • Look, I'm perfectly happy with the font size in my browser. Overriding it like that (with pxs and pts, no less!) is just plain stupid.
      • HTML 4.01 Transitional? In this day and age? Come on, if anybody can do better, it should be the guys behind Mozilla. They should be using Strict.
      • Cludges abound. Table layouts, presentational HTML, etc
      • invalid HTML.
      • Screwed up character encoding
      • Confusing concepts (newbie question: "If Mozilla 1.4 is so good and has won all these awards, why are you telling me that Firebird is the best browser possible?").

      It's a half-assed job, and we should expect better from the Mozilla project.

    8. Re:Wow by Gerv · · Score: 4, Informative

      Apologies for the less-than-perfect technical nature of the new website - it was done in a bit of a hurry. Still, looks better than the old one, huh? :-)

      invalid HTML.

      Hopefully fixed in CVS; waiting for the site to sync.

      Gerv
      (gerv@mozilla.org)

    9. Re:Wow by lightcycle · · Score: 1

      divs. Done properly, they make layouting much easier than tables. Using tables is not wrong, but it is an old, deprecated way of getting a page layouted.

      --

      The stars that shine and the stars that shrink
      in the face of stagnation the water runs before your eyes
    10. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also, in the interest of learning (read: not a troll) what should be used for layout if one does not use tables. I'll admit I use tables for just about everything.

      HTML should describe the information in a document, not create a visual design. Group the elements of your page into divs and use CSS to suggest a presentation. There are plenty of books and tutorials out there, Google is your friend.

    11. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's completely untrue. Just because Internet Explorer doesn't fully handle all of CSS 2, and it gets the box model wrong in some situations, it doesn't mean you are stuck with table kludges. The workarounds for handling its most common CSS bugs (box model, centring, etc) are well-known and far simpler than table layouts.

    12. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Glad to hear it :)

      Seriously though, you are held to a higher standard than the average corporate website, and it's not like you don't have the expertise to do it properly...

    13. Re:Wow by Ravagin · · Score: 1

      coughbullshitcough

      Which browser is that? IE6? IE6 is perfectly capable of rendering the vast majority of css-designed sites properly, despite some really stupid rendering bugs.

      The state of affairs in browserdom today is such that tables should be a thing of the past. There is no longer any excuse to not implement CSS and XHTML.

      --

      Karma: T-rexcellent.

    14. Re:Wow by Jad+LaFields · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The new web page looks nice, much more "commercial-software-like", much more user friendly (gets the more confusing open source stuff and lesser-used programs further down the page).

      One thing I just noticed is the new(?) Firebird logo. Doesn't it look like a prettier Quake logo, or is it just me?

      --
      [SIG] It's like putting a moose in the blender -- a recipe for disaster!
    15. Re:Wow by Plutor · · Score: 1

      The web-zine A List Apart wrote a great article about their journey from old-school table-based layouts to css-powered div layouts.

      Taking an example from them, I've since changed my oh-so-popular home page and even-more-popular Go Metric site to div-based layouts. It's really much easier (if you ignore all the IE5 bugs).

    16. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      div elements don't lay out a page, they divide it into sections. You use CSS to suggest a layout for those sections.

      Tables are not deprecated. They won't be for the forseeable future. They are still there for their original purpose: to describe tabular data. I use tables all the time, just not for layout purposes.

    17. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yup. Specifically, lots of older browsers, including NN4.x, are that bad at CSS, they don't understand that at-rule. Therefore, it has become common practice to put all of your styles in a stylesheet imported with an at-rule simply to protect older browsers from themselves (without this technique, they would hurt themselves on the pointy edges).

    18. Re:Wow by SimplexO · · Score: 1

      It's Qute (Mozilla Firebirds default theme)'s throbber.

    19. Re:Wow by usotsuki · · Score: 1

      Why bother with DIV at all? I write mostly straight 2.0 HTML, occas. 3.2. If it gets the point across...

      -uso.

      --
      Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
    20. Re:Wow by Jad+LaFields · · Score: 1

      Cool, thanks, makes sense to me now... just a quick question: what's a throbber?*

      * I can tell I'm going to feel really dumb in about five minutes after I post this.

      --
      [SIG] It's like putting a moose in the blender -- a recipe for disaster!
    21. Re:Wow by SimplexO · · Score: 1

      The trobber, while being one of the worst-named browser features, is the thing up in the upper right hand corner of your browser that "throbs" when the page is loading. In IE, it's the windows logo.

      It's off by default in Mozilla Firebird 0.6 (although on in the newest nightlies) because the stop button is mutualy exclusive with the throbber. (i.e. when the stop button is enabled the throbber is throbbbing, and when the stop button is disabled the throbber is stopped). You can view it in Mozilla Firebird by going to View -> Toolbars -> Customize...

    22. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why bother with DIV at all?

      Because usually people would like to separate their document into sections, and the div element is often the most accurate element for the job.

      If it gets the point across...

      Well exactly. But the point is independent of the presentation (usually). A different colour might indicate a heading if humans see it in context, but that doesn't mean that people can get away with font elements instead of h1 elements etc, because it means nothing to search engines, screen readers, favelets, outliners, etc, etc.

    23. Re:Wow by Jad+LaFields · · Score: 1

      Ah, thanks. The last time I noticed that thing was way back when I had Netscape Comunicator. I didn't even realize that IE had one until you pointed it out. =)

      --
      [SIG] It's like putting a moose in the blender -- a recipe for disaster!
    24. Re:Wow by usotsuki · · Score: 1

      ...and speaking of screen readers, who knows, I'm considering writing a M$ Agent-enabled 'net suite just for fun - and fonts don't mean anything to text-to-speech (as you said).

      -uso.
      Yumeyume utagau-koto nakare yumemiru kodomo no yume no yume.

      --
      Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
    25. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe it's called a throbber because netscape 1.0 had an N in the corner which looked like it sunk in and out of the screen. It looked like it had a beat and throbbed.

    26. Re:Wow by Moonshadow · · Score: 1

      (: seineew rea sreenigne epacsteN

    27. Re:Wow by bjdevil66 · · Score: 1

      @import url("/frontpage/nav4Sucks.css");

      Did anyone else see:
      @import url("/frontpage/nav4Sucks.ass"); ??

    28. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      aside from the bugs, i think it's a fine site, sir. :)

    29. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why should we listen to some sucko site that uses shitassed fixed fontsizes for their smegma-inspired layout?

      Dollars to donuts they did this to work around the inherit shittyness in CSS/DIV-based layout. Welcome to the fucking future -- What was trivial with tables now chews your mom's crusty ass. You all suck.

    30. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They are depreciated for layout.

    31. Re:Wow by Rysc · · Score: 1

      Depreciated? They were never intended for layout. How can you depreciate something that was always against the rules?

      --
      I want my Cowboyneal
    32. Re:Wow by Ben+Hutchings · · Score: 1

      The throbber isn't quite redundant, as for some reason it conventionally doubles as a link to the browser vendor's web site. That's a fairly stupid feature though.

    33. Re:Wow by theCoder · · Score: 1

      Actually, I always thought the old design was nice -- simple and easy to read. Oh, well, maybe I'm just old and stuck in my ways :)

      --
      "Save the whales, feed the hungry, free the mallocs" -- author unknown
    34. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry. Layout was specifically mentioned when the TABLE tag was proposed by Netscape. It has been depreciated for many years, however.

    35. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you don't like it, change it. :)

    36. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The word is deprecated. Depreciated is something else. You are talking about elements, not tags. Get a clue.

      I couldn't give a rats as what Netscape says, I write about standards, and I'm talking about standards when I say that the table elements have never been intended to lay out pages.

    37. Re:Wow by Hooded+One · · Score: 1

      It shows up as fixed now, though the validator still complains about the lack of character coding labelling. Still, I think the layout is nothing short of great.

    38. Re:Wow by Makarakalax · · Score: 1

      Yes this new layout is excellent. I can see many people popping to the site and being sufficiently wowed by the pretty screenshots and well placed recommendations to try one of the many Moz browsers out. Real good work, nice one! :)

    39. Re:Wow by Brummund · · Score: 1

      Ah yes. That explains why w3c used tables for the layout of their pages until a year ago, or something? I think not.

      W3C had the option of using their recommended way (DIV and CSS etc), but CHOSE not to do it. So, when the W3C used tables for layout purposes, why shouldn't Joe D. Webduhsigner use it as well?

      Face it: Tables were, unfortunately, the norm and still is, to some (for a very large value of some) extent.

      (Yes, using tables for layout sucks, but using fixed-width DIV tags sucks just as much. )

    40. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      W3C had the option of using their recommended way (DIV and CSS etc), but CHOSE not to do it.

      Funny, I thought that it was blatantly obvious that they chose to move to stylesheets. That they waited until browser support was adequate merely shows that they are not zealots.

      (Yes, using tables for layout sucks, but using fixed-width DIV tags sucks just as much. )

      You do know that you don't have to set widths on divs, and if you do, you have a choice of units (em, %, ex, etc)?

    41. Re:Wow by SoupIsGoodFood_42 · · Score: 1
      3) The fixed 11pt font on mozilla.org is actually the worst part of all. I finally get around to upgrading to Phoenix 0.6 and this is the reward I get? Unreadable text? Yucch.

      Huh? Fixed? Sure you aren't using IE? That's the only browser that has problems with fixed font sizes. And that problem is with px anyway, not pt.
      I just tried it now, and it's re-sizable in FireBird. So if you find it too small, increase your font-size.

    42. Re:Wow by SoupIsGoodFood_42 · · Score: 1
      I just had a look at the stylesheet, at they're not defined in points anyway. They're all set using relative sizes, which is the way it should be done.

      Also, you can set a minimum font size if you find it too small, but don't want to make everything else bigger.

    43. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just had a look at the stylesheet, at they're not defined in points anyway. They're all set using relative sizes, which is the way it should be done.

      Then it has changed since the story was posted. The original design used pts, px, etc. Even if it uses % to reduce the size from what I specify, who wants to alter their font size for each website they visit?

      Also, you can set a minimum font size if you find it too small, but don't want to make everything else bigger.

      That's great, but a) I'm a web developer and it will interfere with my work, and b) headings lose their prominence.

    44. Re:Wow by SoupIsGoodFood_42 · · Score: 1
      Then it has changed since the story was posted. The original design used pts, px, etc. Even if it uses % to reduce the size from what I specify, who wants to alter their font size for each website they visit?

      Maybe you looked at the wrong CSS file.

      I'm glad they used a percentage to reduce the whole thing. You don't seem to have any experience with this type of thing in the real world. People complain if you base body text around the default size that IE gives you. The thing is, if people always find it too small, then they will probably have their browser set to enlarge the text, which means that the site will have text to their prefered size. It's not perfect, it's a comprimise. But it works, and is fair for everyone.

      That's great, but a) I'm a web developer and it will interfere with my work, and b) headings lose their prominence.

      A) When you're testing, just trun it off. You should be testing in more than one browsers anyway. B) Well, then make you text bigger. Because if they had made that small text bigger, then you would have the same complained anyway.

    45. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe you looked at the wrong CSS file.

      No, I'm pretty certain they were there.

      You don't seem to have any experience with this type of thing in the real world.

      I do it for a living.

      People complain if you base body text around the default size that IE gives you.

      Only if you are using sans-serif. Clients understand when you explain the reasoning behind it, and are usually happy to keep things as they are, and if they still insist, they are usually happy with knocking it down about 5%.

      But why on earth would the people behind Mozilla not understand the issues?

      The thing is, if people always find it too small, then they will probably have their browser set to enlarge the text, which means that the site will have text to their prefered size.

      Huh? This whole conversation is about people who have done just that, and still not gotten the font size they asked for.

      It's not perfect, it's a comprimise. But it works, and is fair for everyone.

      It's not fair for people who have chosen their font size, only to have their choice ignored.

      When you're testing, just trun it off.

      That doesn't help when a) I have half a dozen browser windows open and b) I forget to turn it off (I'm human, I make mistakes, not using this feature is a safeguard against my mistakes).

      You should be testing in more than one browsers anyway.

      What's that got to do with anything? It works in other browsers with the feature turned off, so it doesn't matter if the text is screwed up in the browser I do my day-to-day surfing in?

      Well, then make you text bigger.

      I already have. It's reduced back down to normal by the clueless mozilla.org designers. What, you want me to increase it even more? Then it's too big on properly constructed pages.

      Because if they had made that small text bigger, then you would have the same complained anyway.

      Of course I would have. Then it would be too big, wouldn't it? Too big is marginally better than too small, but it's still wrong. If they had not changed it from the size I have already picked, then I would be happy.

    46. Re:Wow by SoupIsGoodFood_42 · · Score: 1
      I do it for a living.

      So do I. And when I decided that we should really base the text soze around the default that the brower gives. People started to complain, users, and people within the orginisation. They probbaly didn't want to reduce the text, because that probably meant that most other site they visit would end up having very small text, since most sites have a font that is smaller than the default.
      If we reduced the sixe back again and made sure that everything scaled correctly, then people who find it too small can enlarge it, whihc they may have already done anyway, since most of the other sites would probaly have text that was too small, if they though that same about our site. What's that got to do with anything? It works in other browsers with the feature turned off, so it doesn't matter if the text is screwed up in the browser I do my day-to-day surfing in?

      Sigh...If it too much of a pain in the ass for you turn it off when testing, then leave it on, and check the font size in another browser that you are testing. That should be too hard, since you should be testing in more than one browser anyway.

  6. project fork or just a move? by pigscanfly.ca · · Score: 1

    Is this a project fork or just a move?
    The press release didnt really clarify that anyone know?

    1. Re:project fork or just a move? by Haxwell · · Score: 2, Informative

      Its basically a move.. If it was a fork, AOL would still be controlling the project. A new non-profit has been created which is taking control of the codebase.

      --
      http://www.haxwell.org
  7. Yes. by Kai_MH · · Score: 1

    Mozilla is here to stay. Some more code fixes and speedier loading times would help the browser as well now, but I'll use it with or without those. MSIE isn't secure enough and crashes far too often. Besides, what's better than tabbed browsing? Hoo-ha!

    1. Re:Yes. by cheese_wallet · · Score: 1

      crazy browser has tabs. I believe it instantiates IE in each tab... so there you have it. All the "broken" sites that only work in IE and tabbed browsing to boot.

      I still prefer mozilla, but crazybrowser is nice for our intranet (which doesn't work with mozilla).

    2. Re:Yes. by Kai_MH · · Score: 1

      Bah. Crazybrowser my foot.

    3. Re:Yes. by yomegaman · · Score: 1

      I use MyIE2 and like it a little better than Mozilla. For example, annoying pages that open with "target=_blank" to make a new window get made into tabs in MyIE2. I've NEVER been able to get Mozilla to do this. Also, the GameCenter pages at sportsline.com for following in-progress baseball games are a lot cooler in IE than in Mozilla (not Mozilla's fault, but...)

      As far as crashes go, I've never had any crashing problems with either Mozilla or MyIE2. Maybe I'm just lucky.

      --
      ...wearing a skin-tight topless leather jumpsuit, with cutaway buttocks and transparent crotch panel.
    4. Re:Yes. by s0meguy · · Score: 1

      For example, annoying pages that open with "target=_blank" to make a new window get made into tabs in MyIE2. I've NEVER been able to get Mozilla to do this.

      Try Firebird with the Tabbrowser extensions installed. Works a treat. :)

  8. looks like Moz is getting serious by The+Evil+Couch · · Score: 4, Interesting
    The Mozilla Foundation will also promote the distribution and adoption of our flagship applications based on that code. AOL, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Red Hat, and other companies will continue to support Mozilla through the Foundation.

    I guess Mozilla's ready to actively try to knock IE down.

    1. Re:looks like Moz is getting serious by r00k123 · · Score: 5, Insightful


      Mozilla will never knock IE down.

      Why?

      Because I know HUNDREDS of people that refer to IE as "the internet".

      If the IE shortcut gets deleted? "My internet is gone."

      You can't fight the internet guys...sorry.

      -Ben

    2. Re:looks like Moz is getting serious by axxackall · · Score: 1

      Not if they have got AOL signup CD.

      --

      Less is more !
    3. Re:looks like Moz is getting serious by enomar · · Score: 1

      Simple solution to that problem:

      Develop an open/free browser that has the exact same look and feel as IE. This includes customizable toolbars, the file menu, and all the other little things. Mozilla's IE skin is close but no cigar. When the casual user cannot tell the difference, IE is dead.

      --

      :wq
    4. Re:looks like Moz is getting serious by tsa · · Score: 1

      Yes you can. Use the IE icon as a link to mozilla!

      --

      -- Cheers!

    5. Re:looks like Moz is getting serious by Planesdragon · · Score: 1

      If the IE shortcut gets deleted? "My internet is gone."

      "I had to delete it, because it was causing problems. Here, let me show you your new internet browser."

    6. Re:looks like Moz is getting serious by autechre · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I guess the question is: If you replaced their shortcut to IE with a shortcut to Mozilla that used the IE icon, would they notice? There are themes for Mozilla which are designed to make it look identical to IE. OK, so they would wonder where all the popops went, but other than that, could someone such as this tell the difference?

      (Yes, I know that there are a small percentage of sites out there that are brain-dead and REQUIRE IE, but if my parents never come across them, I'm betting many other people don't either. If you believe Jakob Nielson, users encountering such a site would just go find another one anyway, unless they needed it for work, banking, etc.)

      [And no, I didn't trick my parents like that. They're sentient enough that I can explain to them why to use Mozilla instead of IE, and they like it better anyway.]

      --
      WMBC freeform/independent online radio.
    7. Re:looks like Moz is getting serious by Jucius+Maximus · · Score: 1
      "Mozilla will never knock IE down. Why? Because I know HUNDREDS of people that refer to IE as "the internet". If the IE shortcut gets deleted? "My internet is gone." "

      That's why I just put an IE theme on mozilla and link the IE icon to mozilla. It's good for the user because they won't get drive-by activeX spyware and good for me because I don't have to clean their machines.

      I really with firebird had an IE theme, it's even faster than mozilla. I still use mozilla at work with an IE theme because it raises fewer eyebrows.

    8. Re:looks like Moz is getting serious by smallpaul · · Score: 1

      People don't know the difference between Internet Explorer and Mozilla because at this point the differences are minor. If Mozilla adds some radical new functionality people will download it and find that it is a superset of "the Internet." For instance, if RSS continues to advance, Mozilla could become a news aggegrator and people would download it for that, rather than to browse the Web.

    9. Re:looks like Moz is getting serious by cprincipe · · Score: 3, Funny

      If the IE shortcut gets deleted? "My internet is gone."

      You say that like it's a bad thing if these folks can't get on the internet any more.

      --

      bun-fhuinneog agam!

    10. Re:looks like Moz is getting serious by Gerv · · Score: 1

      People don't know the difference between Internet Explorer and Mozilla because at this point the differences are minor.

      Minor? Tabs, popup blocking, ad blocking, decent privacy, cookie management, accessibility, type-ahead find, really useful addons coming out of your ears...

      When I use IE, press Ctrl-T and nothing happens, it makes me appreciate how lucky I am to have Mozilla.

      Gerv
      (gerv@mozilla.org)

    11. Re:looks like Moz is getting serious by usotsuki · · Score: 1

      Set the Moz icon to the first one in C:\PROGRAM FILES\INTERNET EXPLORER\IEXPLORE.EXE *g*

      -uso.
      Downloading Firebird now

      --
      Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
    12. Re:looks like Moz is getting serious by forwhomthebelltrolls · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Because I know HUNDREDS of people that refer to IE as "the internet".

      If the IE shortcut gets deleted? "My internet is gone."


      I've had Mozilla Firebird as my default browser on my home windows box since the first alpha release of Phoenix. At this time I removed the IE shortcut from my wife's desktop and replaced it with a Phoenix shortcut and then told her to use that for web access in the future.

      Recently, I had to reinstall the box, and forgot to replace her shortcut, and guess what... She said "My interet is gone". So what you say is true, but it doesn't just apply to IE.

      FWIW: I told my wife to use IE until I got round to fixing the shortcut, she later complained that IE was not as good as the "normal internet" she was used to using.

    13. Re:looks like Moz is getting serious by JudgeDredd · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Mozilla will eventually knock IE down.

      Why?

      Because every person that I do tech support for prefers Mozilla when I install it.

      It's a superior product. Your hundreds of people just don't know about it yet.


      You should tell them.

    14. Re:looks like Moz is getting serious by eyeye · · Score: 1

      I really like the luna blue theme for firebird.

      Its easy to make noobs use mozilla, its what they first learn so they just take to it. If they come across a site that doesnt work in mozilla they will just think "that site is buggered", which is true and ignore it.

      never underestimate what computer noobs will put up with, thats why they use IE! Place a browser with more features in front of them and they wont even notice for a while... and when they do they will appreciate the added features a progressive browser offers.

      and what of IE, where is the progress - that is one stagnated piece of software. Only the many IE engine based browsers redeem it in the same way the Half life engine still has pull with its mods.

      Or is there some secret skunkworks project for "Internet Explorer 2004" where they have been quietly integrating tabs, popup and cookie managerment and other such features after noticing people starting to use such features.

      --
      Bush and Blair ate my sig!
    15. Re:looks like Moz is getting serious by afidel · · Score: 1

      You can get most of that with IE6 and crazybrowser, ~150K download if you are already running IE6, about the same as Mozilla if you need to upgrade from IE5+

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    16. Re:looks like Moz is getting serious by Dracos · · Score: 1

      See my previous comment here.

    17. Re:looks like Moz is getting serious by sharkey · · Score: 1
      "My internet is gone."

      Good. One less Pro-Choice Poster Child to cut into my bandwidth.

      --

      --
      "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
    18. Re:looks like Moz is getting serious by muleboy · · Score: 1
      Recently, I had to reinstall the box, and forgot to replace her shortcut, and guess what... She said "My interet is gone". So what you say is true, but it doesn't just apply to IE.

      When my girlfriend had to get used to my machine, she hated Mozilla (she was using AOL prior to that). Now, whenever she has to use someone elses machine, she gets annoyed and wants to know how to make windows come up in the background with the third button, or why there are popups, and so on. She has trouble believing that Mozilla can do all kinds of things that IE can't.

      AOL shut down all her browser windows when she disconnected (even if it was a line failure). Now she gets pissed off at me if I reboot once a week because her 12 Mozilla tabs get shut.

      For non-technical users, it's just whatever they're used to. They will notice missing features though! She also gets annoyed when OpenOffice can't do something that Wordperfect could.

    19. Re:looks like Moz is getting serious by beamstar · · Score: 0

      It strikes me that this is a good thing. Hey, there's a certain side of the web that segregates -against- people with Moz or another Non-IE browser, why can't the opposite occur? "I'm sorry, this section of the Internet is only available to People With A Clue."

      IE then becomes less of a lifestyle choice, and more of a Stigmata, kind of like smoking.

      --
      We're all gonna die!
    20. Re:looks like Moz is getting serious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, the parent's parent said that people don't know the difference between IE and mozilla, not between crazybrowser and mozilla. I wouldn't be surprised if even fewer people know of the existance of crazybrowser than know of the existance of mozilla.

      For every addon to IE, there are three for mozilla. So let's compare JUST the browsers, and nothing else. And in that case mozilla wins hands down.

  9. The King is dead by berkeleyjunk · · Score: 1

    Long live the king. Since Microsoft officially killed IE, we can expect mozilla to be the new king. Hope it becomes as hassle free for casual use as IE used to be for the n00b.

    1. Re:The King is dead by confused+one · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Unfortunately, MS didn't "kill" IE, they've just completed it's total integration into the OS. W(When I say OS, I probably mean Explorer or it's future equivalent) It was already difficult to work around since it was embedded somewhat into Windows. I think the lawsuits caused them to pause; but, I suspect this may have been part of the plan all along. Now, the OS (Explorer) and MS apps will automatically handle html, xml, etc. without calling up a special browser app...

    2. Re:The King is dead by berkeleyjunk · · Score: 1

      I think MS has effectively killed IE since there will be more people with IE unsupported legacy MS operating systems than people with the brand new MSOSWITHIE and they will start moving to an alternative. Hope that alternative will be Mozilla

    3. Re:The King is dead by Jad+LaFields · · Score: 1

      Now, the OS (Explorer) and MS apps will automatically handle html, xml, etc. without calling up a special browser app...

      I know that it's dangerous to say anything that could be construed as pro-MS, but really this actually makes a hell of alot of sense to me. I like the fact that if I'm looking at a file view of my hard drive, I can type a web address into the address bar and immediately go to that site. Why should, for most users at least, there be any actual difference between Explorer and Internet Explorer.

      Alright, I know I'm going to get flamed for this, and I actually don't believe all that I said above, but I mean, I never quite understood the "browser wars"... the moment MS started giving out IE for free, it seemed obvious that it should come with the OS rather than needing to be gotten separately. If the OS can function more and more like a regular webrowser, the easier it will be to use for ordinary users.

      Disclaimer Disclaimer Disclaimer: I am a happy user of Mozilla Firebird, and have taken it upon myself to force it on everyone I meet ("oh, you want me to fix your computer for you? well, I can't do it on computer with IE, just hold on a second...").

      --
      [SIG] It's like putting a moose in the blender -- a recipe for disaster!
  10. Hm. by MerryGoByeBye · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Now that there'll be an official, legal, centralized authority, does this mean that the plugins/modules will finally work with each other?

    1. Re:Hm. by Darth+Maul · · Score: 1


      Yeah, I still can't get the Java plug-in to work, even with Mozilla 1.4. The Flash player works like a charm with the new Flash installer, though.

      --
      --- witty signature
    2. Re:Hm. by tsa · · Score: 1

      I once got the Java plug-in to work. Java and flash together always caused Mozilla to crash at start-up. Not many sites use java so I only install the flash-plugin now.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    3. Re:Hm. by the+right+sock · · Score: 1

      Hell no... look at the fed gov't: nothing works together

    4. Re:Hm. by dmaxwell · · Score: 3, Informative

      Your java installation and Mozilla both need to have been built with the same version of GCC. The Linux distros have mostly transitioned to GCC 3.2 but the commercial stuff often doesn't move as fast as the community on these infrastructure changes. That said, recent distro builds of Mozilla have been built with GCC 3.2. You just have to doublecheck where you are downloading your JRE from to be sure it's been built with 3.2 as well. The Blackdown guys have GCC 3.2 builds of Java 1.4.

    5. Re:Hm. by superyooser · · Score: 1
      If you're having the same problem I am -- I used the zipped distro instead of the exe installer -- here's the solution (Windows XP/2k only, see further down for note on 9x).

      Make a text file with the following:

      Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

      [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\mozilla.org\M ozilla]
      "CurrentVersion"="1.4"

      [HKEY_LOCAL_MAC HINE\SOFTWARE\mozilla.org\Mozilla\1.4\Main]
      "Inst all Directory"="C:\\Program Files\\Mozilla\\bin\\"
      Of course, first change the Install Directory value to the correct path according to where you unzipped Mozilla (where mozilla.exe is). If you're using Windows 9x, you have to change Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 to Regedit4.

      Rename the file as mozilla.reg (or whatever.reg), and run it as a user with Administrator privileges. It will import the data into the right place in the registry. You can delete the reg file if the operation was successful.

      Shut down Mozilla completely, restart it, and Java will work. I didn't have to use the Java Control Panel. The CP still won't let me check "Mozilla 1.1 or later" in the Browser tab, but it works anyway for me.

    6. Re:Hm. by MerryGoByeBye · · Score: 1

      I realize it may be a little "late", but can you explain just why the GCC version has to be the same? Isn't executable code just executable code? They're not sharing libraries, are they?

  11. Hm, so does this mean by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    AOL can now write off on its taxes the development money it spends on mozilla as donations to a nonprofit?

  12. Read the f***ing article! by jonasj · · Score: 5, Informative

    From http://www.mozilla.org/press/mozilla-foundation.ht ml:

    "To help launch the new organization, America Online has pledged $2 million in cash to the Mozilla Foundation over the next two years. AOL will also contribute additional resources through equipment, domain names and trademarks, and related intellectual property, as well as providing some transitional assistance for key personnel as they move into the new organization."

    --
    You know, Microsoft's street address also says a lot about their mentality.
    1. Re:Read the f***ing article! by pergamon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Very nice.

      As much as we might hate AOL for littering the physical world with their signup CDs and the virtual world with their users, one has to give them props for continuing to support Mozilla.

      Granted, they mainly have used Mozilla as a barganing chip to get a deal with MS, but I suspect that isn't a long term situation anyway.

    2. Re:Read the f***ing article! by gokubi · · Score: 4, Funny

      $2 million in cash

      Hope they don't blow it all on a Superbowl ad.

      --
      I'm much funnier now that I'm a subscriber.
    3. Re:Read the f***ing article! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      First of all, $2 million over 2 years is pennies. That is 1/10th of a percent of just one quarter of AOLTW's EBITDA. As for the IP donations - that is pretty much worthless anyway since it is a free, open-source project.

      Imagine kicking your kid out of the house with $20 for the next two years but he can keep his furniture and his name. Doesn't sound so generous when you look at it that way, does it? Now of course they could have just said fuck you and cancelled the project but that would have been very bad PR.

      EBITDA - Earnings before income tax, depreciation, and amortization - $2B for AOLTW as of Q1, 2003.

    4. Re:Read the f***ing article! by weave · · Score: 1
      $2 million in cash

      Hope they don't blow it all on a Superbowl ad.

      Wow, what a brilliant way to put it into perspective. I'm still shaking at thinking through that comparison...

    5. Re:Read the f***ing article! by timeOday · · Score: 1

      I hate to say it but $2M over 2 years is peanuts. That's only enough to hire about 5 developers.

    6. Re:Read the f***ing article! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting


      Very nice.

      As much as we might hate AOL for littering the physical world with their signup CDs and the virtual world with their users, one has to give them props for continuing to support Mozilla.


      You don't seem to get it. This is the golden handshake. (don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out)

      Sure 2M sounds like a good deal, but it is AOL/TW's way of completely dumping mozilla. (I'm sure it's cheaper than actually turning off the lights on mozilla as an AOL/TW effort.) Besides, in these deals, the stated money is a bunch of accounting BS. (Stuff like: mozilla developers will get to keep their 4 year old computers. That's 1M right there!)

      Watch for the warm fuzzies in this press release to cool once it sinks in that AOL/TW is dumping mozilla for IE, and this deal is their exit strategy for mozilla.

    7. Re:Read the f***ing article! by Libor+Vanek · · Score: 3, Informative

      I think that 5 FULL TIME MOZILLA developers are enough! There are some Mozilla jobs opening in IBM so this together with open source community makes very strong developer base.

    8. Re:Read the f***ing article! by Malc · · Score: 1

      Wow! Where do you live where developers get $200,000 p.a.?

    9. Re:Read the f***ing article! by PD · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I was really liking the metal CD boxes they were sending out a while ago. It came with only 1 AOL CD inside, but it's big enough to hold 5 and keep them from getting scratched.

    10. Re:Read the f***ing article! by maxume · · Score: 2, Informative

      They won't. There are lots of other costs involved when hiring someone. To start with FICA. You only see half of your contribution on each paystub. The government gets the other half 'from your employer'. Plus various insurance policies, offices, etc...

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    11. Re:Read the f***ing article! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't forget things like benefits & Social Security.

      200 grand is still on the high side, however. Just not on the outrageous side.

    12. Re:Read the f***ing article! by timeOday · · Score: 1
      Don't forget things like benefits & Social Security.
      Well, sure, plus office space, equipment, supplies, legal and tax services... and oops that leaves $0 for advertising. We're talking about a whole organization here, not just salaries and benefits. They're not part of AOL anymore.
    13. Re:Read the f***ing article! by blufive · · Score: 1

      $2M over two years, plus equipment, plus other assistance. That may include developers. Red Hat will continue to contribute developers, has they have done for years. Ditto Sun. Even though they're not mentioned by name, I suspect IBM will too. There will still be developers from the academic world, and unaffiliated individuals pitching in.

    14. Re:Read the f***ing article! by orkysoft · · Score: 1

      Why not? How many Americans today have even heard of Mozilla?

      (Not on the same channel, of course...)

      --

      I suffer from attention surplus disorder.
    15. Re:Read the f***ing article! by SimplexO · · Score: 1

      It's funny, but if you click on the bugzilla picture on the new website, it takes you to bug 52094 (paste http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=52094 in to your address bar): hyatt should give ben $50.

      The site was designed by Ben Goodger.

    16. Re:Read the f***ing article! by BZ · · Score: 1

      Um... If they are the right people, that may be enough for the layout engine itself. Not quite enough for the works (layout engine, networking, DOM, ui, etc).

    17. Re:Read the f***ing article! by spotlight2k3 · · Score: 1

      I've always detested aol in every way, however to make a move such as this just goes to show almost everyone has an open source side to them. way to go aol

    18. Re:Read the f***ing article! by Sloppy · · Score: 1
      I hate to say it but $2M over 2 years is peanuts.
      Web browsers (especially ones that are already written) are peanuts too. 5 developers is overkill.
      --
      As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
    19. Re:Read the f***ing article! by sharkey · · Score: 2, Funny
      Hope they don't blow it all on a Superbowl ad.

      What if they get Terry Tate?

      "Woo-woo! You KNOW you OTS ta use tha LIZARD to put cover sheets on yo TPS report, RICHARD!! You don't come into MY KITCHEN, an use a CLOSED SOURCE mail client to SUBMIT...Hey, Janice! :}!"

      --

      --
      "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
    20. Re:Read the f***ing article! by Hooded+One · · Score: 1

      Those were nifty, but the DVD cases were even more useful. I'm actually disappointed I haven't gotten any in a long time. :(

    21. Re:Read the f***ing article! by japhmi · · Score: 1

      As much as we might hate AOL for littering the physical world with their signup CDs

      Actually, my wife an I use all of those AOL CDs for coasters. Put them in the microwave for a second or two and they get a cool cracked effect - she's eventually going to paint them, and maybe even mount them.

      And, no, we didn't learn this from Martha Stewart.

      --
      "Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys" P. J. O'Rourke
    22. Re:Read the f***ing article! by pergamon · · Score: 1

      No, I get it. They don't have to do a damn thing for it, and yet they have for years. What happens when most companies no longer want to pursue a project? Normally dumping a project/program means it gets left where it is or trashed. They're actually sponsoring additional work on it, when they really have no reason to that I can see.

  13. Two Questions: by Skyshadow · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I have two questions:

    1. Why should I give money to Mozilla when I don't give money to and other open-source software I use? Why do they need it? What will they use it for?
    2. Would said contribution be tax-deductible (not all non-profit donations are)?

    Unfortunately for them, they're competing for my donated dollar against the EFF, the ACLU and (this year) whoever tries to unseat George Bush Jr. They need to make a lot better case for themselves if they're going to warrent a piece of that pie...

    --
    Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
    1. Re:Two Questions: by The+Evil+Couch · · Score: 4, Funny

      if you donate $1,000 or more, you get a Mozilla Dinosaur plushie doll.

    2. Re:Two Questions: by connsmythe96 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I was also wondering about the tax status of this new organization. If they ARE tax exempt (I don't know the rules for that, so someone fill me in) could this be just an easy way for AOL to save money? Make part of your company that was non-profit already officially non-profit and then write off all your budget for it as a donation.

      I'm not sure what I would think about that. It seems sneaky...but it's good for mozilla...hmmm...i'm torn....

      --
      if(!cool) exit(-1);
    3. Re:Two Questions: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > 1. Why should I give money to Mozilla when I don't give money to and other open-source software I use? Why do they need it? What will they use it for?

      No, you shouldn't. AOL, Sun, RedHat, SGI, Apple should.

    4. Re:Two Questions: by bytesmythe · · Score: 5, Insightful

      A better question would be:
      "Why don't you give to the other open-source software projects?"

      I know it seems like a pain, but pick a few of your favorites (maybe 3 to 5) and start setting aside a little money. Collect your spare change, or sell something on eBay, or whatever. Then donate 5 to 10 bucks to each of the projects.

      I would expect you'd want to feel reasonably certain the developers will put the money to good use (buying helpful books or equipment), rather than dipping into the project fund to buy pizza and beer. Still, I imagine that once you've selected some worthy projects and sent them a little money it will make you feel good to have helped, and maybe you'll even be more likely to do it again in the future.

      --
      bytesmythe
      Hypocrisy is the resin that holds the plywood of society together.
      -- Scott Meyer
    5. Re:Two Questions: by Skyshadow · · Score: 3, Interesting
      A better question would be: "Why don't you give to the other open-source software projects?"

      I figured someone would ask that.

      First, you should know that I'm by no stretch of the imagination a rich man. I can pay my bills, make my car payments (I don't drive an expensive car), set aside a little money but that leaves me pretty much broke.

      Given that, I have to carefully prioritize where my money goes. Last year, I contributed to the ACLU, the EFF and to my public radio station, KQED. These are all good causes which, in my opinion, do demonstratively good things with my money and they all are tax deductible donations.

      That's what any OSS project or company needs to contend with when they look at me for money. To be included on my list, then, they'd better (A) prove they need it, (B) prove they're using it for substantially good reasons and not wasting it, and (C) preferably set things up so I can take a tax deduction for it.

      I don't see anything wrong with looking at it that way -- if I had another $5 a paycheck to give away, it'd go to the people on my list, anyhow...

      --
      Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
    6. Re:Two Questions: by infiniti99 · · Score: 1

      You should be donating money to all open source projects.

      If everyone gave a dollar to each project they find useful, then we wouldn't have to wait so long for these projects to finish. If every user of my project gave me a dollar, I could quit my day job, work on it full time, and be done in a matter of months. Instead, it will be years before it is completed. It's pathetic, really.

      A dollar a project is not much money from each of us. I could probably name 50 relevant projects that I benefit from. That's $50 out of my pocket. Think about it. Certainly it is a better investment than commercial software. Look at the differences:

      1) Get 50 completed fully free programs. You can make unlimited copies, and you have full source code access if you ever care about that.

      2) Buy one commercial product. Only 1 copy allowed. No source.

      The sad fact is that most of us will spend our money on the commercial product instead of investing in open source. Oh well, unlimited copies of incomplete and broken free programs is good enough, eh?

    7. Re:Two Questions: by bytesmythe · · Score: 1

      Thank you for your well-stated response. I'm always afraid that questions will be seen as a tad abrasive, but you have taken it in the right spirit.

      First of all, I want to sympathize with your economic plight. I am also by no means rich. I work full-time, and my wife and I are both students. We make our payments and have a little left over for food and such.

      Second of all, I'm not the champion charitable donor myself. I'm pretty scattered, and I have a hard time budgeting for things like that. My suggestions were just as much geared towards myself as you or anyone else.

      Finally, I don't want to downplay the other social contributions you are making. Open source software is a Good Thing (TM), but I also like your list of donees very much. It has inspired me to make sure to keep those kinds of organizations in mind, especially the EFF and my local public radio station. (Nothing against the ACLU, but I figure they get a lot more donations than the EFF and my local NPR affiliate combined.) Maybe I'll find the extra money for a political contribution this year, too... and I'm DEFINITELY voting this Presidential race, even in the primaries.

      --
      bytesmythe
      Hypocrisy is the resin that holds the plywood of society together.
      -- Scott Meyer
    8. Re:Two Questions: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Find a mechanism for this to work (micropayments).
      Also, if you're going to give the milk away (your program) why buy the cow ($1)? It's a fine idea, but the implementation and mindset isn't there.

    9. Re:Two Questions: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not interesting, damn you. It was a joke!

    10. Re:Two Questions: by UserAlreadyExists · · Score: 1

      >...rather than dipping into the project fund to buy pizza and beer.

      Let them spend it on pizza and beer. What better way to keep the developers working on a worthy project?

      --
      "Screw causalilty!" -- Prof. Farnsworth
    11. Re:Two Questions: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Back this up with a URL please.

    12. Re:Two Questions: by The+Evil+Couch · · Score: 1
      I can't. it was a joke. :p

      but I suppose if they get enough people sending them a grand and asking about a plushie dino, they might start making them.

    13. Re:Two Questions: by TheTimoo · · Score: 1

      on first though: why the hell is this modded as interesting, isn't it obviously supposed to be funny?

      But then, wouldn't that be a good idea to raise money? In High school there was _always_ someone that had made up a cause to raise some funds. And if /.sells t-shirts so can the Mozilla Foundation!
      I doubt It'll give'em $2M, but still...

      I'd love some little Dinosaur doll, though. That'd be the perfect way to show my affection fo Mozilla:"I even take Mozy to bed with me", or the little more offensive (thus better suited for /.):"I even sleep with Mozilla".
      And they could make little Firebird cigarette lighters! And come up with something that somehow utilizies Thunderbird (yeah I know, creativity is not my thing...), and...
      *StruckByReality* anybody know if OpenBSD is making any money of their shirts?

      --
      "Be careful or be roadkill" - Calvin
    14. Re:Two Questions: by The+Evil+Couch · · Score: 1

      true enough. I'd buy a moz plushie. I wouldn't spend $1,000 on it, but if it was around 20 bucks, I'd pick one up. I honestly don't think they'd make too terribly much with shirt and plushie sales, though. they would however get more happy users as well as free advertising as people see a guy with a mozilla shirt and wonder what it is, then look it up later or ask the guy.

    15. Re:Two Questions: by Misch · · Score: 1

      And for a donation of $1,000,000 or more, Asa Dotzler will personally come to your house and rearrange your stuffed animals.

      --

      --You will rephrase your request for me to go to hell. Goto statements are not acceptable programming constructs
    16. Re:Two Questions: by Lionel+Hutts · · Score: 2, Informative

      This is an issue, but not much of one.

      To the extent they actually spend money, it would have been deductible to AOL anyway as a business expense.

      The question comes up when they give more in a year than they spend. That lets them (1) accelerate the deduction to the present for spending in the future (provided they make the donation now) and (2) let the money accumulate and earn interest tax-free, since it will be owned by a tax-exempt.

      So it is an issue, but other people do get away with similar things. Our good friends at Fannie Mae, for example, set up the Fannie Mae Foundation to run ads they previously ran themselves, with similar effects; this has been somewhat controversial.

      IAAL, so the "sneaky" aspect counts as a plus in my book.

      --
      I Can't Believe It's A Law Firm, LLP does not necessarily endorse the contents of this message.
    17. Re:Two Questions: by bhsx · · Score: 1

      Does anyone else think it's ironic or somehow telling that the Moz team chose a dinosaur as their logo to begin with? Hopefully Moz/Firebird will have a nice Phoenix logo, birthing from a million tons of incinerated AOL CDs, animated of course.

      --
      put the what in the where?
    18. Re:Two Questions: by tyroneking · · Score: 1
      I'd rather have a Call of Cthulhu plushie.

      Oh my dancing gods! What am I saying !

    19. Re:Two Questions: by rsborg · · Score: 1
      First, you should know that I'm by no stretch of the imagination a rich man. I can pay my bills, make my car payments (I don't drive an expensive car), set aside a little money but that leaves me pretty much broke.

      Given that, I have to carefully prioritize where my money goes. Last year, I contributed to the ACLU, the EFF and to my public radio station, KQED. These are all good causes which, in my opinion, do demonstratively good things with my money and they all are tax deductible donations.

      Well, all of those are about $50-$60 apiece per year (depending on how much you donate to PBS). I know, I donate to the same .org's also. Why not just a single donation of $5? If everyone who used Mozilla/Firebird did so, it'd be a big boost in cash for the org (ie, more dev time to fix bugs)

      Me, I'm planning on giving out a few $ once their 501.3(c) clears (effectively doubling my donation, cool!). No way I'd give $5/month, but even a few dollars would help em out.

      On a side note, even using the products help them out, just use bugzilla to report bugs and vote for your pet peeves... remember, to make bugs shallow, lots of eyes are needed.

      --
      Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
    20. Re:Two Questions: by hacker · · Score: 1
      Because Free Software is not free, but not all donations have to be monetary. There are many other ways to pay for Free Software, and financial contributions is just one of them.

      You might consider donating because we (as Free Software authors, although I am not one of the core Mozilla developers, I speak for the same community) have already donated to you, and to countless thousands of others, by providing something useful for you, out of our spare time, so your computing experience can be enhanced and/or improved.

      Software (Free or otherwise) costs money, lots of money in fact:

      1. Bandwidth to host the site that the project resides on, and not just web, but cvs and ftp space as well, to the tune of several dozen (or hundred) gigabytes per day consumed. Bandwidth is not cheap, and it's definately not getting cheaper.

      2. Testing every new change, on various kinds of software platforms and configurations; Windows, Linux, BSD, OSX, and others.

      3. Hosting the requisite sub-projects that might rely on the main project. In the case of Mozilla, all of the other XUL projects (Calendar, et al).

      4. Domain names to point your browser to, including dozens of other parner domains (mozdev.org, etc.)

      5. Hardware, machines, test boxes, routers, switches, networking equipment.

      6. Backups, backup hardware (tape drives, CDR media and drives, RAID sets of drives).

      7. Time. Time to test, time to code, time taken out of a normal day to deliver a high-class product you use, and rely on.

      Many of us also have day-jobs, so the time we have left at the end of our "official" working day, is either divided up between our spouses, eating, sleeping, or coding. We're all spending our own hard-earned dollars out of our own pockets, to pay for all of the above, just to keep the project(s) going, and publically available to users like yourself. A contribution of $5.00 or more isn't going to cripple your yearly income.

      So, if you feel that our time is not well-spent, to help your computing experience improve in any way, then by all means, do not donate. Just remember, that you have absolutely no voice when it comes to prioritizing bugs or bug reports or outstanding issues you want fixed in a product you don't care to return the favor of support for.

      If you're unsatisfied, feel free to return it to the store for a refund of your full purchase price.

    21. Re:Two Questions: by doom · · Score: 1
      Given that, I have to carefully prioritize where my money goes. Last year, I contributed to the ACLU, the EFF and to my public radio station, KQED. These are all good causes which, in my opinion, do demonstratively good things with my money and they all are tax deductible donations.
      Well, if you're really asking us to prioritize charities for you, I'd say you should dump KQED: they're in fact pretty well funded, but have a reputation for not doing anything worthwhile for the money. At the very least you should investigate the way they spend it... (kicking in money to KPFA would make some sense, by the way, presuming that you like things like "Democracy Now").

      Anyway, yeah, I have a similar list of priorities, and while I'm not *tremendously* likely to give to mozilla organization, I'll certainly keep them in mind...

  14. Re:Does this mean AOL stopped supporting Moz? by The+Evil+Couch · · Score: 1
    nyet, comerade. AOL and Netscape are still beingk supporting Mozilla.

    The Mozilla Foundation will also promote the distribution and adoption of our flagship applications based on that code. AOL, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Red Hat, and other companies will continue to support Mozilla through the Foundation.

  15. Time for some advertising by SpaceRook · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think Mozilla needs some PR people. I was watching C-SPAN the other day and the issue was spam. Lots of callers were complaining about pop-up windows as well. I really wanted to tell them about Mozilla, but it was a taped show :(

    Anyway, there is a lot of frustration out there and the Mozilla people really need to get the word out that they have a competitive product. Place some ads in the weekly magazines, some big newspapers, and get a buzz going. Open up a Paypal account that we can donate to so Mozilla can get an ad in the New York Times.

    1. Re:Time for some advertising by bartdecrem · · Score: 5, Informative

      We just launched Mozilla Marketing and a marketing mailing list. So we're going to start marketing Mozilla's products much more proactively. Please join us in this effort by joining the new marketing mailing list.

    2. Re:Time for some advertising by thryllkill · · Score: 1

      That's so funny, cause last night my girlfriend's mother was complaining about popups and I told her about mozilla. So far she loves it.

      --

      Note to self: No more arguing with the faithful.

    3. Re:Time for some advertising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Funny how this announcement comes a day after this story. It's interesting how Mozilla 1.4 is getting all these rave reviews, and Firebird is going to kick butt. Meanwhile IE innovation has ground to a halt. If these guys start seriously marketing Mozilla and focusing on users, interesting things might happen.

    4. Re:Time for some advertising by bartdecrem · · Score: 1

      I am so into this idea.

      We need to get serious about getting this great technology in front of people, and offering these types of products is one interesting way to do that.

    5. Re:Time for some advertising by axxackall · · Score: 1, Insightful
      Marketing through mail-list? Are you serious? You can do it with developers - they are used to read many mail-lists anyway. But you can not reach any non-technical people with such a marketing tool as a mail-list.

      Here is my advise regarding Mozilla's marketing:

      • You have to creat a better looking web-site. Now it looks like for developers. Put there more flashy stuff. Make a contest among designers.
      • You have to tell us success stories from regular users and big corporations. Please use arguments that make sense for both Joe Six Pack and Mr. COO/CIO.
      • You have to promote sites that have their content as standard compliant (no IE workarounds). Some contest here also won't hurt.
      • You have to promote (but not just inform about) features, so people will understand, for example, (1) how bookmark manager works and (2) why is it better than in IE.
      • When you promote features, pay a very special attention on plugins. Put more demonstration on your site with flash, director, java, real-layer, media-player, quicktime, mp3 and other interactive and/or multimedia non-HTML content, and promize people mozilla t-shirts for free if they can report that they don't see that content (or it is crashing the browser).
      An individual developers may do marketing through mail-lists. You are presenting a non=profit organization. "Non-profit" does not mean "not-money". How much do you get from AOL? 2M? Can't you spend 10K for t-shirts for some contest? And by the way, not everything cost a hard cash: a designer's contest for new look-n-feel can free on both sides.

      But don't send me your marketing "spam" - I have enough of it from other "promoters".

      --

      Less is more !
    6. Re:Time for some advertising by Gerv · · Score: 2, Informative

      Marketing through mail-list? Are you serious?

      I think you have the wrong end of the stick. It's a mailing list for discussing and co-ordinating marketing, not one for marketing on :-)

      Gerv
      (gerv@mozilla.org)

    7. Re:Time for some advertising by Mitchell+Baker · · Score: 1

      We are going to do more outreach. Bart Decrem, formerly of Eazel will lead this effort.

    8. Re:Time for some advertising by guanxi · · Score: 1

      bartdecrem -- and anyone else using that link:

      I think you want that link to be
      marketing-request@mozilla.org

      and NOT
      marketing@mozilla.org

      The latter sends an e-mail to the whole list, and returns and error saying,
      Please try to use marketing-request@mozilla.org' the next time when issuing (un)subscribe requests.
      [sic]

  16. Not a clever move by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The site describes Firebird as "The Best Browser, Bar None", with a similar claim for Mozilla. Not only is this confusing to a newcomer, it's also a bad idea; Moz 1.4 is WAAAY more reliable than Firebird (great as the latter is), and I wouldn't recommend it to newcomers.

    When Firebird reaches Moz's level of stability, THEN it might be wise to push it to new users. But Mozilla gives a better impression.

    1. Re:Not a clever move by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      SCENARIO 1

      [Newbie finds mozilla foundation website.] Hm, what's this? [Newbie downloads and runs Firebird] Hey, this is pretty nice! [Newbie continues using Firebird for 2 or 3 more minutes. Firebird crashes.] Huh, I guess this thing isn't quite done yet. Maybe these guys just need some more money to help develop their browser.

      SCENARIO 2

      [Newbie finds mozilla foundation website.] Hm, what's this? [Newbie downloads and runs Mozilla] Wow, this is really slow and clunky. Ugh. This is even worse than IE. Why would anyone donate money to help develop a browser if it's just going to turn out this sluggish?

    2. Re:Not a clever move by donutz · · Score: 1

      I use Mozilla Firebird 0.6 as my primary browser. It works 99% of the time, but there are some pages that don't work. Like the FirstTeam realty search pages -- the pictures advance buttons don't work (the site does claim to be geared towards IE, so that's to be expected I guess).

      Or the Nuke Forums pages which consistently crash Mozilla Firebird 0.6 for me.

      But the overall experience I get from M.F. 0.6 is worth it, and I know it's not a full release, so if there's bugs, I either put up with them or report them, and know I'm helping a little to make it better.

    3. Re:Not a clever move by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      More like "Hey. This looks identical to Netscape!" (projectile vomits all over monitor)

  17. That sound you hear.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ..is the "BSD is dying" guy racing to find the Search and Replace function in his text editor.

    1. Re:That sound you hear.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm looking forward to this.

      He's given us the catchphrases:
      BSD is dying.
      Apple is beleagured. ... and now:

      Mozilla is _____________.

      I wonder what he'll use.

    2. Re:That sound you hear.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about "Toast?"

    3. Re:That sound you hear.. by Lord_Slepnir · · Score: 2, Funny
      It is official; Slashdot confirms: Gecko Browser Engine is toast One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered Gecko Browser Engine community when IDC confirmed that Gecko Browser Engine market share has dropped yet again, now down to less than a fraction of 1 percent of all servers. Coming on the heels of a recent Slashdot survey which plainly states that Gecko Browser Engine has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. Gecko Browser Engine is collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by failing dead last in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.

      You don't need to be a Einstein to predict Gecko Browser Engine's future. The hand writing is on the wall: Gecko Browser Engine faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for Gecko Browser Engine because Gecko Browser Engine is toast. Things are looking very bad for Gecko Browser Engine. As many of us are already aware, Gecko Browser Engine continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood.

      Netscape Navigator is the most endangered of them all, having lost 93% of its core developers. The sudden and unpleasant departures of long time Netscape Navigator developers Linus Travolds only serve to underscore the point more clearly. There can no longer be any doubt: Netscape Navigator is toast.

      Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.

      Netscape Communicator leader Alan Cox states that there are 7000 users of Netscape Communicator. How many users of Mozilla Beta are there? Let's see. The number of Netscape Communicator versus Mozilla Beta posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 Mozilla Beta users. Mozilla 1.0 posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of Mozilla Beta posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of Mozilla 1.0. A recent article put Netscape Navigator at about 80 percent of the Gecko Browser Engine market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 Netscape Navigator users. This is consistent with the number of Netscape Navigator Usenet posts.

      Due to the troubles of Netscape, abysmal sales and so on, Netscape Navigator went out of business and was taken over by AOL who sell another troubled OS. Now AOL is also toast, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.

      All major surveys show that Gecko Browser Engine has steadily declined in market share. Gecko Browser Engine is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If Gecko Browser Engine is to survive at all it will be among OS dilettante dabblers. Gecko Browser Engine continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, Gecko Browser Engine is toast.

    4. Re:That sound you hear.. by Jester99 · · Score: 1

      Sorry, when vi died a while back, ":s//" stopped working....

  18. Mozilla-Firebird by nicotinix · · Score: 1

    While I have never been impressed with Mozilla, the Firebird version absolutely rocks.
    I hope this is good news, that Mozilla will survive.

    1. Re:Mozilla-Firebird by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I feel like I've time warped. Shortly after finally getting to stable levels on mozilla, we are back to the Firebird "the nightlies are getting real good" stage.

      No thank you. I've played before and it hurt enough then. I don't need to play again.

      Wake me when FireBird gets to 1.0 Released.

    2. Re:Mozilla-Firebird by arth1 · · Score: 1

      What's wrong with both Mozilla and Firebird is the extensive bloat. Yes, I know that Firebird is meant to be lean and quick compared to Mozilla, but that's just the problem -- you compare to Mozilla.
      I'm not trying to flamebait here, but compare the 30MB+ that Mozilla AND Firebird needs to run with the footprint of other browsers, or try to run the things on older hardware, like half of all Internet users have.

      I'm not sure what the real problem is -- my guess would be too many layers of abstraction and meta-languages within the browser.

      Let's hope that the Firebird team manages to kill some of its babies and really slim down -- it looks promising, but it's still 0.x -- not ready for release. Bugs are OK in this stage of development, but really, something should IMNSHO be done about the excess fat.

      Regards,
      --
      *Art

    3. Re:Mozilla-Firebird by nicotinix · · Score: 1

      Look, you may be correct in the bloat issue, but I am purely commenting from using both Mozilla and Firebird. The difference in loading on both Windows and Linux platforms is astounding. Although I still prefer Opera, Firebird is quite nice.

  19. AOL? by Pres.+Ronald+Reagan · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Does this mean AOL has given up on Mozilla?

    --

    Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born.
    --Ronald Reagan
    1. Re:AOL? by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Honestly, I'm not sure if that's what it means or not. Certainly that's what it looks like -- "Thanks for all the hard work, guys, but we've sold our souls to Bill, so here's some cash, and good luck" -- but there is IMO a real possibility that AOL will keep funding the project for some time to come. It was a seven-year deal they signed with M$; and seven years may be a long time in Internet years, but it's not forever. (Seven years ago, IIRC, was when the browser war between Netscape and IE was really heating up. We may be long past that time, but clearly people still remember it, and lessons learned.) AOL knows perfectly well that it's in their best interest to continue having an IE alternative, especially since M$ announced just days after they signed the deal that they were folding IE completely into the OS. I'll be very surprised if AOL cuts the Mozilla Foundation loose completely.

      --
      The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
    2. Re:AOL? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shoudn't your sig say "Ronald Reagan, one of the worst presidents since Hoobert Heever"?

  20. That's nice... by rbullo · · Score: 1

    but why did they have to change the URL? I LIKED the short address they used to have.

    --
    OH NOES!!! IT APPEARS YUO DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY FOR DIS HERE PIZZA! WAHT EVER ARE YOU GOING TO DO!?!?
    1. Re:That's nice... by The+Evil+Couch · · Score: 1

      it's still there. it still looks the same, too. think of mozilla foundation as mozilla's lobbyists. except they're fighting for marketshare, not laws.

    2. Re:That's nice... by ccwaterz · · Score: 1

      mozilla.org and mozillafoundation.org resolve to the same address. Looks as though they are 2 virtual hosts almost mirroring* each other.

      What's the big deal?

      *Links to builds and such go to mozilla.org, while more PR type stuff seems to hosted at mozillafoundation.org.

    3. Re:That's nice... by Gerv · · Score: 1

      Looks as though they are 2 virtual hosts almost mirroring* each other.

      (Currently) it's exactly the same website. Any URL on one will work on the other.

      Gerv
      (gerv@mozilla.org)

  21. $2M kiss-off by davidflanagan · · Score: 5, Informative
    The new foundation gets $2M over 2 years from AOL. Plus, Mitch Kapor kicks in $300K and becomes chair of the foundation. AOL also continues to supply infrastruture and "domain names". (How generous!)

    I'd say AOL wants to be rid of Mozilla. I wonder where this leaves Netscape? Is Netscape 7.1 the last browser release from this former browser company?

    1. Re:$2M kiss-off by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Probably some Microsoft-AOL scheme running in the background.

    2. Re:$2M kiss-off by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 1


      Why would AOL give Mozilla a $2M kiss-off (assuming that were actually what is happening here) when they could give Mozilla a $0 kiss-off instead?

      I expect AOL/TW to continue funding and having an interest in Mozilla-related development, but they have decided (wisely IMO) that software development should not be part of their core business.

    3. Re:$2M kiss-off by Zathrus · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Why would AOL give Mozilla a $2M kiss-off (assuming that were actually what is happening here) when they could give Mozilla a $0 kiss-off instead?

      Someone may have been clued in enough to know that doing so would generate immense ill-will. Besides, Mozilla is a viable product... just not one well suited to AOL/TW's core business (as you say).

      Additionally the $2M can be written off for tax purposes. Small, but it doesn't hurt.

      I guess the real question is how much funding has AOL given the Mozilla project over the past few years? Is $1M/year an improvement or a reduction in funding? And to be totally cynical -- even if it is an improvement, remember it's only for two years. Will they be able to make up the money if AOL doesn't continue funding after that time period is up?

      Honestly, I'd pretty much read this as AOL kicking the project out as well, but unless the above question is answered I can't be sure of that.

    4. Re:$2M kiss-off by Malc · · Score: 1

      If there is no more Netscape browser, will that mean that the Mozilla people will stop these stupid shennigans about the Mozilla browser not being an end-user product? Will they finally admit the truth that it is and polish it up properly?

    5. Re:$2M kiss-off by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm just speculating (as was the originator of this thread), but if Netscape were discontinued, Beonex would take over as the proper end-user browser.

    6. Re:$2M kiss-off by ainsoph · · Score: 1

      Whats living under a rock like?

      http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firebird/why/

    7. Re:$2M kiss-off by borggraefe · · Score: 1

      Netscape is history. They mass-fired todoy most of the staff including Gecko developers.

      Stefan

    8. Re:$2M kiss-off by BZ · · Score: 2, Insightful

      > Is $1M/year an improvement or a reduction in
      > funding?

      $1M is enough to pay about 8-10 mediocre (in the $50k range) salaries (after you factor in things like the taxes the employer has to pay, employee benefits, etc).

      AOL was employing a lot more people than that working on Mozilla.

    9. Re:$2M kiss-off by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Besides, Mozilla is a viable product...

      No web browser ever has been a viable product. They've always been lossleaders for some other product (server warez, operating systems, banner ads, etc).

  22. Thank goodness they by Trigun · · Score: 1

    Changed their browser name from Phoenix, otherwise we'd have more trademark infringment cases in the works.

  23. Phoenix was supposed to be faster but by truthhurts1 · · Score: 1
    load up times seem the same with mozilla 1.4 . What gives?

    XUL(it's xml for user interface language) slows it down to much. Am i wrong ?

    1. Re:Phoenix was supposed to be faster but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the next mozilla release will be based on MozillaFirebird (aka phoenix), 1.4 is still the old school Moz.

    2. Re:Phoenix was supposed to be faster but by chundo · · Score: 1

      load up times seem the same with mozilla 1.4 . What gives?

      Do you mean "the same as with mozilla 1.4"? If so, it's because they both use the same rendering engine (Gecko). Firebird just has less clutter around it, which is why the application in general is quicker to load and navigate, even though rendering times are identical. Gecko will be revamped once the main Mozilla branch adopts Firebird as its core.

      -j

  24. Does anyone care? by Arcturis · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    How often are they going to play the name changing game? It's almost like they're lost at sea and keep changing direction in the hope of seeing land.

  25. let's just hope by carrett · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    that they don't become the redhat of browsers

    --
    I'm against picketing but I don't know how to show it.
  26. Maybe, Maybe not... by TWX · · Score: 1

    Well, unfortunately the companies mentioned didn't have a particular stake in web browsers before now. AOL lost theirs the instant that the jumped into bed with Microsoft, IBM never really had one of their own, Sun had "HotJava", which was what .. HTML 3.0 compliant? RedHat wrote a lot of cool stuff for Gnome 1.1, but never anything that was to compete. This group is cool, but will they actually understand what they're doing enough to do it better than it's been done so far?

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    1. Re:Maybe, Maybe not... by The+Evil+Couch · · Score: 2, Interesting

      they don't need to understand what they're doing. all they need to do is give them money (which they've done) and bundle moz with their products. if AOL starts shipping their silver spam platters with moz instead of their own browser, word about moz is going to spread damn fast and IE will instantly be threatened.

  27. Mozdev? by jyuter · · Score: 1

    Any ideas on how/if Mozdev will be affected by this? (short/long term?)

    1. Re:Mozdev? by mykmelez · · Score: 4, Informative

      mozdev.org is independent of mozilla.org and always has been, so they should not be affected by this announcement in any way (besides benefiting from any positive press Mozilla receives).

      Note that mozdev.org has recently completed a very successful fundraising drive.

    2. Re:Mozdev? by luserSPAZ · · Score: 1

      Mozdev is independent, and just finished receiving donations. They made out pretty well.

    3. Re:Mozdev? by eyegone · · Score: 1

      Would this be the same fundraising drive that's killed their mailing lists/newsgroups for the past two weeks?

      --
      "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
    4. Re:Mozdev? by mykmelez · · Score: 2, Informative

      I believe their mailing lists/newsgroups were having problems because of a DOS attack. From what I hear, they are being set back up. More info is available in the project owners mailing list archives.

  28. Names and Copyrights by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So how long before someone challenges this naming convention, and they have to change the name of THIS?

    (sez phaeton)

  29. Re:Does this mean AOL stopped supporting Moz? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    RTFA

  30. Sorry, but Mozilla is still an also-ran. by BitwizeGHC · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    On Mac, IE will be replaced by Safari. That's the default browser that everyone will use, since it comes bundled with the operating system, and is enabled by default. In addition, because it's made by Apple, serious Mac-tards won't touch anything else.

    IE will dominate on Windows for as long as there is a Windows. It's built into the operating system, and comes enabled by default. Not even knowledgeable people want to download entirely new browsers.

    The only place where Moz will be "king" is on the also-ran Linux and BSD platforms.

    --
    N4st0r, trixx0r h0bb1tz0rz! Th3y st0l3 0ur pr3c10uzz!
    1. Re:Sorry, but Mozilla is still an also-ran. by awl · · Score: 1

      While I agree that IE will continue to hold the lion's share of the Windows browser market due to its built-in status, I have to take issue with the idea that not even knowledgable people want to download a new browser.

      You can certainly take issue with whether I am a knowledgable person (I think so, but I could be biased ;-), but I would have to say that I wouldn't want to download a browser unless I was going to be forced to use IE, in which case I would happily download any alternative, even the whole Mozilla suite on a dialup connection.

      (On a slightly more serious note, anyone doing web development will appreciate the better tools in Mozilla, and is likely to have a whole slew of other browsers installed for test purposes.)

  31. Re:No thanks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about that foundation of BG just being a PR-front for M$ ?

  32. Phoenix Foundation by archonon · · Score: 1
    Why i get this flashback from MacGyver: Phoenix (aka. Firebird) Foundation where MacGyver used to work. Maybe Mozilla should hire R.D Andersson to make Mozilla more popular. :)

    --

    archonon.deviantart.com

    --

    http://archonon.sytes.net/
    1. Re:Phoenix Foundation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now that you are mentioning it...

      Didn't the Phoenix Foundation appear in Knight Rider, too?

      THEY are EVERYWHERE!

  33. Best Scenario by MikeD83 · · Score: 1

    The best scenario for AOL is to kill off Netscape and fund Mozilla. AOL in return could add the Firebird to their clients for free. No one ever used Netscape, AOL needs an internet browser (and not MS IE), and the community supports Mozilla. Seems perfect to me.

    1. Re:Best Scenario by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "No one ever used Netscape"

      Now I feel old.

  34. A Service You Could Offer by johnnyb · · Score: 4, Insightful

    One thing that the Mozilla Foundation could do to raise money is set up a "Cobrand Support Center" where people can contract them to create and support branded versions of Mozilla.

    If the price were not too high, I imagine a lot of technology companies could impress their users with a branded web browser that's better than Internet Explorer.

    "As a complimentary service to our customers, we offer them the SuperTechnologyCompany Web Browser which has features that prevent spam and popups..."

    1. Re:A Service You Could Offer by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Here's another related idea; Someone comes up with a cool feature for Mozilla but they can't figure out how to fund it. So the cool ideas should be added to a page with the amount of money it will ostensibly cost to implement them (Dedicated development, patch management, hosting, testing) listed next to them. If a company donates the necessary money then their name is attached to the feature for all time, perhaps even with their corporate logo stuck into its preferences screen or something.

      This will of course be much more likely if they get the necessary status to make donations tax-deductible.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  35. I can see it now... by thoolihan · · Score: 1

    Browser-Aid:
    A benefit for Mozilla featuring Niel Young and U2.

    -t

    --
    http://unmoldable.com W:"No one of consequence" I:"I must know" W:"Get used to disappointment"
  36. Does that mean? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does that mean that Blake Ross is back?

  37. Diogenes, here yah go!! by malia8888 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    From the article: We're fortunate to start with significant seed funding, and we expect to spend the bulk of it on salaries for key staff members and technical contributors.

    I liked that they said their money was going for salaries. This is refreshingly honest. Most press releases from organizations steer away from the fact that everybody needs a little $$ to survive.

    This is better than trying to make us believe that first they save the whales, then go for profitability..

    --
    Harpo Tunnel Syndrome--my wrist feels funny.
    1. Re:Diogenes, here yah go!! by sjbe · · Score: 1

      This is better than trying to make us believe that first they save the whales, then go for profitability..

      Umm you do realise this is a "non-profit organization" right? While they certainly need money for the organization to survive, profits don't fit into the equation. At most they might save money so they don't have to beg as much later.

    2. Re:Diogenes, here yah go!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Yes, "profitability" was the wrong word. Not-going-begging was the word I was grasping for.

      thank you

  38. Nice new website by sjbe · · Score: 1

    Huge improvement in look over the old one. Nice to see Mozilla presenting a reasonably professional face.

    On a more serious note, I wonder if the foundation will be able to raise enough money for an endowment one day. That would be the ideal funding position to be in. Anyone know if this is a goal of the foundation?

  39. Contributions not yet tax-deductible. by David+Hume · · Score: 5, Informative

    2. Would said contribution be tax-deductible (not all non-profit donations are)?


    From http://www.mozillafoundation.org/press/mozilla-fou ndation.html

    The Mozilla Foundation has been incorporated as a California public benefit corporation and is seeking to obtain 501(c)(3) status as a non-profit organization.


    (emphasis added). Since the Mozilla Foundation is applying for 501(c)(3) status, contributions are not yet tax deductible. Which raises the interesting question, i.e., should 501(c)(3) status be granted? In particular, should contributions by AOL to the Mozilla Foundation be tax deductible when AOL will use any work performed by the "public benefit corporation" in its Netscape product? Is this a way for a for profit corporation to fund research in a tax-deductible way?

    Perhaps a counter-argument is that given the license used for Mozilla (I forget which it is; it may be important), *anyone* could use the work... but could anyone use it in for-profit software?

    I haven't thought this throught, but it might be an interesting issue.

    1. Re:Contributions not yet tax-deductible. by Daengbo · · Score: 1

      Which raises the interesting question, i.e., should 501(c)(3) status be granted? In particular, should contributions by AOL to the Mozilla Foundation be tax deductible when AOL will use any work performed by the "public benefit corporation" in its Netscape product?
      This is actually pretty nice, and I would like to see it become a trend. Take a large pice of internal work, turn it into free software under a non-profit, and get the writeoff. The public benefits in a big way, so it should be a writeoff.
      I hope that someday my stripping of IE with 98lite and replacing it with Mozilla in the Language lab will be looked back at as a good move. Right now, it isn't.

    2. Re:Contributions not yet tax-deductible. by David+Hume · · Score: 1

      This is actually pretty nice, and I would like to see it become a trend. Take a large pice of internal work, turn it into free software under a non-profit, and get the writeoff. The public benefits in a big way, so it should be a writeoff.


      Getting the write-off for giving away the software isn't the problem. The possible problem is getting a tax deduction for your contributions to research performed by a "non-profit public benefit corporation" when your company has attempted to profit, and intends to continue to attempt to profit, from that research in the future.

    3. Re:Contributions not yet tax-deductible. by connsmythe96 · · Score: 1

      I think that could be a good thing. It provides incentive for companies to produce open-source code. They get to develop something for free basically. And then other people get them to develop stuff for free. :)

      I kind of like the idea now that I've thought about it.

      --
      if(!cool) exit(-1);
    4. Re:Contributions not yet tax-deductible. by Daengbo · · Score: 1

      But everyone does benefit. You put public benefit in quotes, but if it's free software, then they do. It's like saying that Ford shouldn't contribute to a research foundation which publishes the results of its findings, which Ford futher takes and uses to create a new product. The public still got the results, and other corporations, government agencies or non-profits are also able to do the same as Ford.

    5. Re:Contributions not yet tax-deductible. by David+Hume · · Score: 1

      But everyone does benefit. You put public benefit in quotes, but if it's free software, then they do. It's like saying that Ford shouldn't contribute to a research foundation which publishes the results of its findings, which Ford futher takes and uses to create a new product. The public still got the results, and other corporations, government agencies or non-profits are also able to do the same as Ford.


      I'm not sure that your analogy holds up for the following reason. Unlike the situation you posit, AOL and the public do not benefit to the same degree. The NPL grants to Netscape (and now AOL) benefits that are not available to the general public:

      V. Use of Modifications and Covered Code by Initial Developer.

      V.1. In General.

      The obligations of Section 3 apply to Netscape, except to the extent specified in this Amendment, Section V.2 and V.3.

      V.2. Other Products.

      Netscape may include Covered Code in products other than the Netscape's Branded Code which are released by Netscape during the two (2) years following the release date of the Original Code, without such additional products becoming subject to the terms of this License, and may license such additional products on different terms from those contained in this License.

      V.3. Alternative Licensing.

      Netscape may license the Source Code of Netscape's Branded Code, including Modifications incorporated therein, without such Netscape Branded Code becoming subject to the terms of this License, and may license such Netscape Branded Code on different terms from those contained in this License.


      See http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/NPL-1.1.html

      In other words, it appears that under the current triple licensing scheme, AOL gets a disproportionate benefit from any development or enhancement of Mozilla. Does this make a difference for the purposes of 501(c)(3)? I don't know. However, I think it *may* be an issue.

    6. Re:Contributions not yet tax-deductible. by Gerv · · Score: 1

      I can't speak about 501(c)(3), as I'm not a US citizen, but in regards to the NPL license:

      V.2 no longer gives any benefits, as the time limit ran out a long time ago.

      V.3 is the clause under which AOL is licensing all NPLed code to the Foundation under the MPL (and it'll get tri-licensed in the fullness of time), so be glad that it's there :-)

      Gerv
      (gerv@mozilla.org)

    7. Re:Contributions not yet tax-deductible. by BZ · · Score: 2, Insightful

      > in its Netscape product?

      You're assuming there will be a Netscape product.

      This is highly doubtful in light of today's events.

    8. Re:Contributions not yet tax-deductible. by David+Hume · · Score: 1

      V.3 is the clause under which AOL is licensing all NPLed code to the Foundation under the MPL (and it'll get tri-licensed in the fullness of time), so be glad that it's there :-)


      I am glad its there. :) And I'm not trying to pick on AOL / Netscape. Just issue spotting.

      Let's look at V.3:

      V.3. Alternative Licensing.

      Netscape may license the Source Code of Netscape's Branded Code, including Modifications incorporated therein, without such Netscape Branded Code becoming subject to the terms of this License, and may license such Netscape Branded Code on different terms from those contained in this License.


      http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/NPL-1.1.html (emphasis added).

      If there is an argument to be made that AOL will get a disproportionate benefit from any contribution to the Mozilla Foundation (and assuming for the moment that such disproportionate benefit would make some difference), the argument will be based on V.3. Said section apparently allows Netscampe (now AOL) to relicense "modifications" to the original Netscape branded code (and thus profit from same) without complying with the MPL, LGPL, GPL, or other terms of the NPL.

      Interestingly, the IRS states:

      An organization will be regarded as "operated exclusively" for one or more exempt purposes only if it engages primarily in activities which accomplish one or more of the exempt purposes specified in IRC Section 501(c)(3). An organization will not be so regarded if more than an insubstantial part of its activities is not in furtherance of an exempt purpose. For more information concerning types of charitable organizations and their activities, download Publication 557.

      The organization must not be organized or operated for the benefit of private interests, such as the creator or the creator's family, shareholders of the organization, other designated individuals, or persons controlled directly or indirectly by such private interests. No part of the net earnings of an IRC Section 501(c)(3) organization may inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. A private shareholder or individual is a person having a personal and private interest in the activities of the organization. If the organization engages in an excess benefit transaction with a person having substantial influence over the organization, an excise tax may be imposed on the person and any managers agreeing to the transaction.


      http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=96099 ,0 0.html (emphasis added).

      I wonder if the last emphasized sentence might indicate that while the Mozilla Foundation may obtain 501(c)(3) status, perhaps AOL's contributions to same will not be fully deductible.

      I'm just thinking out loud and playing with ideas here.

    9. Re:Contributions not yet tax-deductible. by daemonc · · Score: 1

      >>Which raises the interesting question, i.e., should 501(c)(3) status be granted? In particular, should contributions by AOL to the Mozilla Foundation be tax deductible when AOL will use any work performed by the "public benefit corporation" in its Netscape product? Is this a way for a for profit corporation to fund research in a tax-deductible way?

      Interesting possibility. All I can say is, I certainly hope so!

      If companies start seeing opensource as a pontential tax write off, this can only benefit opensource and Free Software. This means more funding for opensource projects, the potential for paid opensource programming positions in non-profits, more exposure to opensource in the corporate world.

      I don't see it as a conflict of interest if the contributing company should benefit from the non-profit's work, as long as the work is released under a true Opensource licence, it all goes into the public domain, and the contributing companies gain no unfair advantage.

      --
      All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
    10. Re:Contributions not yet tax-deductible. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, if a company donates land for a public park across the street from its headquarters, should it receive a tax break even though most of the park's users will be its employees? I say "yes", because they took something that was their property and made it free for all to use. It shouldn't matter if some are better positioned to take advantage than others so long as the public does truly benefit

    11. Re:Contributions not yet tax-deductible. by ajkessel · · Score: 1
      Since the Mozilla Foundation is applying for 501(c)(3) status, contributions are not yet tax deductible.

      Under the Internal Revenue Code, donations that come in after the organization has applied for 501(c)3 tax exempt status, but prior to that status being granted, are tax deductible assuming the 501(c)3 status is finally granted. That is, the tax exempt status is applied retroactively to the time of application.

      Not that the Mozilla Foundation is guaranteed to receive IRS approval, but it is quite likely. The xiph.org foundation received 501(c)3 tax exempt status and the Mozilla Foundation seems quite similar to me (vis-a-vis the factors that matter to IRS approval.) Often times, pointing out another similar organization that has recently received 501(c)3 approval is persuasive to the Service.

      Note also that AOL's transactions with Mozilla are unlikely to be categorized as an "excess benefit transaction," as one person commented. Excess benefit transactions are problems with self-dealing--e.g., if a 501(c)3 pays someone who is a disqualified person (impermissibly connected to organizational decisionmakers) too much for the services rendered, then the excess benefit penalties kicks in.

    12. Re:Contributions not yet tax-deductible. by David+Hume · · Score: 1

      Note also that AOL's transactions with Mozilla are unlikely to be categorized as an "excess benefit transaction," as one person commented. Excess benefit transactions are problems with self-dealing--e.g., if a 501(c)3 pays someone who is a disqualified person (impermissibly connected to organizational decisionmakers) too much for the services rendered, then the excess benefit penalties kicks in.


      Thanks for the information. I realize that I was thinking of a different issue.

      As I understand it, if someone at a charity auction pays $1000 for tickets to a Broadway show that are worth $200, they get only an $800 tax deduction. That is because he is getting a ticket worth $200, and therefore making a charitable contribution of only $800.

      I'm wondering if the same principle could, or should, apply to any monetary contributions AOL makes to the Mozilla Foundation ("MF"). Take AOL's $2 million contribution to the MF. Is that all "charity?" Let's assume, to make the argument easier, that the entire $2 million is used to improve "Branded Code" that falls under V.3 of the NPL:

      V.3. Alternative Licensing.

      Netscape may license the Source Code of Netscape's Branded Code, including Modifications incorporated therein, without such Netscape Branded Code becoming subject to the terms of this License, and may license such Netscape Branded Code on different terms from those contained in this License.


      AOL can do something with this improved, modified code that noone else can do -- relicense and sell same without being bound by the requirements of the MPL, LGPL, GPL, or NPL that bind others (such as distributing the source). Doesn't this have economic value? And if it does, doesn't this decrease the amount of AOL's "charitable" contribution? Just as one must deduct the $200 value of the Broadway tickets from the $1000 paid at auction, mustn't one deduct the economic value (doesn't the taxpayer have the burden of proof on this?) AOL derives from improvements to its Branded Code from the amount of its contribution?

    13. Re:Contributions not yet tax-deductible. by asa · · Score: 3, Informative

      V.3 is the clause under which AOL is licensing all NPLed code to the Foundation under the MPL (and it'll get tri-licensed in the fullness of time), so be glad that it's there :-)

      I am glad its there. :) And I'm not trying to pick on AOL / Netscape. Just issue spotting.

      Let's look at V.3:


      What Gerv was saying (I think) is that AOL is using v.3 to relicence _to_ the Mozilla Foundation any reamaining NPL code under the MPL so that going forward all of Mozilla will be MPL/GPL/LGPL (no NPL) so that if AOL uses future versions of these files they will have no NPL special rights. They will be able to use code from the Mozilla Foundation under the terms of any of the MPL, GPL or LGPL.

      I don't deal much with licensing issues (not nearly as much as Gerv) so I could be totally wrong but I think that's what he was trying to say.

      --Asa

    14. Re:Contributions not yet tax-deductible. by David+Hume · · Score: 1

      What Gerv was saying (I think) is that AOL is using v.3 to relicence _to_ the Mozilla Foundation any reamaining NPL code under the MPL so that going forward all of Mozilla will be MPL/GPL/LGPL (no NPL) so that if AOL uses future versions of these files they will have no NPL special rights. They will be able to use code from the Mozilla Foundation under the terms of any of the MPL, GPL or LGPL.


      I'm not sure, but I think you are right. From the update, it appears that AOL has completely abandoned the Netscape browser (or at least making any profit from the code; it appears they will support current versions for at least awhile), and thus the NPL is superfluous. Under these conditions, it also appears that any contribution AOL makes to the Mozilla Foundation will be 100% deductible. AOL isn't going to get any economic benefit because it has given up on the code.

      Why does that make me sad?

    15. Re:Contributions not yet tax-deductible. by ajkessel · · Score: 1
      AOL can do something with this improved, modified code that noone else can do -- relicense and sell same without being bound by the requirements of the MPL, LGPL, GPL, or NPL that bind others (such as distributing the source). Doesn't this have economic value? And if it does, doesn't this decrease the amount of AOL's "charitable" contribution? Just as one must deduct the $200 value of the Broadway tickets from the $1000 paid at auction, mustn't one deduct the economic value (doesn't the taxpayer have the burden of proof on this?) AOL derives from improvements to its Branded Code from the amount of its contribution?

      While it's possible that the Branded Code provision could present a problem for AOL being able to deduct the donation, it's not quite analogous to the Broadway show example (or the charity dinner case, which is quite common). I suspect the seed money is not earmarked for any specific purpose, so this is not exactly a fee-for-service-plus-donation transaction. Typically in charity cases, you're looking at someone overpaying for a service and then deducting the difference between the fair market value of what they got and what they actually paid.

      In this case, "what they got" isn't exactly clear. You could argue that this is more like a person of color making a tax-deductible donation to the NAACP. Even if they might benefit from the work the NAACP, it doesn't present any problems for the deductibility of their donation. Of course, AOL's interest is far less speculative than in the NAACP case. But still, I would think that unless they have control over where their donation goes, it stands a good chance of being deductible.

      And I'm sure AOL has far more knowledgable and clever tax attorneys than myself.

  40. Not quite as funny as intended. by markv242 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    This may have been modded +5 Funny, but in all honesty it's a very telling/scary story. AOL is shedding Mozilla. Yes, they've chipped in $2M to help run the foundation, but what happens in a few years when the Foundation has A) run out of money, and B) hasn't gotten any significant donations?

    Let the "Mozilla is dead" postings start in 3..2..

    1. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by Xerithane · · Score: 2, Interesting

      and B) hasn't gotten any significant donations?


      Now that it is specifically a Non-Profit organization, donations are just that. Assuming they did the whole legal tax-deductible non-profit group corporation, people will be much more inclined to donate.

      Companies making their corporate standard browser a free browser and getting a tax write-off by supporting the browser will be prevelant, I think.

      --
      Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
    2. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by sulli · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Companies making their corporate standard browser a free browser and getting a tax write-off by supporting the browser will be prevalent, I think.

      Not as prevalent as companies simply using Mozilla and paying zero, however.

      --

      sulli
      RTFJ.
    3. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by WPIDalamar · · Score: 4, Insightful


      People may not contribute as much money to the foundation, but maybe they'll be more inclined to contribute more code. It's easy to give some IP back to a non profit, it's hard to give IP to AOL.

    4. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by WPIDalamar · · Score: 1

      REPHRASE:

      It's hard to convince your company's executives to give IP to AOL ...

    5. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      This may have been modded +5 Funny, but in all honesty it's a very telling/scary story. AOL is shedding Mozilla. Yes, they've chipped in $2M to help run the foundation, but what happens in a few years when the Foundation has A) run out of money, and B) hasn't gotten any significant donations?

      You're right! I can see Mozilla dying a slow, agonizing death just like those other useless OSS projects like Linux, or Apache, or KDE, or Gnome!

    6. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by AKnightCowboy · · Score: 2, Insightful
      but what happens in a few years when the Foundation has A) run out of money, and B) hasn't gotten any significant donations?

      Somebody with an itch to scratch revives the project or forks it? It's open source isn't it? Who supports Apache, KDE, Debian, etc.? I imagine not a single company. It's either a non-profit or a group of volunteers.

    7. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by Shapeless+Blob+(-1) · · Score: 0

      Then, I, Shapeless Blob (-1), will step into the scene, take the tarball and fork it.

      Something that's GPLd can't die. It can only improve.

    8. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by tarquin_fim_bim · · Score: 1

      "You're right! I can see Mozilla dying a slow, agonizing death just like those other useless OSS projects"

      As opposed to the alternatives which give thier users a slow agonising life.

    9. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by Flarelocke · · Score: 2, Informative

      A $2 million endowment can last forever. If wisely invested, the dividends on $2 million can pay $50 000 per year and still grow. Not enough to employ fulltime developers, but probably enough for bandwidth costs.

    10. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by Kailden · · Score: 1

      I've always thought that companies might donate "employee time" more than cold-hard-cash.

      For instance, if its in the interest of say, EDS, that Tomcat continues to be developed as a reference implementation of a java servlet engine so that they can take that code and repackage it as part of a bigger more customized package (health care web app) of some sort, then they might have a programmer involved in developing Tomcat.

      That's prolly where a lot of these non-profit projects get thier support...and even hardware....

      --
      I need a TiVo for my car. Pause live traffic now.
    11. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by Gerv · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Not enough to employ fulltime developers, but probably enough for bandwidth costs.

      The problem is, we need fulltime developers :-)

      Gerv
      (gerv@mozilla.org)

    12. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by Horny+Smurf · · Score: 1
      Take a peek around sf.net and look at all the dead an abandoned projects sometime.

      GPL code can die. It can become irrelevant, deprecated, and abandoned. You might be able to access (and reuse) the code (if it was released, if you know where to find it, if you know it even exists), but the NIH syndrome is very much alive in the GPL world (look at all the perl scripts to parse apache logs, or cd/mp3 frontends on freshmeat.net).

    13. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      RTFA. It was 2 million in AOL time warner stock, based on the 1/1/2002 closing price.

    14. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by scottj · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I make charitable donations every year. I always make sure that my donations go to an organization that is registered as a non-profit so that I can realize tax benefits from my donations. Now I can support my favorite OSS project with these donations. I'm sure that there are many more out there like me as well. Mozilla isn't going to die any time soon.

      --
      .-.--
    15. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by Zog+The+Undeniable · · Score: 2, Interesting
      So AOL have decided to throw in their lot with Redmond and use a browser that will not be updated again (unless you buy Longhorn). On the other hand they could have had a browser that complies with all the standards and is continually being improved. I despair, I really do, but it was obvious this was going to happen as soon as they got the cash from MS.

      Shed a tear for poor old Netscape - the Internet as we know it wouldn't have existed without it, and it was killed off as much by (proven illegal) business practices as much as technical inferiority. They kept flogging v4 for too long and v6 was bloatware, but I'll never see the name "Explorer" as anything other than an ersatz "Navigator".

      Oh yeah, I may live in the UK, but isn't the sum of $2m bugger all in real terms? Assuming those developers are taking a salary of only $50k each, that's 40 developers for a year. Whoopee-shit.

      --
      When I am king, you will be first against the wall.
    16. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by benja · · Score: 1

      Companies making their corporate standard browser a free browser and getting a tax write-off by supporting the browser will be prevalent, I think.

      Not as prevalent as companies simply using Mozilla and paying zero, however.

      Well, yeah-- that's Free Software for you. It's always the majority that does not pay for any particular product. As long as there is someone paying, the projects don't go into financial trouble either.

      (And enough projects survive without anybody paying, of course.)

    17. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by coupland · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Parent is funny but I don't think this is a matter of doom and gloom at all. All the big-name IT companies will continue to support MS alternatives, IBM alone could afford to run Mozilla to secure a great Linux browser that isn't WM-specific. Makers of embedded systems, industry groups, ISPs, all can afford a few bucks to run the foundation and probably are more likely to provide support when there's no partisan link to AOL-TW.

    18. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by amrust · · Score: 1
      AOL is shedding Mozilla. Yes, they've chipped in $2M to help run the foundation, but what happens in a few years when the Foundation has A) run out of money, and B) hasn't gotten any significant donations?

      You're assuming they will pull out completely. Why would they even want to do that?

      --
      VOTE!
    19. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by BZ · · Score: 2, Informative

      > isn't the sum of $2m bugger all in real terms?

      It is. A developer with a nominal salary of $50k each (not too high, really, for a good developer) costs about double that once you factor in the taxes the employer has to pay on the salary (FICA, etc), the benefits the employee gets (health insurance, etc) and such sundry items.

      In real terms, a single decent developer probably costs about $120k per year.

      So the $2 million is something, but more money will have to get raised if the mozilla foundation actually plans to employ developers itself.

    20. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To help launch the new organization, America Online has pledged $2 million in cash to the Mozilla Foundation over the next two years.

    21. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      B.b.but KDE _IS_ useless. Gnome forever!

      I want to tell you a story,
      'Bout a little man,
      If I can
      A gnome named Grimble Crumble.
      A little gnome,
      Staying at homes.
      Eating,
      Sleeping,
      Drinking their wine.
      He wore a scarlet tunic.
      A blue-green hood,
      It looked quite good.
      He had a big adventure,
      Amidst the grass,
      Fresh air at last.
      Wining,
      Dining,
      Biding his time.
      And then one day
      Hooray!

      ---Pink Floyd

    22. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have a feeling that Shapeless Blob (-1) wouldn't even have a clue where to start working on Mozilla, other than changing a couple icons.

      Face it, if Mozilla dev grinds to a halt, most people will go work on something "easier" like Konquerer.

    23. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by gandhii · · Score: 1
      It is. A developer with a nominal salary of $50k each (not too high, really, for a good developer) costs about double that once you factor in the taxes the employer has to pay on the salary (FICA, etc), the benefits the employee gets (health insurance, etc) and such sundry items. In real terms, a single decent developer probably costs about $120k per year.

      true.. but if you're going to pay salaries then you need to provide offices and all kinds of other support... which would just be a total waste of the funds.. Seems obvious that the money would be spent on hiring people on a freelance basis. $25/hr ain't bad.. even if you do have to pay for your own health and dental. Some programmers who got familys and big house and car payments might prefer their current corporate jobs a nd corporate saleries... but then.. people shouldn't be working for non-profits for the money. Quite frankly.. in my opinion, $25/hr is alot of money. I'd love to be making that much again and consistently. And to do it on a fun project that to a degree benefits humanity.

    24. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by AntiTuX · · Score: 1

      Yeah, that's the sad part about it. I remember when I was let go. I figured AOL would do something with the embedding group. That didn't work too well, did it?
      btw, gerv, hit me up some time. It's been a long time since we've spoken.

    25. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by sharkey · · Score: 1
      It's hard to convince your company's executives to give IP to AOL ...

      Executives aside, I'd be mortified to see my work on TV behind a grown-up, brain-wiped Barney-child saying, "It's so ..."

      --

      --
      "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
    26. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      All the big-name IT companies will continue to support MS alternatives

      Hah! Yeah, look at them doing it now. When you buy an IBM PC, which browser arrives with it and on which OS? How about Dell? HPaq? Hello?

      Oh, right, truth at Slashdot. Sorry, I forgot. Let's try this again --

      What's Mozilla at now, 0.8% share? Wow! Microsoft is scared, hey fellow fanboys?

    27. Re:Not quite as funny as intended. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apache, I will grant you, but the others? People have heard of linux, but no one uses it. I'll send you a pie if you can find me ten non-geeks who have any idea what the other two even are. Considering that linux, gnome and kde have all been around for what is approaching ten years, that's an agonizingly transparent existence.

  41. HMMMMMM!!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "At $455 billion, the new deficit would eclipse the previous record of $290 billion in 1992 when Bush's father was president.

    The U.S. government enjoyed four straight years of budget surpluses between 1998 and 2001."


    VERY INTERESTING, ISN'T IT?

    Also, this money.cnn.com article says that that huge tax cut will probably just go into most people's savings accounts rather than being spent at retail stores and boosting the economy. Article also notes that unemployment rates are at a 9 year high of 6.4%

    I'll vote for Hillary when she runs, and you know she will too. Her book has already sold more than a million copies, also.

    1. Re:HMMMMMM!!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Funny, I already spent MORE that what I am getting back so in my case, that money is already back into the economy.

  42. Well... by Kjella · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I guess Mozilla's ready to actively try to knock IE down.

    The technical aspects aside, I don't think the companies are in this for winning a war on Microsoft. But they do want there to be alternatives so IE can't exercise (read: abuse) monopoly power, particularly since the browser is the primary control of the Internet experience influencing all kinds of other services (searches, default bookmarks, passport integration etc.)

    They're interested in supporting Mozilla to ensure it stays a viable alternative, but I hardly think they'll use more money than they have to in order to compete against a "free" product. "free" in the meaning of "at no apparent cost to Joe Sixpack" /preemtive anti-flame strike. Personally, I'll stick to Opera (ID'ing as Opera too) as my primary browser, just personal preferance.

    Kjella

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  43. To donate or not to donate... by Pac · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why should I give money to Mozilla when I don't give money to and other open-source software I use? Why do they need it? What will they use it for?

    There is absolutely no reason for you to donate. Nobody is forcing you to do so. On the other hand, if everybody applies the same philosophy, most OSS projects will depend solely on the goodwill and the mutable live conditions of their developers Or on companies looking for a cheaper/better software development process).

    This is very different from donnating to Mandrake, a for profit company in continuous state of finnancial turmoil. As thousands upon thousands of other OSS software, Mozilla is not sold, does not carry spyware or anything allowing for a money flow.

    The point is, some people will feel grateful enough to donate money or resources to some projects. Some will feel grateful but won't have nothing to donate. Some will feel grateful but won't donate, period. And some won't feel anything but will use the software anyway. None of these are unwelcome, the software is open and free to use, no strings attached.

    As for, They need to make a lot better case for themselves if they're going to warrent a piece of that pie, I believe you can download a new case every night, here...

    1. Re:To donate or not to donate... by olman · · Score: 1

      There is absolutely no reason for you to donate. Nobody is forcing you to do so. On the other hand, if everybody applies the same philosophy, most OSS projects will depend solely on the goodwill and the mutable live conditions of their developers Or on companies looking for a cheaper/better software development process).

      You pretty much summed up the "er, you know.." caveat I've had about the whole OSS ideology. That is, people want and deserve to be paid for their work. Giving software (=work) away for free is somewhat..

  44. uh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    400MB footprint?

    You really should delete that pornography before your wife or employer catches you with it.

  45. I am using it now, and I am very happy. by thbigr · · Score: 1

    Thank Gawd! I use the browser for all my own stuff. Now if only I could get the Corp. I work for to drop Exploder.....

    --
    Come the revolution, the Bourgeois, Capitalistic, "A PARKING STICKER HOLDERS", will be first against the wall!
  46. PayPal ?? by matsh · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So, where can I donate PayPal money to this foundation?

    1. Re:PayPal ?? by Gerv · · Score: 4, Informative

      So, where can I donate PayPal money to this foundation?

      We'll get a PayPal (or similar) link up there as soon as possible. Don't spend the money meantime :-)

      Thanks for offering to donate!

      Gerv
      (gerv@mozilla.org)

    2. Re:PayPal ?? by sharkey · · Score: 1

      Pizza? Beer? I've got a PHB I could donate.

      --

      --
      "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
  47. Somebody please check that link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm at work and all I need is a Goatse or Tubgirl displayed across my desktop in all their glory when my boss looks over my shoulder.

    1. Re:Somebody please check that link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's fine. Unless the link changes, it's just a link to some paper on why Ronald Reagan is so great.

  48. The Site and other bits by physman · · Score: 0

    Two Points:

    1.) Once of get past their homepage, e.g. by going to the source code or download page, the old site still remains!

    2.) The conditions of the download clearly states: This source code is subject to the U.S. Export Administration Regulations and other U.S. law, and may not be exported or re-exported to certain countries (currently Afghanistan (Taliban controlled areas), Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria) or to persons or entities prohibited from receiving U.S. exports (including Denied Parties, entities on the Bureau of Export Administration Entity List, and Specially Designated Nationals)., surely they should change Iraqs entry to Iraq (Saddam controlled areas only) - then again just the word Iraq would mean the same anyway!

    --
    Murphy's Law of Research: Enough research will tend to support your theory.
    1. Re:The Site and other bits by Gerv · · Score: 1

      the old site still remains!

      Indeed - give us some time, and we'll fix that :-)

      The conditions of the download clearly states

      The text on here is in US law, I believe. It's more hassle than it's worth to change it, even if it looks a bit odd.

      Gerv
      (gerv@mozilla.org)

    2. Re:The Site and other bits by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And when I see BSD builds as part of the default biulds, I'll start sending your non-profit money.

    3. Re:The Site and other bits by Gerv · · Score: 1

      And when I see BSD builds as part of the default biulds, I'll start sending your non-profit money.

      Instead of money, if you donate a build machine (and a small amount of administering time) it could be. That's just about all that's needed - but without it, it's probably not going to happen.

      Gerv
      (gerv@mozilla.org)

  49. What about Apache? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They already are an established foundation, let's just roll mozilla into that group, and have a huge Open Source Foundation to rule them all, oh wait, the same could be said for GNU...

    1. Re:What about Apache? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      You need GNU tools to build Mozilla, so it should be called GNU/Mozilla. I've already changed my GNU/Linux GNU/Mozilla User-Agent string to reflect this.

  50. Moz better than Safari at the moment by sulli · · Score: 5, Informative

    I use both and prefer Mozilla (better features). Safari is ooh-pretty, but Mozilla gives me better control over things, particularly via the PrefBar that one can download at XulPlanet. I love the new "Kill Flash" button.

    --

    sulli
    RTFJ.
    1. Re:Moz better than Safari at the moment by jd142 · · Score: 1

      I wish I had mod points. I've been waiting for a flash killer and I've been looking for some good tutorials.

    2. Re:Moz better than Safari at the moment by jdreed1024 · · Score: 1

      "at the moment" is the key phrase in the comment title. Safari is quickly catching up to Mozilla (for the browser part only, obviously Safari doesn't have a mail client). It's certainly much faster than Mozilla on OS X (Jaguar). Yeah, there's lots of stuff Mozilla has that Safari doesn't, but Safari's been out in non-beta form for several weeks at the most, and in beta form for less than a year. Mozilla has been around for quite some time. I wouldn't be surprised if Safari catches up to Mozilla very soon.

      --
      There is no sig, there is only Zuul.
    3. Re:Moz better than Safari at the moment by luserSPAZ · · Score: 1

      Not perfect, but you can try out Flash-click-to-view a my page, or here

    4. Re:Moz better than Safari at the moment by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Informative
      The rebuttal here is that Safari is intensely faster than Mozilla. I have a 350MHz B&W G3 and Mozilla takes nearly an eternity to load and draws pages much slower than Safari does. On a modern system this doesn't matter so much but on a heavily loaded or elderly system like mine (which is frequently both) Mozilla will simply choke. Hard.

      Of course, Mac IE isn't any better. Usually, it's worse. But Safari is truly amazing in its efficiency and quality. It sure would be nice if you could view PDF inside Safari using Preview as a plugin, though.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  51. Bullshirt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1) Corporations that big don't pay taxes.
    2) They could always write-off development costs.

  52. free advertising! by donutz · · Score: 2

    I've brought this up before, but where's the professional looking attractive banner ad graphics for Mozilla? I'd slap one of those up on my website (I've got pages that attract more than just slash-geeks) and get the word out that way...

    I'm not so artistically minded, so I don't want to create it, but I'll certainly display it!

    1. Re:free advertising! by asa · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I've brought this up before, but where's the professional looking attractive banner ad graphics for Mozilla? I'd slap one of those up on my website (I've got pages that attract more than just slash-geeks) and get the word out that way...

      I'm not so artistically minded, so I don't want to create it, but I'll certainly display it!


      We will be ramping up our marketing efforts over the coming months. In the mean time you could always use plain text and link to http://www.mozilla.org/releases

      --Asa

    2. Re:free advertising! by CondeZer0 · · Score: 1
      --
      "When in doubt, use brute force." Ken Thompson
    3. Re:free advertising! by seney · · Score: 1

      hoo waa.. .. ..

      how about mozilla web mail... i think there would be plenty of people out there who would want a dirtyoldchump@mozilla.org address...

      then we could add mozilla sigs to the already prevelant yahoo and ms hotmail sigs...

    4. Re:free advertising! by sharkey · · Score: 1
      i think there would be plenty of people out there who would want a dirtyoldchump@mozilla.org address...

      I know I did, but it was already taken. They suggested I try dirtyoldchump3426@mozilla.org instead.

      --

      --
      "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
    5. Re:free advertising! by donutz · · Score: 1

      Those are pretty sweet...but they play up to the hackers, not to your average websurfing Joes.

      I'll definitely grab one of these, but I want one that says something like "Want pop-up free surfing? Get Mozilla now!"

  53. Re:Read the article! by Gerv · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As for the IP donations - that is pretty much worthless anyway since it is a free, open-source project.

    Not at all. The IP donations include the mozilla.org trademark and domain name, which are very far from worthless. They also include the MPL license.

    Gerv

  54. Mozilla, The Movie Trailer by Eberlin · · Score: 2, Funny

    In a world where the mighty browsers sleep...this tranquil city is about to experience an awakening.

    [show pic of giant Mozilla eye]

    "Oh no, Mozilla has gotten loose, it will run amok in the city!" [Mozilla roars and tramples over a Time-Warner-AOL building]

    The Government had one chance to stop it, but it was too late.

    [Control-center with lots of flashing lights and buttons]

    "Damn it, get Gates on the phone. Tell him we need a supply of BSODS to help freeze this monster. And we'll need detonators -- a thousand Internet Exploders should do the trick"

    This well-kept secret has been revealed to the masses.

    [CNN interview soundbytes]
    Stallman: "It cannot survive without the GPL!!!"

    ESR: "I said this from the beginning...with many eyes, all bugs can see better. No wait, that's not how it goes."

    Tux's agent: "My client refuses to do an interview unless there's some serious herring involved."

    They stopped innovating. They denied it existed. They were foolish. The revolution is now!

    [Mozilla stomps on Microsoft sign]
    "Mozilla...IEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! !!!!!"

    (Cue Kashmir riff...no puffy this time...please)

  55. Re: Support from Microsoft Nemeses by hendridm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From the parent:

    > what happens in a few years when the Foundation has A) run out of money, and B) hasn't gotten any significant donations?

    From the site:

    > AOL, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Red Hat, and other companies will continue to support Mozilla through the Foundation.

    I wouldn't worry. Me thinks these companies et al will stop supporting Mozilla when Internet Explorer has a user base of <5%. These are big competitors of Microsoft. Either way, if the money dries up, I would be surprised if people still didn't continue to develop Mozilla (even if it's at a slower pace).

    There will always be alternatives.

  56. Freedom at least! Bye, Netscape by ospirata · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I hope that this is the first sleep toward the complet independency from Netscape (read AOL). The Mozilla project did such a great job for all those years, and AOL just kept it down. Well, AOL. So long for all the (mis)help, but Mozilla has to move on.

    1. Re:Freedom at least! Bye, Netscape by bogie · · Score: 1

      "I hope that this is the first sleep toward the complet independency from Netscape (read AOL)."

      Fist step?? Its the first,last and only step. Netscape is no more and AOL is no longer paying anyone to work on Mozilla. You can't get more independent than that.

      --
      If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
  57. Re:Read the article! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    Not at all. The IP donations include the mozilla.org trademark and domain name, which are very far from worthless. They also include the MPL license.


    Cool, but to translate those assets to $$$, Mozilla.or will have to go the way of Netscape.com and become an advertizing portal/honeypot.

    Watch the geeks continue to frequent it for about 23 seconds after the first pop up advertizing appears at mozilla.org. Watch the developers struggle with whether to leave pop-up blocking in place when pop ups are their only source of revenue.

    From what I see, the business plan is:

    1. Hey c'mon guys, we have cool technology.
    2. No, seriously, our stuff is cool!
    3. ???
    4. Non-Profit!!!

  58. Re:fp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think... just a moment.... yes,

    YOU FAIL IT!

  59. Who said they get paid? by nuntius · · Score: 3, Interesting

    For every $1 a employee gets paid, a company has to shell out at least $2. Where does this money go?

    Employee benefits take a huge chunk out of your paycheck - health insurance and the like aren't free - the company has to pay for them. Also, every dollar you pay in taxes is matched by the company - not in some "matching program", but simply in Social Security, unemployment benefits, and other federal taxes.

    Then, after all that is said and done, the company gets around to renting/buying office space, buying support hardware, software, and books, shipping developers to conventions, hiring support staff...

    1. Re:Who said they get paid? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      I'd hate to be your employer. Ours lists the amount that it is paying for insurance & other stuff on the paystub along with what the employee has to pay. It is no where near a 1:1 match between what is paid to the employees to what the employer has to shell out to governments & other entities. Maybe it's that way in Germany, but it's not that bad here.

    2. Re:Who said they get paid? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know that $300/month insurance policy you have to pay for yourself? Well, if your company pays for it, that's close to $100/month for them. It's a huge cost.

    3. Re:Who said they get paid? by zenyu · · Score: 1

      For every $1 a employee gets paid, a company has to shell out at least $2.

      I think that is on the high end. Where I work they pay about 20% on top for other payroll related taxes and benefits, plus another 30% for real estate, optional benefits, taxes and services. Then maybe 10% more in spending accounts for me. Mostly computers, but also office supplies, etc. That's only a $1.6 per $1 I get before taxes and my match in benefits packages (my quoted salary). If you mean what get's transfered into my bank account it's prolly $3 for every $1, and if you account for PHB's it's prolly $4 for every $1 take home, but you don't really need that for 5 developers...

      Support staff is maybe 10% of my salary, there are 3 for 20 people, though for years time we did fine with one more qualified person. But those 3 we have now only cost about as much as the one we had before. (Who we paid slightly more than ourselves. We knew he was worth it, unfortunately he eventually decided it was too much stress and bought a cabin in the woods of Maine. He now designs web pages part-time and raises his new baby with his new wife.) Anyway, the total with support staff is then $1.7 per $1 not $2. (Excluding PHBs, management can be handled by the development group with 5 ppl. With them we're at $2, but before we reorganized and started losing money it was $1.8 per $1) With work at home which works well for open source and a rented meeting place I think you could spend just $1.5 per $1. You could hire 6 developers and a PR person(with web skills) and a secretary for $2 million. You could hire more, if some qualified developers in the 3rd world found you.

  60. A qustion: why should I use Firebird . . . by Anonymous+Shepard · · Score: 1

    ... if I already use Mozilla. In which way is it better? I also use Mozilla for Usenet. It still is limited in its filtering capacity, but I still find it OK.

    And why did Mozilla get rid of the dino/dragon splash screen?

    --
    I have a life. I really do. I've just chosen to ignore it.
    1. Re:A qustion: why should I use Firebird . . . by getoblstr · · Score: 1

      check out http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firebird/why/

      --
      think for yourself. question authority.
    2. Re:A qustion: why should I use Firebird . . . by Gerv · · Score: 2, Informative

      And why did Mozilla get rid of the dino/dragon splash screen?

      Because we didn't have image rights to the green dino.

      Gerv
      (gerv@mozilla.org)

  61. Re:No thanks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    MOD HIM UP! HE USED THE DOLLAR SIGN FOR THE S! HOW ORIGINAL & FUNNY! +5 LINUX ZEALOT #3481

    (lowercase text to pass filter)

  62. Firebird has Subaru WRX STi pic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone else notice that for Firebird they have picture of a Subaru WRX STi? If they picture a car shouldn't it be a Firebird?

    ALso if you click on the link it is on the subaru web page. Someone must like Subarus

    1. Re:Firebird has Subaru WRX STi pic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The screenshot about is someone browsing for a G35 too :) Someone has some nice tastes in cars at Mozilla.

    2. Re:Firebird has Subaru WRX STi pic by Gerv · · Score: 1

      Someone has some nice tastes in cars at Mozilla.

      That's be Ben Goodger.

      Gerv
      (gerv@mozilla.org)

    3. Re:Firebird has Subaru WRX STi pic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What have you done to his stats! STATS!

    4. Re:Firebird has Subaru WRX STi pic by Gerv · · Score: 1

      He was hosting the mockup of the new front page :-)

      Gerv
      (gerv@mozilla.org)

  63. Profit! by bap · · Score: 2, Insightful
    1. spin off mozilla as non-profit
    2. fund it at the level you would have anyway
    3. write off said funding as a charitable contribution (30% tax back)
    4. convince other people/companies to contribute too (thanks for funding our corporation)
    5. profit!!!
  64. Intangible assets are hard to value by sjbe · · Score: 1

    Not just the $2 million budget, they also get write off the trademark and other service they will provide to the non profit organization.

    Maybe. IANAA (I Am Not A Accountant) but trademark is an intangible asset, so unless it has been valued through some sort of asset sale (such as a corporation purchase), it most likely would not be a tax write off. The only case I can think of related to this was the purchase of Netscape, but Mozilla was not really the trademark that was valuable at that time. It might have some book value but probably not much. So basically, I doubt they will get any sort of tax write off from a trademark. Possible, but unlikely.

    You are correct though that there will be some interesting tax avoidance opportunties for AOL (and other companies) now that it is a non-profit.

  65. Quake Firebird? by antelopelovefan · · Score: 1

    Does anyone else think that the Firebird logo looks an awful lot like the Quake logo?

    1. Re:Quake Firebird? by arkhan_jg · · Score: 1
      That'd be because the default icon theme in firebird is called Qute, and the big Q is the marker for the theme.

      Obviously, there are limits to how different you can make a curvy Q look :)

      --
      Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.
  66. Re:No thanks by tarquin_fim_bim · · Score: 1

    What? You mean all my donations have been misappropriated?

  67. Would you send these guys money??? by MoreSoFluffy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    These guys can't even figure out what they product is! I go to the link and I can get Mozilla 1.4 "Best of 2003", or I could get Firebird, "Best Browser, Bar none!"...uh, so which is it? What's the difference? What are you working on? What will my $ go for? Anyone got a new whim project that is going to be better that they want to start before finishing the others? Screw that, I'll send my $30 to the Opera folks, at least they know what they are building.

    1. Re:Would you send these guys money??? by docwardo · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well one (mozilla) is a suite of applications (browser, mail, composer, chat, etc.) all in one. and firebird is just the browser for those who, like me, just want a fast browser that does what it's told (standards complaince).

  68. I'd pay for it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    If they boxed it up and sold it in stores I'd pay 30-50 bucks for it. Heck I they sell a lot of pop-up blocking software for the same amount. Forget this freebie nonsense. Let's start supporting developers with our money.

  69. Re:fp moz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Offtopic? I'll give you offtopic!

    One day, a bus driver is on his route, when he runs across a delivery van stranded at the side of the road. The van driver, who works for the zoo, pleads with the bus driver to do him a favor.

    He offers a $100 bill to the bus driver to help him deliver a truckload of penguins to the zoo. Agreeing, the bus driver proceeds to load two dozen penguins onto his bus. Then, off they drive towards the zoo.

    An hour later, the delivery driver gets his van fixed and heads off to the zoo to catch up with his delivery. As he's driving down the road, he sees the bus driver and the busload of penguins heading in the opposite direction. He turns his van around and chases him, catches up to the bus and pulls over them onto the side of the road. He asks the bus driver, "I thought I gave you a $100 dollars to go and take the penguins to the zoo for me!"

    "Calm down, " the bus driver says, "I took the penguins to the zoo. We had change left over, so now I'm taking them to the movies!"

  70. But... by Prince_Ali · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Companies using Mozilla and paying zero will also not be as prevalent as companies using IE and paying zero so it is basically a wash.

    1. Re:But... by praxim · · Score: 1

      Microsoft offers IE for free, and a host of other products for a fee.
      The Mozilla Foundation offers Mozilla for free, and a host of other free products.
      Hmm...

    2. Re:But... by jez9999 · · Score: 1

      Correction: Microsoft offers the latest versions of/updates for IE *as part of* their latest operating systems.

    3. Re:But... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Precisely. IE is not free - they've dropped Mac support, so a license for IE comes with a Windows license, which is only free if you are a govt or some other customer to whom it's in MS's best interest to give loss leaders.

  71. The best by IlliniDK · · Score: 1

    That is definitely the best website. Everything on it is the best. Or bester.

  72. too late... by axxackall · · Score: 2, Interesting
    ... AOL will never switch from their own existing browser, which is based on IE, to their own new browser, which may be based on Mozilla. It's too late. Their customers already used to use Internet with all that content that is displayed fine on IE, including all those plugins. With Mozilla they will be pissed off as most of plugin-based content will be broken or it will crash Mozilla. And that will hurt AOL's business. And that is the reason that AOL customers will never see Mozilla. At least untill Mozilla can simulate IE's HTML rendering *AND* Mozilla will flawlesly take *ALL* plugins that exist for IE.

    Let's face it: plugin support in Mozilla is experimental, while Mozilla cannot properly display the "IE-oriented" content. You may repeat the mantra about web standards again and again, but AOL customers do not care about standards. They care that the content they use to see is still there and it's still work on their computers. Period.

    --

    Less is more !
    1. Re:too late... by The+Evil+Couch · · Score: 1
      I think the several million dollars that mozilla just got from those companies might help them in getting the plugins where they need to be, although honestly, I don't really have much in the way of problems with plugins for moz.

      with the exception of the odd java app or screwed up table, everything renders fine in moz.

  73. Ugh by medeii · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    I hate to say this, but I really preferred the old design better. It looks like this one was designed by committee, because there's just a complete lack of cohesion and theme -- not to mention gratuitous use of emphatic (<b>, for example) elements without much care for consistency. There seem to be two different color schemes vying for supremacy, that burnt yellow along with the gray and blue; and, of course, the markup doesn't bother validating (the CSS does, though.) None of the other pages on the new site (or any of the other Moz-family domains) changed either, so it's just as if someone mocked up a single page and then posted it to meet a deadline.

    That all said -- I'm glad it got a facelift. I just really wish that the presentation was a bit better, because it doesn't seem like anyone spent any time really working on it.

    --
    got standards? --- http://www.w3.org/
  74. Re:....1 FACT: GECKO ENGINE IS DYING by Jucius+Maximus · · Score: 1
    "It is official; Netcraft confirms: Gecko Browser Engine is dying One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered Gecko Browser Engine community when IDC confirmed that Gecko Browser Engine market share has dropped yet again, now down to less than a fraction of 1 percent of all servers."

    Would I be taking the bait of I labelled this as an obvious troll?

  75. The *perfect* advertising solution by gosand · · Score: 3, Funny
    Anyway, there is a lot of frustration out there and the Mozilla people really need to get the word out that they have a competitive product. Place some ads in the weekly magazines, some big newspapers, and get a buzz going.

    Mozilla needs to start advertising - in popup ads. What better way to get your message across? "Hate pop-up ads like this one? Do you know there is a browser out there that allows you to block pop-up ads? It is called Mozilla, and we have a lot of other great features too. Mozilla is absolutely free! Try it out today. [url to mozilla.org]"

    Yeah, it is a little like spammers sending you an email on how to stop spam, but I like the idea.

    --

    My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.

  76. Re:Read the article! by Gerv · · Score: 3, Informative

    Watch the geeks continue to frequent it for about 23 seconds after the first pop up advertizing appears at mozilla.org.

    I can assure the 2 people out there who a) read this deep into this thread, and b) actually think there's some non-zero chance of this happening, that mozilla.org will not have pop-up advertising.

    Anyway, who would see it? Everyone uses Mozilla's popup blocker. ;-)

    Gerv
    (gerv@mozilla.org)

  77. Re:....1 FACT: GECKO ENGINE IS DYING by Lord_Slepnir · · Score: 1

    I did a quick search and replace. You can't ask for too much, here

  78. Yeah, right ... by Chromodromic · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Starving, illiterate children in the world and people are going to give money to AOL-backed, Netscape-backed Mozilla which competes directly with Microsoft? The only thing brilliant about this is that Bill Gates is slapping his forehead wondering how he didn't think of making a charitable organization of Longhorn.

    Firebird rules. Thunderbird rules. But they're software. I'll be giving my non-profit dollars to the local food bank, as usual.

    And since non-profits are exempt from the Do Not Call list, does that mean I'll be getting phone spam from AOL?

    --
    Chr0m0Dr0m!C
    1. Re:Yeah, right ... by Gerv · · Score: 1

      Starving, illiterate children in the world and people are going to give money to AOL-backed, Netscape-backed Mozilla which competes directly with Microsoft?

      It won't help the starving or the illiterate, but having free (as in beer and speech) software available for browsing the web, without having to pay the Microsoft tax, is very important for those a couple of rungs up on the latter - developing countries like China and India.

      That's not to say that dollars shouldn't go to the food bank too, of course. :-)

      Gerv
      (gerv@mozilla.org)

    2. Re:Yeah, right ... by alienw · · Score: 1

      Free software contributes more to society than the local food bank ever could. Yeah, they help some bums who are too lazy to work. Maybe if they didn't, the bums would find a job. I would see your point if you donated to the American Cancer Society or the American Heart Association, which both do very good things for humanity, but donating to a food bank is not exactly important when you look at the big picture.

    3. Re:Yeah, right ... by Chromodromic · · Score: 1

      Uh, you're talking out your ass, dude, but thanks anyway. On the other hand, no thanks. You help no one when you talk out your ass.

      Food banks help primarily the largest growing segments of the poor populations: single mothers of majority descent, immigrant families, working poor. Most food bank beneficiaries are employed, but suffer for various reasons.

      You also benefit by participating in the growth and betterment of your local community, a charitable concept that, if you had any education, you would understand has been co-opted in principle by many social concerns and movements including, interestingly, the open source community. You know, think globally, help locally ... No, I guess you wouldn't know. Anyway, this isn't a benefit that you can realize by writing a check to AOL, unless of course you're writing from a poor neighborhood in India and what you really need for your life, besides food and education, is a free Web browser and email client.

      So here's what you do. First, come to terms with the fact that you're an idiot. This will take you a long time, so I won't cover other options, just go for that.

      Oh, on the other hand, keep talking. You're the kind of spokesperson corporate America needs ...

      --
      Chr0m0Dr0m!C
  79. Faster save times. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Try saving as "webpage, html only" instead of "webpage, complete". The complete fixes links and images but takes forever.

  80. "AOL/Time Warner dumps Netscape/Mozilla" by Animats · · Score: 1
    That's the real headline. No more big company behind the product.

    And that "Mozilla Foundation" site. What are they thinking? "By developers, for developers" - that's what they're thinking.

    Want to see branding? Even in death, Napster does it better. Far, far better.

    1. Re:"AOL/Time Warner dumps Netscape/Mozilla" by Sloppy · · Score: 1
      Even in death, Napster does it better. Far, far better.
      Oh yeah, their website looks great:
      This site uses the sound and motion capabilities of the Flash Player.

      We cannot detect the Flash Player on your computer.

      Please download the Flash Player.
      And it took 5k of Javascript to display that. Yeah, that sure reeks of competence. Or something.
      --
      As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
  81. firebird by sewagemaster · · Score: 1

    the default firebird theme should be changed. honestly, even the one before v0.5 was better than the default one now....

    other than that, i seem to be having problems installing extensions to v0.6 (on my linux partition), particularly the prefbar one.....

  82. hmm by Anonym1ty · · Score: 1

    Well it's nice to see Mozilla free of AOL.

    AOL has ruined every good piece of software they've picked up. Look at ICQ. A once slim messenger program turned into pure bloat. Look at WinAMP, WinAMP 3 is bloat bloat bloat. Then look at Netscape 7, AOL features drag that down like lead weights. It'll be a good thing in the long run that AOL is stepping back from Mozilla.

  83. Re: Support from Microsoft Nemeses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And I can always fire up my VIC-20...hell I could even use it for telnet.

    But what's the point?

  84. Re:Read the article! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe we have a differing opinion of what worthless means but their domain name is not going to pay the rent. The only way trademarks and domain names have any value, in real world dollars and for accounting purposes, is if they sell it which at that point I think it is a moot point.

    AOL giving IP to the Foundation that probably had zero value on their book is not really all that generous.

  85. Mozilla? Who uses that? by Pieroxy · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Mozilla is not the best browser out there anyways. Opera is even better (faster, les memory usage, better support on some CSS stuff....)

    You can't even hide a row of a table in DHTML. Actually, hiding works but you can't show it properly again... A ROW in a TABLE, dammit!!! That's basics!!

    BTW, I'm interested to know if Mozilla will ever support VML... A very simple and lightweight way of drawing vectors/graphs/... that IE supports natively since IE5.

    On this one I must say that IE is ahead of its competitors, and if the company I'm working for does only support IE that's for a very good reason.

    1. Re:Mozilla? Who uses that? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful
      You can't even hide a row of a table in DHTML. Actually, hiding works but you can't show it properly again... A ROW in a TABLE, dammit!!! That's basics!!


      RTFM. You're probably trying to make the display: block instead of display: table-row. See the CSS2 spec on tables. Of course, you'll have to retain the old hack for IE, which doesn't know about CSS2 table display values.

      BTW, I'm interested to know if Mozilla will ever support VML... A very simple and lightweight way of drawing vectors/graphs/... that IE supports natively since IE5.


      Given that the W3C assembled SVG as a standard vector graphics language years ago (building on VML, and including MS reps on the committee), don't bet on it. Native SVG support is being worked on in Mozilla.
    2. Re:Mozilla? Who uses that? by g8oz · · Score: 1

      Its not mozilla's fault that you can't hide the row, its yours. Take a look at the DOM inspector first. You are probably not taking into account the auto assumeed tbody tag.

    3. Re:Mozilla? Who uses that? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is less of a spec issue and more of Mozilla saying "Hey! Let's squint at the specs hard enough so that we can be deliberately incompatible with IE just for the hell of it."

      (At least setting display:block on a TR just doesn't work now -- it used to crash Mozilla.)

      Hopefully the new Mozilla regime will have a more enlightened attitude towards legacy code.

  86. Re: table ranting again *yawn by pacman+on+prozac · · Score: 1

    Netscape4.x. Yes some people do still use it, for instance in businesses where they can't/won't upgrade for whatever reason or old macintoshes. There are all sorts of odd browsers knocking about that cannot understand css.

    For all the whining about tables here they are still the best way to get a page to look the same in all browsers. Yes CSS is technically a much better way to do it, but web designers don't earn money from being technically correct, they earn money from making pages that work.

    Its quite possible with your customer/visitor base that you will never come across a non-modern browser that can handle all the bells and whistles, great, I'm jealous.

    But you can be guaranteed that when mr X shows his friends his new company website you are asking him 5k for and it doesn't even work on his friends "old" pc you ain't gonna make that money. This is the situation in my experience.

  87. Huh? by Trolling4Dollars · · Score: 1

    I thought this was already how they operated. I'm guessing this is just a formality?

  88. Re: table ranting again *yawn by Ravagin · · Score: 1

    Of course people still use NS4; that's why Netscape is still releasing patches to it. Also fortunately for developers, NS4's pitiful standards compliance allows it to be cut off from modern coding - "bells and whistles," as you put it - that makes the page unreadable.

    The web is not about making a page look the same in all browsers. We're not talking print here. Most modern graphical browsers can be relied upon to render similarly, but that still leaves text browsers, screen readers, mobile devices, and - yes - obsolete browsers of various sorts. The point of xhtml/css standards design is to organize information to be accessible on all these platforms - and look nice on most of them, too.

    All of which is not to say that NS4 should be ignored completely. Nothing is that black and white. It's critical for web content providers to look at their server logs and figure out what most of their visitors are using. If there's a large ns4 share, then take that into account. But if it's 2% of a high-traffic site, @include the stylesheet and explain to ns4 users on an unstyled page that they are in fact using an outdated browser.

    Finally, xhtml/css is far from bells and whistles. Every single modern browser understands xhtml1 and css1 and most do a damn fine job of css2. NS4 still exists, and if it exists in force in your user base, pander to its failures - but for the majority of the web, it is a thing of the past and the only notice that should be taken of it in design is to make sure that it doesn't get served designs that will be unusable.

    Love,

    --

    Karma: T-rexcellent.

  89. Re:Read the article! by Gerv · · Score: 1

    For a measure of how valuable the trademark and domain name is, consider how much more difficult it would be for mozilla.org to continue if:

    - www.mozilla.org started pointing at www.netscape.com/download, or somewhere else
    - the new XXXXX organisation (whatever it ended up being called) was not allowed to use the word "Mozilla" at any time.

    The domain name and trademarks are extremely important and valuable (if not in a $ sense) for the continuity of the project. And it's very kind of AOL to give them to us. They didn't have to, after all.

    Gerv
    (gerv@mozilla.org)

  90. Re:Huh? by Gerv · · Score: 3, Informative

    I thought this was already how they operated. I'm guessing this is just a formality?

    Very much not. Up to this point, mozilla.org was not a legal entity.

    Gerv
    (gerv@mozilla.org)

  91. Re: Support from Microsoft Nemeses by absolut_kurant · · Score: 1

    [...]I would be surprised if people still didn't continue to develop Mozilla (even if it's at a slower pace).

    Even slower? Molasses on a cold day comes to mind ;) Seriously though, it turned out a great piece, and I love Thunderbird. Yeah!

    --
    Yes.
  92. Re:Read the article! by caeled · · Score: 1

    Or as south park put it: 1. First we steal all the underwear 2. Uhhdunoo 3. BIG PROFIT! Seriously. I do think in the longer run this will be a good thing for Mozilla. Both Sun and IBM have significant reasons to continue to support the project and neither are...what you could call ... microsoft fans.

  93. Re: Support from Microsoft Nemeses by 4of12 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    AOL, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Red Hat,

    Note that these competitors of Microsoft don't have:

    • US$4e10 cash reserves
    • revenue cows like Windows & Office to bring in money without lifting a finger
    AOL has been scrambling to compete with MSN, surviving on razor-thin margins (Time Warner is the bigger, stronger part of the company).

    Sun can't afford to develop competitive successors to its UltraSPARC hardware in a timely fashion. Meanwhile, Lintel servers are eating into the UNIX server business, making the market much smaller than it was once (the flip side is that Lintel make Wintel look expensive, even if Wintel is cheaper than Solaris/SPARC). These days, the one reason to go with Sun over Linux on clusters is for HA 64-way high throughput machines connected to SANs. Despite the margins on that class of machine, not everyone needs one, and there are ferocious competitors like IBM, HP and SGI with which to contend.

    Red Hat is only now barely getting profitable, mainly selling Linux services. They certainly don't have oodles of money to throw around.

    IBM is really the only financially strong player in the whole deck.

    Despite my pessimistic tone, I'm a Mozilla (and now Firebird) user and wish the project success. I will continue to be a Mozilla advocate because I want to see open standards on my computer instead of yet another road to getting ruled.

    --
    "Provided by the management for your protection."
  94. I represent that remark by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pizza and beer are crucial to the development process.

  95. blow it all on a Superbowl ad. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In all actuality, that would not be a bad idea. Sure it could be better used for development and other costs, but imagine all the non-techies watching an ad for the latest and greatest browser with tabs, popup blockers and all this other neat stuff that they don't get now.

    The marketing would do wonders for their userbase.

    1. Re:blow it all on a Superbowl ad. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "but imagine all the non-techies watching an ad for the latest and greatest browser with tabs, popup blockers and all this other neat stuff that they don't get now..."

      Are you serious? Are you telling me you can really imagine raving football fanatics while in the middle of funneling kegs of beer and cleaning out Super-Size bags of potato chips watching a Mozilla commercial stop to say "Wow, look at that! We can block pop-ups when we're online and OOOOOOH! Tabbed browsing!"

      I don't think so.

    2. Re:blow it all on a Superbowl ad. by amrust · · Score: 1
      Are you telling me you can really imagine raving football fanatics while in the middle of funneling kegs of beer and cleaning out Super-Size bags of potato chips watching a Mozilla commercial stop to say "Wow, look at that! We can block pop-ups when we're online and OOOOOOH! Tabbed browsing!"

      Yes but "Regular" people watch the Superbowl, too. It's the shotgun approach to marketing.

      --
      VOTE!
  96. This will help Mozilla quite a lot by Chutzpah · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This should be VERY good for mozilla, because it's not AOL's project anymore, its a community thing, so various companies will start putting money and possibly man hours into it. Not that it's a non-profit, the man hours, money, servers, bandwidth etc that any companies (or people) put into it can be a tax writeoff, it's basically a charity now.

  97. Re: table ranting again *yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Netscape4.x. Yes some people do still use it, for instance in businesses where they can't/won't upgrade for whatever reason or old macintoshes. There are all sorts of odd browsers knocking about that cannot understand css.

    Absolutely. That's why CSS was specifically designed to degrade gracefully. Unless the author was particularly clueless, HTML + CSS is still useful when the user-agent cannot understand the CSS.

    For all the whining about tables here they are still the best way to get a page to look the same in all browsers.

    That's not only an impossible goal, but an unreasonable and stupid goal. I don't want pages I read to look the same as people who surf with 640x480, and vice versa. That's what PDF is for. The same applies to all sorts of differences in surfing habits.

    Yes CSS is technically a much better way to do it, but web designers don't earn money from being technically correct, they earn money from making pages that work.

    Nice word play, but CSS does work. It has different tradeoffs with table layouts, but you're kidding yourself if you think that tables are just plain better and more compatible than CSS. That's nowhere near true (and the reverse is not true either, use the best tool for the job and all that).

    But you can be guaranteed that when mr X shows his friends his new company website you are asking him 5k for and it doesn't even work on his friends "old" pc you ain't gonna make that money. This is the situation in my experience.

    No offense, but you don't sound very experienced. Any agency that acts professionally will explain the tradeoffs being made at every step of the way. Cost (development and maintenance time), and quality (usability, accessibility, load times) usually outweigh the one or two percent of people who can't understand the CSS.

    Here's something to chew on if you think that table layouts are reliable. Expect more problems in the future.

  98. Yeah great charitable donations... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    ...I'm sure the poor/starving/dying people are glad that your web browser will be around for years to come.

    I'm not having a go at people who donate to OSS, but if you make a point of setting aside some of your income for charitable donations, surely you could find a more worthwhile cause?

  99. Re: table ranting again *yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Every single modern browser understands xhtml1

    I agree with everything but this. Internet Explorer doesn't understand XHTML 1.0. When you serve it as text/html, it uses its tag soup parser to understand it. In other words, it's no better than the average invalid page. The same applies to every other browser, if you serve XHTML 1.0 as text/html. You get XHTML 1.0 support when you serve it as application/xhtml+xml, but Internet Explorer will just ask you to save a page like that instead of parsing it.

  100. Re:Read the article! by zenyu · · Score: 1

    that mozilla.org will not have pop-up advertising.

    Anyway, who would see it? Everyone uses Mozilla's popup blocker. ;-)


    Oh, I hope mozilla now turns this on by default.

    But how about this, a pop-up that tells you how to block them forever! You could get commercial sites that don't normally have pop-ups to donate such ad space to mozilla.org for a tax deduction.

    BTW Is there any plan to extend the cookie blocking support to other usually nasty but on rare occasion useful things like Flash? I'd like to be able to block those on a per website basis.. I disable Flash on my home machines, but at work I sometimes need it when my boss wants to show me some demo or something, and restarting mozilla to enable them turned out to be very disruptive to my work flow.

  101. Re:yup by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are you a recent winner of a gold medal in the special olympics?

  102. What does this mean for the Netscape browser? by Mongoose · · Score: 1


    It seems AOL still owns the Netscape rights, as I read the press release. What is stopping AOL from making Netscape really a wrapper for IE now? Don't assume anything about the Microsoft/AOL deal, but it looked like they wanted to switch to IE to get rights to use Windows Media at a low fee or even free for the agreed period.

    Anyone got some inside info?

    1. Re:What does this mean for the Netscape browser? by Hooded+One · · Score: 1

      If NS were to be a wrapper for IE, it'd have to be completely rewritten. XUL uses Gecko in the rendering of the UI, so junking Gecko would put them back at square one.

  103. That doesn't sound sneaky to me. by Crazy+Eight · · Score: 1

    If your theory is correct it is nothing more than sound business and the best way AOL can help mozilla. Honestly now, if there is something underhanded about AOL's move here then one should suppose there would be something morally benevolent about burning a briefcase full of AOL cash at Netscape headquarters.

  104. Mozilla and bloat by Random+Guru+42 · · Score: 1

    Not to put it down or anything, but Mozilla too suffers from much bloat. Though that isn't AOL's fault this time... :p

    Hopefully with Firebird and Thunderbird, though, a lot of that bloat will get shaved off, and at the same time make Mozilla much nicer for end users.

    --
    Christopher S. 'coldacid' Charabaruk -- coldacid.net
  105. But is there mention that 40 AOL staff got canned? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Including some of those who work on Mozilla? I don't recall seeing that in the announcement...

  106. What could we do with 2 million? by Rich · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I have to say, I find it rather surprising that Mozilla should need 2 million dollars to write a brower, and even more surprising that they're asking for people to donate even more. The mozilla project has had more full time developers than we've ever had working on KDE, yet konqueror is not far behind (oh, and we did write a desktop too...).

    If the mozilla foundantion would like to sponser the forthcoming KDE conference (eg. to discuss how we could make use of any reusable parts of their code base) I'm sure they'd be most welcome.

    Rich.

    1. Re:What could we do with 2 million? by mykmelez · · Score: 1

      The Mozilla project didn't just build a browser. It also developed a powerful mail client, a web page composer, and a platform for innovative application development that includes an GUI toolkit, a comprehensive set of APIs including world-class networking for innovative networked applications, and multi-OS support (Windows, Mac, and many flavors of *nix). This platform has been used to build IDEs, weblog readers, and even entire desktop environments.

    2. Re:What could we do with 2 million? by Rich · · Score: 1

      Err, and we also made kmail, quanta, kdelibs... your examples just seem to me to be a list of exactly where the mozilla project went wrong.

      If the mozilla project had written gecko then written nice wrapper UIs for each platform then they would have had a chance to succeed. I think they lost focus and as a result shot themselves in the foot.

      Rich.

    3. Re:What could we do with 2 million? by Morgahastu · · Score: 1

      You're forgetting a tiny wee little thing. They have an organization to run. Office building to rent, employees to pay, coffee to buy, equipement to buy, etc.

      Now you're saying how would they need 2 million to do what they have in the past? Maybe they didn't have that much before? And if it is more then before then I am sure we can expect more development for mozilla.

      And don't forget, some of this money is gonna be used for marketing. Mozilla needs to get its face out there. It's all fun and good that alot of geeks are using Mozilla, but we all know the world runs for average people, and those are the people that need to use Mozilla for it to become a serious contender to MSIE (it technically is).

    4. Re:What could we do with 2 million? by mykmelez · · Score: 1

      Mozilla has received numerous awards and critical acclaim since releasing its first stable version last year. We've had Infoworld and PC World give us Best of 2003 awards; eWeek say "Mozilla is the best browser on the market"; and just got an editor's choice award from LinuxJournal magazine. All of these are clear indications that the Mozilla project is doing something very right.

    5. Re:What could we do with 2 million? by Rich · · Score: 1

      I don't see that I'm forgetting that - I'm saying that I think if they'd focussed on the core aim of the project (a browser) they could have achieved it better, quicker and at far less cost.

      I don't agree that much needs to be spent on marketing. Mozilla will have a large public profile for a long time to come. I however can't see that it can really be a serious contender to MSIE on windows though for the forseable future unless MS drop the ball and a DR-DOS style resurrection is possible. The trouble is that for now, the door there is closed for a few years at least.

      Rich.

    6. Re:What could we do with 2 million? by Rich · · Score: 1

      The key word in your comment is 'browser' that is what the mozilla project seemed to set out to write. I suspect that if the project had reused existing toolkits etc. it could have got there much more quickly.

      Rich.

    7. Re:What could we do with 2 million? by mykmelez · · Score: 1

      >The key word in your comment is 'browser' that is what the mozilla project seemed to set out to write.

      Actually, as far as I know the Mozilla project always intended to release a full application suite including web browser, email client and web page editor. The project started, after all, with the release of source code from Netscape, which was at that time focused on such a suite.

      >I suspect that if the project had reused existing toolkits etc. it could have got there much more quickly.

      Maybe, but Mozilla needed a toolkit anyway for web forms/content since existing toolkits didn't support the stylability required by the W3C standards. The engineers who built that new toolkit decided to use it to build the application itself to save the time of rewriting Mozilla for each OS. Given the necessity of creating the toolkit anyway, that decision ended up saving more time than it cost.

    8. Re:What could we do with 2 million? by Rich · · Score: 1

      > the Mozilla project always intended to release a full application suite including web browser, email client and web page editor

      Even implementing all 3, I think the same argument holds.

      > Maybe, but Mozilla needed a toolkit anyway for web forms/content since existing toolkits didn't support the stylability required by the W3C standards.

      We've implemented the stylability in Qt. I don't see that doing so in other toolkits would be a problem.

      Rich.

    9. Re:What could we do with 2 million? by mykmelez · · Score: 1

      >We've implemented the stylability in Qt. I don't see that doing so in other toolkits would be a problem.

      It is a problem for proprietary toolkits like those on Windows and Mac, and at the time Mozilla made the decision there were no appropriate cross-platform toolkits available.

    10. Re:What could we do with 2 million? by Rich · · Score: 1

      I'm genuinely interested in why you think it is a problem to do this with the proprietary toolkits. What do you see as the issues?

      Rich.

    11. Re:What could we do with 2 million? by mykmelez · · Score: 1

      The primary issue with the proprietary platform-specific toolkits is that they would have required rewriting the application for each one, but the secondary issue is that they just didn't support the necessary extensibility. Even if they had, however, Mozilla probably wouldn't have used them, since many of its engineers had had years of experience with the problems of that approach from the Netscape days and wanted to avoid them.

      Mozilla chose to create XUL because it was the fastest, easiest way at the time (early 1998) to get a cross-platform, open-source toolkit with all the functionality necessary to support the emerging CSS standards. Although Mozilla took a long time to complete, and there were undoubtably mistakes made along the way that prolonged that period of time, since its completion it has been hailed as the best browser suite on any platform, and we now have a fundamentally sound architecture on which to build the next generation of browsers and network-aware applications. The future is bright, and it's getting brighter.

  107. Feature bloat? by BorgCopyeditor · · Score: 1
    I was watching C-SPAN the other day and the issue was spam. Lots of callers were complaining about pop-up windows as well. I really wanted to tell them about Mozilla, but it was a taped show

    So, let me get this straight. You're saying that in addition to being a web browser, a mail client, and an application platform, Mozilla should also enable you to make phone calls to the past?!? Sheesh.

    --
    Shop as usual. And avoid panic buying.
  108. Re:....1 FACT: GECKO ENGINE IS DYING by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You cracked the case, Sherlock!

  109. I'm No Expert by sweatyboatman · · Score: 1
    But looking at the MPL I would say it's pretty open for use in commercial products.

    3.7. Larger Works.
    You may create a Larger Work by combining Covered Code with other code not governed by the terms of this License and distribute the Larger Work as a single product. In such a case, You must make sure the requirements of this License are fulfilled for the Covered Code.


    and

    1.3. ''Covered Code'' means the Original Code or Modifications or the combination of the Original Code and Modifications, in each case including portions thereof.


    that reads to me like as long as you distribute any changes you make to the mozilla code, you're in the clear. you don't need to distribute the code of the Larger Work. and there's nothing in there prohibiting profiting from the Larger Work or Mozilla.

    It looks to me like, if you stuck Mozilla on a CD you could sell it to people for $1000 and not kickback anything to the Mozilla project or AOL. of course, if you could sell that, I'm looking to move a certain bridge in Brooklyn.

    -tom
    --
    It breaks my pluginses, my precious!
  110. Where's my Netscape 5? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hopefully this will lead, finally, to the release of Netscape 5 - which we have been waiting for for YEARS.

  111. Is That A Joke? by sweatyboatman · · Score: 1

    Original poster says: I think Mozilla should advertise it's anti-spam abilities.

    Follow-up poster says: Sign yourself up for some Mozilla spam!

    hmm. methinks they're talking at each other instead of to each other

    --
    It breaks my pluginses, my precious!
  112. What They Left Out by istartedi · · Score: 2, Interesting

    , we will also promote the distribution and adoption of Mozilla applications and technologies. In addition, we will raise funds to ensure Mozilla's long-term survival

    We will organize as a tax exempt charity to provide a nice tax writeof for AOL-TW, while continuing to further their corporate objectives against Microsoft.

    To be fair, they do mention that they are seeking 501(c)(3) status at the bottom of the release.

    Anybody else sense a trend? Open Source "charitable" orgs as a corporate tax shelter? Once again, you have to hand it to RMS--he was at the cutting edge on this. The FSF was perhaps the first Open Source nonprofit. Something like Mozilla.org will allow corporations to obtain the tax writeof without having to buy into the political stand of the Free Software movement.

    It's a win-win for corporations. They can place the unprofitable portions of their business into the nonprofit. They can influence the nonprofits with their money. They can effectively employee people for less than minimum wage.

    It will be interesting to see how long it takes legislators to wake up to this, and call for charitable org reform. I wager that at least one generation (20 years) will pass and get fat off these exemptions before anything happens.

    --
    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
  113. Next stop, Spin City! by babbage · · Score: 2, Funny
    gemal writes "We're very pleased to announce the creation of the Mozilla Foundation, a non-profit organization that will serve as the new home for mozilla.org. The Mozilla Foundation will continue mozilla.org's work of coordinating the development of the Mozilla codebase. With an independent non-profit as the legal home for Mozilla, we will also promote the distribution and adoption of Mozilla applications and technologies. In addition, we will raise funds to ensure Mozilla's long-term survival."

    What an enthusiastic way of saying "we all just got fired."

    Or to put it in context, maybe they all got tshirts saying:

    Our company gave up
    their lawsuit against Microsoft
    and all we got were
    these lousy pink-slips

    What grand news... :-(

  114. Re: plugins by benjamindees · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Two words: Active Scripting

    I didn't even know this could be used on a website until someone enabled it in order to watch interactive baseball stats. He got a virus shortly thereafter, of course, and couldn't use his computer for almost a day; but that doesn't stop other people from complaining that their browsers don't have this 'feature'.

    --
    "I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
  115. Re: table ranting again *yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dude, nobody gives a crap if the browser internally uses "tag soup" or "tag meatloaf" to render a page. The reason you write XHTML is for the content management workflow, not the fuckin solved problem of the web browser.

    (IE also doesn't use "tag soup" to render anything, but that's beside the point. Your DOM shit will still work.)

  116. Spinning out Open-Source Development Tax Shelter by iendedi · · Score: 1

    MOD PARENT UP: Good post

    It's a win-win for corporations. They can place the unprofitable portions of their business into the nonprofit.

    Here here!! It's also a win-win for society, because, much like scientific research in academia, the end result is to add to the body of publicly available knowledge (in this case, open source).

    It will be interesting to see how long it takes legislators to wake up to this, and call for charitable org reform. I wager that at least one generation (20 years) will pass and get fat off these exemptions before anything happens.

    Who's to say that there is anything wrong with this idea? Frankly, if the public is receiving a service (open-source) then the backers should receive some tax protection.

    Thanks for pointing out the idea of companies spinning out open-source divisions to use as tax-shelters and eliminate some software development costs. Brilliant idea and good post!

    --

    It is your personal duty to fight for what is right on a daily basis. Ignoring injustice is identical to approving
  117. Re:Read the article! by blah_ect · · Score: 1

    I installed "Flash Click to View" from http://ted.mielczarek.org/code/mozilla/

    It does what is says :)

  118. Commie!!!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It looks awfully like a hammer and sickle

  119. Re:Mozilla, The Movie Trailer by Swaffs · · Score: 1

    Eerie, of the 1460 songs on my list, Kashmir happened to be playing while I read this. I mean, what are the odds th-- oh, 1 in 1460 I guess.

    --

    --
    "Karma can only be portioned out by the cosmos." - Homer Simpson [1F10]

  120. To whoever submitted ex-mozilla by sulli · · Score: 2, Funny

    You didn't really submit an editable page to slashdot, did you?! Whoo boy, if I were the editor of that one, I'd password protect it real quick. (Unless you want to get the new contact info of Mr. Goa Tse.)

    --

    sulli
    RTFJ.
  121. Not in my experience by sulli · · Score: 1

    Safari for me is only a tiny bit faster than Moz 1.4 on my G3 Bronze Powerbook, and the difference hardly matters compared to the molasses-in-winter Mail.app. Moz 1.4 is substantially faster than 1.3 and previous.

    --

    sulli
    RTFJ.
  122. For moz-as-a-platform, AOL layoffs are good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    As I wrote over a year ago:

    I am preparing an analysis for a client. That analysis is whether they should adopt mozilla as a platform on which to base a product.

    Moz is not yet in the sort of position enjoyed by linux or apache. For both of these, it is very clear that they will survive and prosper regardless of what any specific player might do. This gives a warm fuzzy feeling for any party considering building on linux of apache. The same is not yet true, imo, of moz.

    First, the majority of the funding for moz currently comes from a single player.

    Second, moz was born from an existing ambitious proprietary project, and in its infancy became an even more ambitious project which was only made possible because the money was there. That's not the way most open source projects evolve.

    The above two factors remind me of several GPLed platform type projects from which the principal sponsor withdraws with ill effect. These situations leave those who built on them in a position that is at least difficult. (Even though it is certainly no where near as technically untenable as it would be with a proprietary platform.)

    Interestingly, moz may *never* arrive at the same position as linux and apache, or at least be perceived to be at that position, unless ALOTW change their role, very possibly by *reducing* their funding! So, paradoxically, it may be that it is in the best interests of mozilla (as a platform not a product) for AOLTW to reduce their funding of moz, even if they do not otherwise want to! ...

    Things *do* seem to be headed in the right direction. Last I looked, there were about 5 contributors of record that were not funded by AOLTW for each one that was funded by AOLTW. Obviously the AOLTW funded coders are, on average, putting in a lot more time than the others, but the quality of their collaborative tools and methods, and the trends, are clearly in favor of this contribution ratio continuing to improve. (In this they have, imo, triumphed in a major way. Microsoft are many years behind on this, even as they dabble with "shared source".)

  123. Re:Mozilla, The Movie Trailer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Plus the odds that it would be in your playlist to begin with.

  124. Re: Support from Microsoft Nemeses by asa · · Score: 4, Informative

    [...]I would be surprised if people still didn't continue to develop Mozilla (even if it's at a slower pace).

    Even slower? Molasses on a cold day comes to mind ;)


    I didn't miss the wink but it still sounds like you were agreeing with the "slow" pace of development comment. I don't really think it's very slow. Even just comparing features (including support for emerging web standards) with the popular IE browser, I don't think our development pace is slow.

    But beyond just new features, if you look at the actual code change (about 80,000 lines changed in the last year) and the bugs fixed (about 9,000 bugzilla records resolved as fixed in the last year,) it's seems wrong to call that slow.

    I think we've been moving at a pretty good clip this last year with the addition of great new features like junk-mail controls, NTLM auth, find as you type, link pre-fetching, download manager, major improvements to usability of killer features like pop-up blocking, and tabbed browsing, much improved look and feel, more complete support for web standards, much better website compatibility and big gains in performance.

    If you don't think much has changed or that we're moving too slow, then go download Mozilla 1.0 (from about a year ago) and use it side by side with the latest release, Mozilla 1.4. Compare that to the improvements that Microsoft has made in the last year.

    --Asa

  125. PLEASE MOD UP (a big point from a mozilla developr by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Please mod up.

  126. My thoughts by vfwlkr · · Score: 0

    First of all, I feel sorry for the devs who got laid off for no fault of theirs. Its never easy. My thoughts go out to them. Surely, they'll land excellent jobs at other places, but such times are hard emotionally.

    Second, here's what i think of the whole situation: - The cuts were planned from day one. It was a verbal part of the AOL-Microsoft settlement. - Microsoft WAS aware of the rising status of gecko based browsers, and acted quickly to kill it, not by competing, but by using its hordes of cash. - AOL has had a change of guard, with TW executives returning to the helm. They realise what a fool they made of themselves by getting acquired for loads of worthless AOL stock. They hate the online division, and have pretty much nothing to do with software. - For the AOL old guard, netscape served its purpose by getting microsoft to pay $750m in cash. They have absolutely no interest in competing against microsoft or anyone else in software development. - A verbal part of the settlement was killing netscape compeletely, and orphaning mozilla. Given the above, no wonder Parsons agreed. It was delayed just so microsoft could escape the prying eyes of antitrust lawyers.

    Where does mozilla go from here: - They have $2m promised - They have patrons who can raise $10K for mozdev - They have volunteer hackers

    But is this enough to keep churning out excellent products? I dont know. I think a lot will depend on if SUN or IBM are interested in funding the new mozilla foundation. Maybe Lindows CEO Robertson will be interested too...

    I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

    --
    If you're not using firefox, you're not surfing the web, you're suffering it.
    ---
  127. Re: Support from Microsoft Nemeses by Azureflare · · Score: 4, Interesting
    One thing that really surprises me (And I mean REALLY surprises me) is the fact that AOL Time Warner doesn't tout Mozilla more. I mean, if people knew that Firebird had excellent popup blocking and other features IE should have, people would switch in an instant! I moved my whole family over to Firebird, and they love it, even though it's still 0.6! They love the simplicity, and they especially love the popup blocking. They don't use Internet Explorer at all anymore, and I think this will continue, especially since Microsoft is going to wait until Longhorn for the next IE upgrade.

    That's another thing; there are many issues with IE, as has been noted by many people (CSS, transparent .png, etc. etc.) not to mention popups. I just can't see why people would choose IE if they knew what firebird offered.

    I can't help wondering, if people just got the word out, more people would use mozilla, and thereby mozilla would get more money in it's coffers. If mozilla can get a relatively large user base (Say, 10-20%) then I would hope they wouldn't have a problem getting funds.

  128. BREAKING NEWS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Mozilla is dying

    Mozilla faces a bleak future. In fact there may be no future at all for Mozilla because Mozilla is dying. Things are looking very bad for Mozilla. As many of us are already aware, Mozilla continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood. Camino is perhaps the most endangered. Let's look at the numbers.

    Mozilla leader Asa states that there are 7000 users of Mozilla. How many users of Firebird are there? Let's see. The number of Mozilla versus Firebird entries in Bugzilla is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 Firebird users. Camino entries in Bugzilla are about half of the volume of Firebird entries. Therefore there are about 700 users of Camino. A recent article put the Mozilla browser at about 80 percent of the Mozilla market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 Camino users. This is consistent with the number of Camino bugs.

    Due to the troubles of Netscape, abysmal sales and so on, Netscape went out of business and was taken over by AOL who sell another troubled service.

    All marketing surveys show that Mozilla has steadily declined in market share. Mozilla is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If Mozilla is to survive at all it will be among web hobbyists, dabblers, and dilettantes. Mozilla continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, Mozilla is dead.

  129. Unemployed Mozilla coders? Here's $4,000 for ya.. by Trilobyte · · Score: 2, Informative

    Sorry to hear about this tragedy, but at least there's a good opportunity for some super-easy, quick cash while in between jobs!

    Maybe you laid-off Gecko folks should check out the AmiZilla project, and pitch in to port Mozilla to the much-maligned Commodore Amiga!

    As of now, there's a booty of over $4,000 to be earned ... that's probably a small portion of what you were earning at Netscape/AOL per year, but it's enough to keep you alive for a few months, right?

    Definitely your expertise could be of benefit to these intrepid folks ... especially if you don't mind being on the bleeding edge with a barely-tested port of gcc 3.3 to the 68k-amigaos architecture!

  130. One layout nitpick by Cardinal · · Score: 1

    At my font size, the first line of the Mozilla Firebird product box ends up reading:

    "Mozilla Firebird 0.6 - A Lean, Mean Bugzilla Browsing Machine"

    I read straight over the border, possibly because there was only 1px of space between 'Mean' and the border. Maybe Bugzilla should go down below firebird instead of next to it.

    Not to say that Firebird doesn't do an excellent job of rendering and navigating Bugzilla... :)

  131. New mozilla.org site by moncyb · · Score: 1

    I think the new site looks better. It's even nice on different browsers. Well formatted with text only Lynx, and Dillo works okay (except a few images don't display--Dillo still has a few bugs?)

    Good job.

  132. So this is the endgame of AOL vs MS by Bruha · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I really didnt see this one coming but considering how AOL now is going to bundle IE with their aol software

    (Funny how the courts tell MS to unbundle it from the os.. so MS goes and gets it bundled into what people consider their pc's os on a huge # of pc's)

    Wonder if AOL would warm up to Mozilla if the states sued AOL to unbundle a browser with their software and give people a choice of what to use.

    Since netscape is no longer a viable alternative I can only hope that Mozilla and to a lesser degree Opera become a prevalent browser across all forms of operating systems.

    However there is still the problem to be fixed where 90% of the webpages out there are IE compatible on a first basis and all other browsers come in second for support.

    Course Linux Gaming Warcry I busted my butt to the bone to get it to works across Moz,Opera, and IE. And I'm just a flunky html geek :)

    1. Re:So this is the endgame of AOL vs MS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, I do remember that AOL once used IE in their software in the late 90's. I do use Netscape more than IE, but I also have a copy of Mozilla 1.3a lying around (which I adored, and still do). I also see this split as good news because AOL has mutilated Netscape enough.

  133. So what you're saying is... by restive · · Score: 1

    that Netscape is now like BSD??!!

  134. Re:Unemployed Mozilla coders? Here's $4,000 for ya by madbrain · · Score: 1

    Surviving on $4000 in Silly valley for a few months would be quite difficult. After figuring in taxes, try a few weeks.

    --
    -- Julien Pierre http://www.madbrain.com/blog
  135. ObBreathed by sharkey · · Score: 1
    Tux's agent: "My client refuses to do an interview unless there's some serious herring involved."

    Perhaps a Herring Wallbanger would suffice?

    --

    --
    "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
  136. One good reason/way to donate by Peter+Eckersley · · Score: 1
    1. Why should I give money to Mozilla when I don't give money to and other open-source software I use? Why do they need it? What will they use it for?

    Well, you could always post to a bug report or feature request offering a $1000 donation if the improvement you want made is completed...

  137. Aol Plan circa 1998 by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 1
    1. Buy Netscape
    2. start over from scratch
    3. release it as open source
    4. spin off project as non for profit
    5. ??
    6. profit
    --
    Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
  138. Honest Question by garymm · · Score: 1

    I really don't get this, so don't flame me. Why would AOL dump Mozilla? They just used Mozilla's work to update Netscape to 7.1, right? Are they finding problems with how mozilla and netscape interact or something?

    1. Re:Honest Question by abirdman · · Score: 1

      Nope. The problem is they (AOL and now AOL/TW) have been bankrolling the development of Mozilla for years and now they've got a world class product (Netscape 7.1, based on the Mozilla engine) that they can't really sell, because it's free. That and the fact that because AOL/TW is going through some "lean" times, everyone in the corp has to cost justify the big expenditures. The Mozilla development team has got to be a big expenditure (see the posts above), and the Netscape product doesn't have a great sales future. Sadly, it's the way corporations are funded. I doubt it's much better in the movie or magazine branches of the business.

      The 2 million bucks they paid toward creating the Foundation is really chicken-feed in the overall AOL/TW budget, and it's a way for them to cast off the product line without killing it outright. It's more generous than they had to be, but it's clear the Netscape browser isn't strategically important to the corporation in any way. It's probably inflammatory to say it this way, but one of the problems with "free software" is its price. I'm hoping it doesn't mean the product's demise. I'm starting to love Firebird, and hoping that pop-up free, tabbed browsing will become the internet platform of the future. My thanks and wish for good luck to all the Mozilla developers.

      --
      Everything I've ever learned the hard way was based on a statistically invalid sample.
    2. Re:Honest Question by garymm · · Score: 1

      thanks for the info. I also learned that AOL has agreed to use IE in the future, so that my have something to do with it.

  139. Internet Explorer Foundation formed today as well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bill Gates Announces Internet Explorer Foundation :-)
    http://www.denounce.com/iefound.html

  140. umm, the layoffs are my fault... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...I knew it was curtains the other day when the AOL webpage crashed my favorite flavor of Mozilla. I then filled in the TalkBack form with scathing remarks about AOL, praising Mozilla all the while, leaving AOL feeling inadequate, to be sure. Like my parent company, AOL resents it's idealistic children.

    As much as UML makes me nervous--and Woe! the startup times--I love Mozilla. The last time I tried using AOL, I couldn't figure out how to do ANYTHING, though I did figure out why my parents have no idea about internet infrastructure. Some would argue that that is a Good Thing, but my parents can't figure out anything in the AOL-UI either. They just dodge ads, click on the flashing buttons, and arrive somehow at an inbox full of AOL-sponsored Spam, and can't seem to save mail for over a week. Huh.

    fsck AOL. That's all I have to say about that.

    P.S. Was cool to see that this /. article got linked/?scraped? onto news.google.com.

  141. that explains it... by Down8 · · Score: 1

    So, this explains why mozilla crashed on me, and won't start back up now.

    -bZj

    --
    .sig
  142. Re: table ranting again *yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    (IE also doesn't use "tag soup" to render anything, but that's beside the point. Your DOM shit will still work.)

    wtf are you ranting on about? The DOM is one of the things that works differently depending on if it's HTML/tag soup or XHTML.

    As for IE not rendering tag soup, take a look here.

  143. And Hyatt could afford it too... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...considering he actually has a paying job.

  144. asimovs foundation. by leuk_he · · Score: 1

    When i read the "mozilla foundation" my first though was: I see the analogy in the asimov foundation.

    After the brutal browser wars a small group of people was left defending the (science of) open standards. They were exiled to a small place at the edge of the web with minimal fundings. There they continued to build their technology. Since their resources were minimal they started to build solutions for this.

    Meanwhile the big empire (with emporor gates) continued to grow although the cracks started to show. It still had some wars going on with safari. It stopped producing new content and froze it version at internet explorer 6 sp1. It was good enough for the universe like this. It prodct was big (60 Mb for explorer version 6) but it was good for the mayority.

    The people at the mozilla foundation started to wonder: is there a second foundation at the other end of the web? Where is the other end of the web?

  145. nice PORN REDIRECT you got going there by skookum · · Score: 1

    Uh, guys? Your validation code needs a little tweaking. Somebody was able to insert the following into the code of that http://ex-mozilla.org/date.html page:

    <HR><FONT SIZE="+2"> satan
    </FONT><BR> old email id: satan
    <P><script language="JavaScript">
    document.location = "http://www.fuckingmachines.com";
    </script>

    So the page loads a nice pron site. Quality.

  146. Now THAT is Funny! by jcm · · Score: 1

    If you are coming from behind the AOL Corporate Firewall and you try and visit the http://www.ex-mozilla.org/date.html webpage you get redirected to a sex site... Nothing like "Sex at 3550rpms" Flashing in large text on your screen!!!

    Hilarious!!! :) Laughed out loud and had everyone in the office visit http://www.ex-mozilla.org/ !

  147. Re: Support from Microsoft Nemeses by Jobe_br · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Especially in regards to pop-up blocking, remember that AOL/TW depends on advertising in many areas of its corporate structure. Pop-up blocking is NOT an area that AOL/TW wants to tout, for this reason. Good for the consumer, yes ... but the consumer isn't the primary source of income for them.

  148. History repeats by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1993... Mosiac Web Browser Released

    1994... Netscape brands Mosiac as Netscape 1.0, sells for $49
    1995... Microsoft brands Mosiac as IE 1.0, bundles
    for free
    1996... Microsoft develops new engine, bundles for free
    1995-9... Netscape uses same old tired engine from crappy version to crappy version, forgetting things like proxy support, etc, while IE beats their ass
    1998... Microsoft wins browser wars...
    1999... Mozilla development begins
    2003... Microsoft discontinues IE as standalone
    2003... Idiots at AOL/TimeLife/WarnerBrothers/Turner kill development, release source code into community

    2004... The "next netscape" rebrands Mozilla, sells for $49
    2005... Bill Gates hits big red button that turns all Windows computers into killer robots that enslave humanity for 500 generations!

  149. Re:But... IE isn't free!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No matter how many times the anti-trust case against Microsoft is mentioned, no one seems to realize that anyone that pays for Windows is in fact paying for IE. The cost is bundled in to the cost of Windows and no one except for Microsoft insiders know how much this really costs. Microsoft paid for the license for IE from spyglass it is naive to think that they don't pass the cost on to consumers. You will never see anything from Microsoft saying that IE is free, you'll only hear that nonsense from ignorant people who gleefully pass on their ignorance.

  150. Re: Support from Microsoft Nemeses by Eccles · · Score: 1

    Especially in regards to pop-up blocking, remember that AOL/TW depends on advertising in many areas of its corporate structure.

    Yes, but those are THEIR pop-ups, not generic ones from websites for which they get nothing, and which cost them bandwidth to transfer.

    --
    Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
  151. Re: Support from Microsoft Nemeses by vlucero · · Score: 1

    Touché.

    IE has gone backwards, if anything, due to the more recent crashes. If it weren't for the Google toolbar 2.0, it would be an un-usable browser (pop-up hell). Now for those "web" sites that insist on building to a specific client (i.e., IE, no pun intended), it is tolerable for the few minutes I need to "browse" the site and quickly switch back to Mozilla.

    Long live Mozilla!!!

  152. Re:....1 FACT: GECKO ENGINE IS DYING by abirdman · · Score: 1

    Beautiful. Brilliant. I bow before your awesome trolliness!

    --
    Everything I've ever learned the hard way was based on a statistically invalid sample.
  153. Charitably off-topic... by mrd_yaddayadda · · Score: 1

    A person is entitled to choose which organisation they give their money to so don't be such a sourpuss. :P

    If you want to get into poor/starving/dying people argument then have a go at government rather.

  154. support by zogger · · Score: 1

    Yo! Your new 1.4 is great! Been using it almost a week now (linux version), the email spam filter is wonderful, POOF, spam it's learned doesn't even show up in the inbox. Surfing speed seems to have increased and tabbed browsing is da bomb on this old rural dialup account. I've also noticed improvements in forms and checkboxes, they used to go squirrely sometimes, now they stay the correct size and function faster. Only real buggy stuff I am seeing is display of style sheets (or something like that,if you want an example of what I am talking about, try prisonplanet.com, a site I like but is very hard to read), but that is such a random thing it's hard to judge if it's a moz bug or the page writers mis-application. All in all I love it! Here's a request, individual image loading. Most of the time to speed up surfing I have images off, it would be nice like in iCab to have a right click menu option to load an individual image without changing everything in preferences. And that's it!

    Much kudos to all you folks, and as feeble as my wallet is ya'all will be getting some FRN's from me!

  155. No It Can't knock down IE HERE IS WHY by ratfynk · · Score: 1
    You have hit at the crux of the matter. You buy a computer take it home turn it on. Oh shit the funny phone jack thing, Oh it tells me I got to plug in the phone to register my copy of winxp. Ok now I can get tech support wow was that easy.Dahh... Oh hell lets see if the internet works Oh I just click on this connect to the internet thingee click click. Oh shit I got to give it my info, well my wife can type...Honey type in all this stuff and we will get connected ...no I don't give a damn who we connect with ... Oh do you mean I can get my hot mail at home now honey.....etc etc etc

    This is why Ms is where it is at, not because of software, but because they have the sucker system down in spades! They spam the hell out of suckers from day one.

    --
    OH THE SHAME I fell off the wagon and use sigs again!
  156. Netscape browser is just a brand to AOL by Mongoose · · Score: 1

    I think you didn't understand my statement. Netscape could become a rebranded IE, since to AOL Netscape is just a brand. Netscape has just been a rebranded mozilla for a while now for example.

    I don't think it will happen, but it's possible if AOL found a profit potential out of it.