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Mozilla Contemplates a Future Without Google
An anonymous reader points out a story at Business Week which begins:
"Mozilla Chair Mitchell Baker says the Chrome browser is making the foundation behind Firefox rethink its reliance on revenues from Google. Since Google introduced its own Web browser, Chrome, the prospect that Google may not re-up the three-year contract set to expire in 2011 has Mozilla considering other search partnerships and ways to generate revenue, Baker said. 'There are probably other search engines that would pay us more money,' Baker says. Yahoo! and Microsoft's MSN, Google's two main search rivals, come to mind, but Baker says smaller search engines wouldn't be discounted should such a situation arise. One player Baker won't identify 'offered a blank check to replace Google,' she says. Set to launch on certain Nokia phones in late spring, Fennec is the first Mozilla browser optimized for mobile platforms. If it gains traction with enough handset makers and mobile users, Fennec could represent another way to draw revenue from a partnering search engine."
Open source experts on Slashdot.org have been assuring us for years that open source projects can make a profit, so I'm sure that a popular application like FireFox can survive without being propped-up by Google.
Looking at the ocean of limping or necro-corps, there seemeth to be only one company that has the pocket to stomach carte blanche...
Not sure if Redmond is smart enough to make the offer ... but Mozilla really got stabbed in the back by Chrome. Google is just as evil as any monopoly.
Isn't he the guy who cleans the bathroom at McDonald's?