Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Open Source Critque in Forbes

Posted by Hemos on from the why-does-mozilla-not-zil dept.

Anonymous Coward writes "A recent article in Forbes does a decent job of understanding open source and offers some suggestions as to why Mozilla is struggling. "

2 of 106 comments (clear)

  1. Mozilla is a MONSTER by mcelrath · · Score: 3
    The reason Mozilla is failing is that it's a MONSTER! Have you tried to compile it? It's got the full code for libgif, libjpeg, and tens of other libraries included as PART OF IT! And then the true mozilla code itself is huge, poorly documented, and not commented worth a crap. It's no wonder no one wanted to jump in and fix their bugs. I looked it at and figured it'd take me two weeks just to get up to speed on what the hell it was doing, so I could fix any trivial bug.

    Open Source is based on the premise that any person can take a WORKING piece of software, add a small piece or bug fix, and end up with a WORKING piece of software. If the source isn't working, or is too complicated to add a feature quickly, most hackers will toss it aside.

    Word to OSS projects -- always make sure your "current" developers release runs, and keep an arcitecture that is simple and easy to understand and pick up. Unfortunately, none of the ambitious web browser projects (Mnemonic and Mozilla) have followed either of these. Thus, they are failing.

    -- Bob

    --
    1^2=1; (-1)^2=1; 1^2=(-1)^2; 1=-1; 1=0.
  2. Geez, it'd be nice.... by Obsequious · · Score: 4
    ...if people, /.-ers included, would know what they're talking about before they pipe up.


    Yes, it's been a year since the Mozilla project began, and no, there's no Mozilla 5.0 yet. Yes, Netscape was horsing around in the early days, and released 4.5 before comitting to Mozilla seriously and wasted 6 months. Yes, there are only around 30 people outside Netscape who work on Mozilla.


    So what? That's a 1/3 increase in the developer base, for free. It's still a success in terms of money, even if it hasn't taken off as a major open source project.


    As for you idiots spouting off about Netscape releasing "crap", try looking at the code recently. Mozilla IS a brand-new browser; very little of the code remains from 4.x at this point. The reason Mozilla 5.0 is not yet released is because Mozilla 5.0 has only been in the works for 6 months!


    The first 6 months were, granted, wasted. That was a mistake, and an acknoledged one (by jwz at least.) The days when you can write a modern respectable web browser in six months went out with Navigator 1.0, however, so give them some time. They're moving quickly with it, and for what Mozilla 5.0 offers they're moving damned fast.


    I know this is probably too much to ask, but if you don't understand the software engineering process or the way businesses look at the open source model, then please just stay quiet. You can't run around calling things like Mozilla a failure until they bust.