History of Computers - Mozilla
Page by: Evan Woodham
The Mozilla Corporation went through many iterations as different companies until it became what it is today, a non-profit company that primarily creates open-source internet browsers among other things.[1]
The Mozilla Mascot
Contents
Overview
The first incarnation
The word Mozilla began as the codename for the Netscape Navigator project, as a combination of the words Mosaic and killer, the logo was also a reference to Godzilla. [1] This was because the Mozilla project was expected to become the web-browser that would kill Mosaic. When the newly formed Netscape Communications Corporation released Netscape, their expectations were fulfilled, as they knocked Mosaic out of the market, and buying them. Netscape came to dominate the Internet browser industry. Microsoft, however, created Internet Explorer, and the First Browser War began between Netscape and Internet Explorer. Because Microsoft integrated Internet Explorer into Windows, the computer used by most people, Netscape, which required purchase, was annihilated. When the company finally went kaput in 1998, it open-sourced their browser code, the company being bought by AOL, one of Microsoft’s allies in the First Browser War.[2] Today, Microsoft still dominates the internet browsing market with Internet Explorer, but Mozilla has now taken over 20% of the Market.
The second incarnation
The Mozilla organization was created following Netscape’s death in order to work on a free and open-source software project whose objective was to create the next-generation Internet suite for Netscape. They created the original Mozilla browser. The project did not really get kicking until the Mozilla Organization became the Mozilla Foundation in 2003 as an open-source, non-profit organization. The foundation created Firefox, Seamonkey, Thunderbird, Flock, and many other internet browsers and applications. The creation of Firefox began the second browser war, that continues on to this day, with Firefox currently occupying 1/3 of the market. In 2005, the Mozilla Foundation created the Mozilla Corporation, a for-profit division of the Mozilla Foundation that markets Firefox to end-users. In 2008, the Mozilla Foundation created Mozilla Messaging, another for-profit division of the Mozilla foundation whose focus is on Thunderbird and developing software related to other types of Internet communications. [1]
Mozilla Thunderbird insignia
The Codebase
What separates Safari from Internet Explorer from Firefox is the code base. Firefox and its cousins use the CVS code based on the gecko layout engine. Mozilla 2 will use Mercurial when it comes out. [3]
Significance
Mozilla has had a large impact on the internet ever since its original founding, with popular applications such as Netscape Navigator, Mozilla Firefox, and Mozilla Thunderbird being created by it.
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla#cite_note-3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_web_browsers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_war
