[Ubuntu-PT 2637] Re: Fwd: What's happening with Mozilla and Thunderbird

[Jose Rocha]

Olá, BUGabundo:
A Mozilla acaba de investir 3 milhões de dólares num companhia para
desenvolver o Thunderbird.

Notícia aqui <http://www.linux.com/feature/119270>.


@braço.

2007/9/18, (``-_-´´) -- Fernando <ubuntu  bugabundo.net>:
>
> Recentemente a Mozilla Foundation anunciou que irá abandonar o
> desenvolvimento do Thunderbird.
> Nas listas de discussão de Ubuntu, apareceu este comentário, e que me
> parece mt bem escrito e esclarecedor.
> Peço desculpa por o publicar em Ingles.
>
> ----------  Forwarded Message  ----------
> Subject: [users]What's happening with Mozilla and Thunderbird
> From: "Liam Proven" <lproven  gmail.com>
> To: "Ubuntu user technical support, not for general discussions" <
> ubuntu-users  lists.ubuntu.com>
>
> Here is a summary of what's going on, as per my understanding.
>
> The Mozilla Foundation is the parent company developing the "official"
> Mozilla browsers.
> It's nominally a non-profit corporation, making a pittance from selling
> T-shirts and baseball caps and bags and things with the Firefox logo on.
>
> *A bit of history*
>
> The original Mozilla browser was Netscape 5, open sourced. Netscape was a
> complete suite: in one app, it was a browser, email program, Web editor, IRC
> program, newsreader and more.
> Some bits, for example collaborative calendaring (bought in when Netscape
> Inc. acquired Collabra), were not open sourced, sadly.
>
> Historical detail that will become important: from the early days of the
> "Netscape Suite", Netscape also offered a standalone browser, without the
> email etc.
> It was called "Netscape Navigator". It was dropped when Netscape
> Communicator 4.5 was released.
>
> The name "Mozilla" was originally Netscape's internal codename for its
> all-singing all-dancing browser, based on Mosaic.
>
> Mozilla the product (more specifically known as the Mozilla Internet
> Suite), as in the open-source descendant of the Netscape suite, took a long
> time to finish, partly because Netscape 5 was far from finished or working
> when it was open-sourced.
>
> Mozilla was a popular browser on Unix, especially open source flavours
> like Linux and xBSD, but it didn't make much impact on Windows.
> It remained a minority product.
>
> Dave Hyatt & Blake Ross started a spinoff project, originally called
> Phoenix. It was a cut-down version of Mozilla that was just a browser,
> nothing else.
> Smaller, faster and simpler, it worked alongside other apps such as email
> programs (e.g. MS Outlook), but unlike other spinoff browsers (Epiphany,
> K-Meleon, Camino), it still used Mozilla's cross-platform XUL interface
> library, meaning that it was portable between Windows, Unix and Mac and
> worked much the same on all of them, including add-ins and extensions.
>
> Phoenix was a big success. Alas "Phoenix" is also a computer company,
> writing PC BIOSes. So Phoenix-the-browser was renamed "Firebird" (which is
> what a phoenix is).
>
> Success continues; downloads rise.
>
> Alas, "Firebird" is also an open-source relational database. So
> Firebird-the-browser was renamed Firefox.
>
> *Mozilla chages focus*
>
> Firefox has done massively well. It's taken about a one-quarter share of
> the world browser market, which is to say, it's taken it from MS Internet
> Explorer.
>
> Suddenly the fairly obscure Mozilla Foundation had a big success on its
> hands.
>
> So, the Mozilla Foundation changed its emphasis: from the Mozilla Suite,
> it shifted focus to Firefox, its successful offspring.
>
> After a while, the Mozilla Foundation stopped officially sponsoring
> development of the original Mozilla Suite, as it had only a tiny fraction of
> the users that Firefox enjoyed.
>
> The original Mozilla Suite was revived by a team of developers outside the
> Mozilla Foundation. It was renamed "SeaMonkey" and is still actively
> developed today.
>
> *And back to Thunderbird*
>
> Now, the Mozilla Foundation is doing the same to Firefox's sister program,
> Thunderbird.
> Thunderbird is the email and newsgroup bit of the Mozilla Suite, hacked
> out and turned into a separate program.
>
> Thunderbird has far fewer users than Firefox, partly because although it's
> very good, it has many more rivals - there are dozens of successful email
> clients out there.
> On Windows, Outlook Express is provided for free and everyone with MS
> Office has Outlook.
> Mac OS X users get Apple Mail for free. On Linux there are Evolution and
> Sylpheed and Claws and many more.
> There's Opera, and there are free webmail services like Gmail, Yahoo and
> Hotmail.
>
> The Mozilla Foundation is stopping sponsoring Thunderbird and hopes that
> an external team of developers will take it on instead.
> It is not yet clear that this will happen, but it seems likely.
>
> *the Qualcomm connection*
>
> On of the oldest and most popular email programs is Qualcomm's Eudora.
> It too is being discontinued: Qualcomm's main business now is chipsets for
> mobile phones. The official successor to Eudora is codenamed Penelope and
> it's based on Thunderbird.
>
> At the moment, Penelope is an addin for Thunderbird that gives it
> something of the look and feel of Eudora.
>
> This probably means that many Eudora users will ultimately switch to
> Thunderbird.
> This may be enough to bring it enough attention to attract a lot more
> developer effort to Thunderbird.
>
> Personally, I don't like the Eudora user interface much: I used to use it
> and I don't get on with it. However, many thousands love it.
> A version of Thunderbird which could switch between the Netscape look and
> the Eudora look might be really successful.
>
> *Summary*
>
> Thunderbird is about to go through a really troubled spot, but its
> prospects actually look fairly good.
>
> *An interesting sidenote*
>
> The Mozilla Foundation is a non-profit body, but actually, it's making
> tens of millions of dollars.
> Firefox includes a search box in the top right corner. By default, this
> searches Google.
> Google gives a tiny kickback to anyone referring searches to them.
> The millions of Firefox users using the search box dozens of times a day
> made the Mozilla Foundation over US$70 million last year.
> So actually, Mozilla is doing *great* out of Firefox.
>
> On the one hand, it's only fair and reasonable that the Foundation
> focusses its efforts on its successful product.
>
> On the other hand, some - myself included - feel that some of this benefit
> should be reflected upon its other products, too.
>
> And on the gripping hand (to out myself as an SF fan), it would seem wise
> for the Mozilla Foundation to spread its bets and not place all its eggs in
> the basked of its hugely popular free browser.
>
> --
> Liam Proven • Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/liamproven
> Email: lproven  cix.co.uk • GMail/GoogleTalk/Orkut: lproven  gmail.com
> Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 • Cell: +44 7939-087884 • Fax: + 44 870-9151419
> AOL/AIM/iChat: liamproven  aol.com • MSN/Messenger: lproven  hotmail.com
> Yahoo: liamproven  yahoo.co.uk • Skype: liamproven • ICQ: 73187508
>
> --
> ubuntu-users mailing list
> ubuntu-users  lists.ubuntu.com
> Modify settings or unsubscribe at:
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users
>
>
> --
> BUGabundo  :o)
> (``-_-´´)       http://Ubuntu.BUGabundo.net
> Linux user #443786    GPG key 1024D/A1784EBB
> My new micro-blog @ http://BUGabundo.net
>
> --
> ubuntu-pt mailing list
> ubuntu-pt  lists.ubuntu.com
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-pt
>
>
>
-------------- próxima parte ----------
Um anexo em HTML foi limpo...
URL: https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-pt/attachments/20070918/ea4c0fbe/attachment-0001.htm