Date: 08/04/05 (Mozilla)    Keywords: software, browser, html, web

c/n News.com reported yesterday August 3rd., that the IT industry has reacted positively to the Mozilla Foundation's decision to create a commercial subsidiary that will be responsible for the development and distribution of its open-source products.

James Governor, an analyst at RedMonk, praised this move and said it is likely to increase the use of Mozilla's open-source products, such as the Firefox browser, by businesses.

"I think it's a reasonably significant step. If Mozilla wants to do business with corporate entities, it needs to be a corporate entity--corporations want to do business with corporations," said Governor. "Almost all open-source organizations that are successful have some commercial organization around them."

However, everything is not a patch of roses. There are some worried faces among Firefox and Thunderbird users. David Hallowell, Mozilla contributor, was quick to say that any concerns that the organization may change the software's licences conditions are unfounded.

"I'm sure some people will be worried for the future of the Mozilla source code, but there is nothing to worry about in this case. The code is published under an open license with a huge number of contributors who would all have to give consent for the license to be changed," Hallowell said. Though some in the open-source community may have ideological issues with Mozilla's commercial move, RedMonk's Governor expects few will be critical. "I don't think many open-source geeks will hold up their hands in horror that Mozilla is going commercial," he said.

The Mozilla foundation has been fast to design a web page for Mozilla Corporation under the URL http://www.mozilla.com. To calm the choppy waters, Mozilla published yesterday a thorough explanation of the strategic move and a well written Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) concerning main issues.

If you are interested in following this exciting financial event, kindly click the following links:

1. Corporate Mozilla Gets Thumbs-Up From Industry: http://news.com.com/Corporate+Mozilla+gets+thumbs-up+from+industry/2100-1032_3-5817655.html?tag=nefd.top

2. Mozilla Foundation Announces Creation of Mozilla Corporation:
http://www.mozillazine.org/talkback.html?article=7085

3. Mozilla Foundation Reorganization (FAQ):
http://www.mozilla.org/reorganization/

Enjoy your reading,

Cheers,

Omar.-

Source: http://www.livejournal.com/community/mozilla/302658.html