Thoughts on the Mozilla Foundation and Thunderbird

It seems, with the recent developments surrounding the Mozilla Foundation and Thunderbird, that the non-profit renowned for Firefox is in the process of redefining its presences within the email space. The plans for the still-being-formed mail subsidiary within the Mozilla Foundation, informally dubbed MailCo since it currently lacks an official name, is to operate it like an independent open source software operation headed by David Asher. Last week, Mr. Asher addressed the Thunderbird community through an open letter that attempted to paint a picture of MailCo's future. Therein he mentioned that Mozilla is on tap to provide $3 million in seed funding to launch MailCo as well as clarification about why the two core developers for Thunderbird, David Bienvenu and Scott McGregor, announced their intentions to leave as employees of Mozilla.

Naturally, the aforementioned series of events have caused questions about the vitality of Thunderbird as well as Mozilla's commitment to non-Firefox projects to surface...a number of which are valid and noteworthy in their own right. However, certain changes which have taken place since the Foundation's early days, offer as good an explanation for the recent flurry of activity as anything else. Right now, the same teams tapped for Firefox releases are used for Thunderbird, leaving the latter as a significantly lower priority. Resources that could have been used to advance Thunderbird have instead been directed towards meeting the growing needs of what has become Mozilla's flagship, Firefox.

Evidently, at this point in the progression of Firefox as a top-notch internet browser, Thunderbird no longer benefits from this association. Gone are the days when email applications were compulsory to the browsing experience. In effect, Mozilla has made it clear that Firefox provides them with the opportunity to advance the "Open Web" through browsing and related activities. An opportunity they are intent on leveraging first and foremost. And frankly, the astronomical success of Firefox has mandated a noticeable shift in the Mozilla Foundation's mission/direction such that Thunderbird has suffered from what amounts to neglect. More than anything Mozilla is awfully close to becoming a one-trick pony, a status not aligned with its stated direction.

How well a model that features a dedicated subsidiary will work in light of the challenges facing Thunderbird is debatable. Especially considering the magnitude and scope of issues, such as:

• Missing the concept of integrated mail, calendaring and contacts
• No form of direct, feature completeness when compared to Microsoft Outlook
• Poor IMAP performance related to accessing messages offline
• Lack of a surrounding ecosystem
• The migration of users to the web for email access through web mail
• Competition from these guys

That being the case, there are an impressive number of possibilities that make the prospect of meeting the above challenges worth exploring. In particular, web mail falls short in several key areas in which desktop clients shine.

1. Integration with other client applications.
2. Isolation from the web browsing experience, which can crash upon visiting another unrelated web site.
3. Consistent offline functionality
4. STRONG PRIVACY GUARANTEES
5. User experience: web platforms have made tremendous strides but still have a ways to go
6. Support for old mail, i.e. importing email from X years ago

If anything of permanence is to take root from this tactical shift it will begin by invigorating an independent and vibrant community/identity around Thunderbird. Unlike Firefox, it will not have the option of taking aim at a single dominant choice and concentrate on chipping away at its market share. Furthermore, I don't really see Thunderbird as a replacement for anything Microsoft. It should never harbor misplaced fantasies of becoming another Firefox, because at the moment, it is best suited to simply evolve into a complete open source desktop email application. Beating Outlook (or any other alternative) is irrelevant at this point. Whereas, meeting the needs of Thunderbird users is paramount. Thunderbird is Mozilla's best shot at meaningful diversification (far better than SeaMonkey, Camino, Sunbird, et al.) and a broader reference point as an open source organization. We'll see how/if they capitalize on it.

Technorati Tags: Thunderbird |  open source software | Mozilla Foundation |  Firefox | SeaMonkey | Camino | Sunbird

Comments

[bathroom ceiling heater]

i am loving the mozilla foundation,they have been making software thats really dependable.

[knick]

here 1 thought about the firefox. they will have to update their software so that google's chrome will not surpass them.

[Vintage Typewriters]

well it really would help if it does that.

[Wireless Barcode Scanners]

its surely is going to be a good thing. good job!

[Allen]

firefox is a wonderful program http://www.kidsbasketballhoops.com

[billigbrudklanning]

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Beach brudklänning
brudklänning spets ecome more successful and our egos become dangerously swollen. For right now, though, we are in a kind of golden age where chivalry is not yet dead. The inevitable consolidation you mention may well change behaviors too ;-)