Mozilla

Logotipo do Mozilla

Mozilla it is a suíte of applicatory stops , , multi-platform, whose components include one , a customer of e-mail, a publisher and a customer of chat IRC. The project was initiated by Netscape Communications Corporation e now is developed by Mozilla foundation (Mozilla Foundation).

Table of content

General vision

Mozilla exibindo a página principal da Wikipedia
Mozilla showing the main page of the Wikipedia

The Mozilla name came being used internally for the navigator Netscape Navigator since its beginning. The Netscape Navigator was the successor of the navigator Mosaic; Mozilla it is a contraction of "Mosaic to killer ". This name was not used external, but references it could be found in the figures of the Godzilla associates with the Netscape Navigator.

In of , Netscape it launched most of of its popular suite Netscape Communicator (including the navigator Netscape Navigator) under one license of free software. The developed name of the applicatory one from this code would be Mozilla, and co-ordinated for just created Mozilla Organization, in mozilla.org.

Despite the original code of the Communicator having been abandoned soon after that, Mozilla Organization she was successful in the production of a complete suite for InterNet that in such a way surpassed the Communicator in stability as in resources.

Under the sponsorship of AOL, the Mozilla.org even continued pledged in the development of the navigator and the maintenance of its code source of , when these attributions had been repassed for Mozilla foundation (Mozilla Foundation). The Foundation is a non-profit organization composed mainly for desenvolvedores of applicatory and the command of the small farm mozilla.org. Under its safekeeping the rights of copyright of the Mozilla are all. It received donations you initiate of AOL, of IBM, of Sun Microsystems, of Red Hat e of Mitch Kapor; however its linking with the AOL was breached, followed of an announcement informing the end of the navigator Netscape Navigator e the agreement of the AOL for use of the navigator of in its future versions of software. (the AOL had announced that it would go to use the system of Gecko layout of the Mozilla.)

As many other great projects of software, the proper Mozilla became a platform for other programs and libraries written in its specific environment of programming. The extensions vary extensively in the complexity, of the simple ones bookmarklets based in Javascript; extensions of resources of the Mozilla (such as the support gestures of mouse e pie menu); until developed programs of independent form. One lists partial of programs and extensions for the Mozilla platform can be found in the site Mozdev.org.

History of the Mozilla Project

The launching of the Netscape Communicator open source, that it came in the height of the delayed economic growth of years 90, was praised by the community with a mixture of acclamation and skepticism. In some circles, the release of the sources on the part of the Netscape was seen as a victory for the movement of and a chance it Netscape to explore the power of the development open source. This vision was particularly popular between Linux users and of other free programs. Other observers - including many of the community of traders não-open-source - had interpreted the movement as a surrender of the Netspace front to the increasing ascenção of the navigating legal-criticized one of .

The spite of the public opinion, the development on the old base of code of the Communicator more proved to be complicated of the one than the waited one.

  • The old base was great complex e.
  • It had that to be developed simultaneously in many operational systems e, therefore, to deal with the different ones libraries e idiosyncrasies of these systems.
  • It had the marks of many fast cycles of development in closed code in the call "Time InterNet". These short cycles of development had made with that the programmers sacrificed modularity and elegance to obtain to implement more options in the program in the limited time that had.
  • Some parts of the code of the Communicator had never been set free as code opened because of agreements of licensing made with third.

As result, the first version of open code of the Communicator not even compiled right, and simply it did not twirl. This if transformed into an enormous challenge for the main desenvolvedores of the Mozilla (many of which still were in the leaf of payment of the Netscape), and a still bigger challenge for the independent desenvolvedores wanting to contribute for the application for itself proper.

Finally, the main desenvolvedores of the Mozilla had concluded that the old base of code could not be saved. They had decided to ignore it and to all rewrite the system of the nothing, a decision that took one of the leaders of the development of the Netscape, Jamie Zawinski, if to fire. [ 1 ] The resultant plan included, among others things, the creation of a library of graphical interface completely new multi-platform and a new mechanism of renderização of .

Few observers had obtained to foresee the result. In 7 of December of - less than two months after the announcement of of declaring that the old base of code of the Communicator would be discarded - the Netscape liberated a version of "based initial demonstration" in the new mechanism of called renderização Gecko. The Gecko already was under development for some time inside of the Netscape under the internal name NGLayout ("Next Generation Layout"), and it was notavelmente faster lesser e of that its predecessor. One of its publicitadas characteristics more in its first version was that it fit in an only one floppy of 1.44 MB, a lesser size about 10 times of that its contemporaries.

The fast release of the first version of the Gecko took many to believe that a complete navigator would not be very far. However, the first version of the renderização mechanism was far of being steady, and more far still to be ready to be implemented in a navigator. Moreover, to produce a navigator with all the necessary characteristics required much more of that only one mechanism of rising renderização: the desenvolvedores of the Mozilla soon visionaram a much more ambitious project of that a simple navigator. The new Mozilla would be one platform for applications InterNet, with a graphical interface of completely programmable user and a modular architecture. This Mozilla would function in such a way with a hospederio stops email customers, instant messaging, customers NNTP, or any another similar type of application.

Because of the effort required for this massiva rescriva, the project if distanciou quickly of its projected goals. In the years that if had followed, the skepticism on the Mozilla grew, and many had doubted that a finished navigator would see the light of the day. However, the project persisted, continuing uninterrupted same in face of the acquisition of the Netscape for AOL e the end of the extreme and unsustainable economic growth propitiated by the InterNet in years 90.

For return of June of , the Mozilla project had produced useful and conformante a navigator with standards web, that it functioned in multiple operational systems including , , e . Version 1.0 of the Mozilla, set free in 5 of June of 2002 was praised by introducing characteristic that not even in its rival, , possuía, including one has better supported for the preferences of privacy of the user and some improvements in the graphical interface. Additionally, the navigator became it implementation of reference of fact of the some standards of Consortium World Wide Web, had to its strong one it has supported to the same ones. Current versions of the Mozilla are highly customizáveis and include characteristic advanced as management of cookies, popups, passwords and images, and also the celebrity tabbed browsing'.

In 5 of July of , AOL it announced that it would close its division of navigators, what, in essence, was the Mozilla. Far of being the end of platafoma, this was the start of Mozilla foundation, formed for former-veterans of the Netscape/Mozilla who had taken on itself the responsibility of the development of the project. As consolação, the AOL promised to invest 2 million dollar of the just-formed foundation.

Many people already were waiting that this happened when the AOL closed an agreement with its competitor, , in a business that allowed that the AOL inlaid the InterNet Explorer in its products per next the 7 years. The Netscape always was seen as an item of bargain of the AOL in relation to the Microsoft.

The AOL fired biggest the parts from the employees and desenvolvedores of the Netscape, some of which had been transferred to other divisions of the company. The symbols of the Netscape had been removed of the building that it occupied, confirming what many had taken as the end of the division. The AOL would continue to keep the Netscape mark in its vestibule, but the company more would not pay desenvolvedores to work in the base of code of the project. Future versions of the Netscape would be only renomeadas versions of the Mozilla, starting with version 7.2 (based, tentatiively, in version 1.7) of the Mozilla.

Mozilla, a product that originally aimed at desenvolvedores instead of final users, now faces the challenge of the marketing for the masses.

The Future Development of the Mozilla Platform

A new plan of development was servant, marking a change in the future plans for the Mozilla.

Instead of the application current and integrated through a "vanguard multi-platform" (XPFE - Front-end Cross-Platform), the Mozilla will become a suíte of lesser applications sharing common technology of rear as the library of user interface XUL e the mechanism of renderização Gecko. Both had continued to function without problems one with the other, but they will be capable of if integrating better with applications of third. When dividing the functionality of suíte in lesser parts, the intention is to improve the project for the following ways:

  • to reduce the size of the application and the code
  • to simplify the management of the project
  • to increase the modularity of the program and, as consequence, its security and stability

This is not a target in the long run: Firefox (previously Phoenix, and then Firebird) he is a navigator already in advanced state of development, and Thunderbird (previously Minotaur) she is a customer of email in initial periods of training being written specifically without the use of the XPFE.

Mozilla Technology

Subprojetos

The architecture of the construction of the Mozilla was, for necessity, widely modularizada. As result, the development of the Mozilla generated diverse components that had been reused in other contexts. Most promising of them it is the platform for layout Geckos, that he is used in other navigators (sees the section below).

Important parts of the project include NSPR (Netscape Portable Runtime), an abstraction platform that makes the appearance of the Mozilla to be equal in all operational systems, e XPCOM, one software component similar to the model of object components WITH of the Microsoft.

Additionally, the proper questions of development geographically distributed and colaborativo, beyond multi-platform, of the Mozilla project, had stimulated the creation of tools. Some of them wide are used by the community open source, including the following ones:

  • Bugzilla, a system of tracking of .
  • Bonsai, an interface for Web of CVS (system of control of revisions) of the Mozilla.
  • Rhino project, an implementation of Javascript in Java.
  • the detention tool Tinderbox, that it allows the desenvolvedores to manage the software construction and to correlate the errors of compilation in different platforms and configurations because of specific changes in the code.
  • the customer of Thunderbird.

Characteristic Notables of the Mozilla

An only aspect of the Mozilla is that all its interface of user, including menus and boxes of dialogue, is renderizada by the mechanism of layout Gecko, in time of the graphical libraries (GUIs) of the operational systems. This architecture uses a language developed especially, called XUL, and it has something of controversial. Its defenders cite its flexibility and the fact of that it can where offer to a GUI (interface) standard for the program in the different platforms it can be installed. Its critics say that this architecture impacta the performance, and that it is a wide accepted convention if to use the native elements of interface of the operational system. A certain number of navigators exists who use the renderização platform to only show the page (it sees below).

Origins and prophecies: the name "Mozilla"

The Mozilla name is a contraction of "Mosaic to killer ". It can be assumed that the employees of the Netscape waited to surpass the Mosaic with the navigator most popular of the Web. They had still occurred in this intention - that briefly, losing the position for soon later. The opposite to the popular belief, the name does not have no relation with the monster of the cinemas, Godzilla. Mascote, one lizard of , was adopted later, when the similarity in the name was pointed. For more information on mascote of the Mozilla, it sees link external for "The Mozilla Museum" (below), as also the article on The Book of Mozilla

Versions

It sees description of versions of the Mozilla. The version 1.8a4 it was launched in 28 of September of . The steady version 1.7rc3 it was launched in 8 of June of 2004.

Derived Navigators

Navigators who use the mechanism of renderização Gecko for all interface of the user

Navigators who use the platform of Gecko layout to only show content of pages

Outros Projetos baseados em códigos Mozilla

Veja também

Links External

 

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