Nonprofit Mozilla Foundation Forms

The people behind the Mozilla open source project have created a foundation largely funded by America Online that will build, support and promote Mozilla products, according to the newly formed Mozilla Foundation.

AOL has pledged $2 million in cash to the new nonprofit foundation, to be paid over two years in two $1 million installments, says Christopher Blizzard, a Mozilla Foundation board member. AOL's money, together with other donations, will be used to pay about ten software developers and other foundation expenses, he says.

"We have always wanted to create some sort of legal entity to represent Mozilla," says Blizzard, whose everyday job is as a software developer for Linux vendor Red Hat. "It is convenient to do it now, mostly because AOL wanted to provide funding."

New User Emphasis

The Mozilla Foundation will put more focus on making the Mozilla browser and e-mail client more end-user friendly, Blizzard says.

"We have always been a technology clearinghouse and we did not care about people who use our products. We will now provide help and focus on end-users," he says. As an open source development group, Mozilla.org has relied on volunteers and been slow to ship updates, although the browser has been well-received.

As part of the funding deal with AOL, several Mozilla developers at AOL will move to the new foundation, Blizzard says. A "transition team" at AOL will help these developers move over. Also, AOL will provide the foundation with equipment, domain names and trademarks associated with Mozilla, the foundation says in a statement.

AOL will still use Mozilla technology and keep some people who work on Mozilla, according to Blizzard.

AOL did not return calls seeking comment.

Drawing New Support

Mozilla was started in early 1998 by Netscape Communications, which AOL acquired later that year. AOL has been supporting Mozilla development since then, but the amount of support had been decreasing.

Without the close ties to AOL, the foundation is free to look around for funding, Blizzard says. The effort is already drawing donations, however. For example, Mitch Kapor, the chairman of the Mozilla Foundation and founder of Lotus Development, has pledged $300,000, according to the Mozilla Foundation statement.

Money for Mozilla should not only come from donations, but also from direct revenue generated through end-user services or developer services, Blizzard notes.