The Mozilla Foundation

We're very pleased to announce 
<http://www.mozilla.org/press/mozilla-foundation.html> the creation of 
the Mozilla Foundation <http://www.mozillafoundation.org>, a non-profit 
organization that will serve as the new home for mozilla.org 
<http://www.mozilla.org>.  The Mozilla Foundation will continue 
mozilla.org's work of coordinating the development of the Mozilla 
codebase.  With an independent non-profit as the legal home for Mozilla, 
we will also promote the distribution and adoption of Mozilla 
applications and technologies.  In addition, we will raise funds to 
ensure Mozilla's long-term survival.

We have always wanted an independent organization for Mozilla, and those 
of us who've been on [email protected] have conducted Mozilla business 
according to what we judged was good for Mozilla, not what was good for 
any one corporate contributor.  It has not always been easy to wear two 
hats; conflicts have come and gone, but we're better off for our 
experience running the project as an open source meritocracy.  There was 
never any other way to go.

Now that the Mozilla Foundation has been launched, we believe the time 
is ripe to move aggressively toward new distribution channels, new 
end-user markets, and better incorporation of developer-driven 
innovations from the whole Mozilla community.

Whenever a project shifts footing or changes focus, there is tension 
between old and new.  We are sensitive to this tension, and we do not 
plan any abrupt changes.  Mozilla.org staff will continue to manage the 
project.  Three members of staff will be on the Board of Directors of 
the Mozilla Foundation -- Mitchell Baker, Brendan Eich, and Chris 
Blizzard -- so the governing body of the Mozilla Foundation is congruent 
with long-term project leadership.  The Board's role is to provide 
general oversight.  The role of mozilla.org staff 
<mailto:[email protected]>, drivers <mailto:[email protected]>, 
reviewers <http://www.mozilla.org/hacking/reviewers.html>, and module 
owners <http://www.mozilla.org/owners.html> will continue as before.

We're fortunate to start with significant seed funding, and we expect to 
spend the bulk of it on salaries for key staff members and technical 
contributors.   We will continue our focus on technical excellence in 
our on-going quest for standards compliance, portability, performance, 
and innovative end-user features.

Mozilla has won numerous awards and acclaim lately.  The Mozilla 
Foundation is great news for all members of the Mozilla community.  We 
hope you'll join us in working with mozilla.org to make Mozilla an even 
greater success in the future.

Mitchell Baker <mailto:[email protected]> and Brendan Eich 
<mailto:[email protected]>