Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
There are several Mozilla products, but the Firefox web browser and the Thun-
derbird email client are the best known. There are also SeaMonkey and Camino, a
browser for Macintosh platforms.
Browser Competition
The topic of most significance here is that Microsoft often domin-
ates industry segments. In the browser segment, Microsoft's Inter-
net Explorer is still on top, but the market has several other strong
players. The sequence for personal computers is Internet Explorer,
Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera and, finally, Apple Safari. Other
platforms such as tablets and smartphones have different patterns.
The browser segment is more competitive than, for example, of-
fice suites, where Microsoft is the major player by a large margin.
(It is interesting that Intuit was able to compete successfully against
Microsoft in the personal finance segment; indeed, Microsoft with-
drew from personal finance.)
It is technically and socially interesting that an open-source ap-
plication such as Firefox produced by a fairly small organization
such as Mozilla is able to stay competitive in a major software busi-
ness segment against well-funded, larger competitors such as Mi-
crosoft and Google.
Open Source Development Labs (OSDL)
The open-source movement in software seems to be unique among major indus-
tries. There are very few other industries where key products are available for no
cost and where revenues derive from services such as training and consulting and
sometimes maintenance and customer support.
OSDL was founded in 2000 in Beaverton, Oregon, and Yokohama, Japan. It
was a sort of consortium aimed at improving and maximizing the usage of the
Linux operating system. The six companies that provided the original funds were
Computer Associates, IBM, NEC, Intel, Fujitsu, and Hitachi. Linux was of interest
both in Japan and in the United States (as well as Finland, where it originated).
Although the developer of Linux, Linus Torvalds, was not a founder, he did join
the labs soon afterward.
Today, membership has grown to perhaps seventy-five organizations, and
Linux is a well-respected and popular platform for embedded applications, serv-
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