Neil P Posted March 11, 2005 Share Posted March 11, 2005 (edited) [edit]SeaMonkey is the Mozilla Application Suite, if that wasn't clear[/edit]Well.Mozillazine has two articles on this: The first is the official announcement from the Mozilla Foundation and the second is the "pre" announcement post, with several links.Interesting reads. I can't say I'm disappointed, or that I blame the Foundation for their decision. Logistically, supporting a 1.8 release is too much for them.As the articles point out, we will probably see an unofficial community release. Edited March 26, 2005 by steeler_fan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil P Posted March 12, 2005 Author Share Posted March 12, 2005 Actually, SeaMonkey is quite alive. Mozilla, on the other hand, is what is dead. Just noticed that I said "SeaMonkey is dead" when that is not so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_P Posted March 12, 2005 Share Posted March 12, 2005 hmmmmm and yet there were all these people telling me I should switch from Netscape to Mozilla. hmmmmmmMaybe at some point the organization will feel overwhelmed supporting FireFox and drop support for it also so they can concentrate on ThunderBird?Good thing MS doesn't have a problem supporting IE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted March 12, 2005 Share Posted March 12, 2005 hmmmmm and yet there were all these people telling me I should switch from Netscape to Mozilla. hmmmmmmMaybe at some point the organization will feel overwhelmed supporting FireFox and drop support for it also so they can concentrate on ThunderBird?Good thing MS doesn't have a problem supporting IE. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Well at least Netscape WAS based on Mozilla. The new version is a totally new product that is going to somehow use more then one rendering engine. (Gecko and Trident) Which implies that instead of being able to avoid problems by using a different browser you'll get slammed by both ActiveX and Firefox exploits with the new Netscape.Originally if you were using NS 7 you were using a version of Mozilla, the only difference was the logos. So if you think staying with NS 7 means you still have a supported product think again. Support for you has died as well. Mercurial Communications the authors of the new Netscape Browser has no desire or intent on supporting older versions of a product they didn't write. And personally I'm not hearing anything good about the new Netscape. The old Mozilla based Netscape were as good as the Mozilla product they were based on. Because they were the same thing. Now we have a totally unknown product that is clothed in Netscape's name. I would tread very lightly around this. Just because it calls itself Netscape should NOT mean that you should trust the product. OTOH it may turn out to be a fine browser. It's too early to really tell yet.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netscape_Browser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil P Posted March 12, 2005 Author Share Posted March 12, 2005 hmmmmm and yet there were all these people telling me I should switch from Netscape to Mozilla. hmmmmmmMaybe at some point the organization will feel overwhelmed supporting FireFox and drop support for it also so they can concentrate on ThunderBird?Good thing MS doesn't have a problem supporting IE. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Who told you to switch from Netscape to Mozilla? I don't think it was me...Maybe I would have said that if you wouldn't give up the integration, but I'm sure I at least tried to get you to use Firefox... Either way, the Foundation is simply no longer releasing builds of Mozilla. The community will still be able to use the infrastructure (bugzilla, cvs, maybe even tinderbox(en)). More or less, SeaMonkey will become a project like Camino--not "officially" from the Foundation, but it uses their tools and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paracelsus Posted March 12, 2005 Share Posted March 12, 2005 I'm confused :wacko:I admit I don't know much about these things...But how does this news bode for FF users? :'(I don't think I understand what is meant by "Mozilla is Dead" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacher Posted March 13, 2005 Share Posted March 13, 2005 # Focus development efforts on the new standalone applications: the browser currently code-named Firefox, the Mozilla Thunderbird mail/news application, and standalone composer and other apps based on the the new XUL toolkit used by Firefox and Thunderbird. We aim to make Firefox and Thunderbird our premier products, and encourage extension authors and other ISVs to target these applications for their work as well.# Updated: Continue to perform sustaining maintenance, including security updates, on the SeaMonkey application suite's final stable branch (1.7.x) for enterprises and other organizations with large existing Mozilla deployments.ParacelsusThe quote above is coming from the Mozilla Roadmap. It indicates instead of trying to create new versions of the branch of SeaMonkey they are focusing their efforts on Firefox and Thunderbird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted March 13, 2005 Share Posted March 13, 2005 I'm confused :wacko:I admit I don't know much about these things...But how does this news bode for FF users? :'(I don't think I understand what is meant by "Mozilla is Dead"<{POST_SNAPBACK}> The correct term is The Mozilla Suite is dead. Firefox is unaffected by this and Netscape which used to be a rebranded Mozilla is now being built by someone else. I think THAT is the key element here. The biggest supporter and need for the Mozilla Suite was AOL/Netscape. When they decided to NOT use Mozilla Suite as a base the need for the code evaporated. They never would admit it but it was obvious that Mozilla builds were matched to Netscape's needs. No NS, no need for Mozilla. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil P Posted March 13, 2005 Author Share Posted March 13, 2005 The correct term is The Mozilla Suite is dead. Firefox is unaffected by this and Netscape which used to be a rebranded Mozilla is now being built by someone else. I think THAT is the key element here. The biggest supporter and need for the Mozilla Suite was AOL/Netscape. When they decided to NOT use Mozilla Suite as a base the need for the code evaporated. They never would admit it but it was obvious that Mozilla builds were matched to Netscape's needs. No NS, no need for Mozilla.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yes, sorry for the ambiguity. This will (should) not affect any aspect of Firefox--actually, in the long run it will surely benefit Firefox. Since the paid employees at the Mozilla Foundation (the guys, like Asa, who do all the packaging, testing, writing release notes, everything involved in making a release happen) will not have to support releases for the Mozilla Suite (save security/stability releases for the 1.7.x branch--where they will get help from Red Hat folks, like Christopher Aillon) and can devote time working on Firefox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted March 13, 2005 Share Posted March 13, 2005 I see this as a good thing as more time and effort will be put into Firefox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzButt Posted March 13, 2005 Share Posted March 13, 2005 (edited) Ira on Science Friday last Friday had the a Lady on for the last 15 minutes of the 2nd hour. http://www.sciencefriday.com/pages/2005/Ma...ur2_031105.html is where you can get more info.She mentioned that Development for Moxilla (the Suite) has ended it will still be supported. Thunderbird and FireFox are very much alive. Edited March 13, 2005 by FuzzButt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_P Posted March 13, 2005 Share Posted March 13, 2005 And what happens if in a year or so, Mozilla decides to work heavily on an email client, will they then stop developing FireFox so to better utilize their resources on that entity also. AOL has indicated that they may add an email client to their new Netscape Browser, which is based on Mozilla's FireFox. At this point in time my confidence in the organization's support and continued support of anything they develop is minimal. I stayed with Netscape 4 for years waiting for something better which turned out to be Netscape 7. I suppose I will have to wait again for something to be developed. The new Netscape 8 is not it, it's only a browser.Maybe Corel can be persuaded to buy the Mozilla Suite to go with their WordPerfect. It would fit with their company's objectives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paracelsus Posted March 13, 2005 Share Posted March 13, 2005 Thanks, Everyone.We are very much relieved to hear that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil P Posted March 13, 2005 Author Share Posted March 13, 2005 And what happens if in a year or so, Mozilla decides to work heavily on an email client, will they then stop developing FireFox so to better utilize their resources on that entity also. AOL has indicated that they may add an email client to their new Netscape Browser, which is based on Mozilla's FireFox. At this point in time my confidence in the organization's support and continued support of anything they develop is minimal. I stayed with Netscape 4 for years waiting for something better which turned out to be Netscape 7. I suppose I will have to wait again for something to be developed. The new Netscape 8 is not it, it's only a browser.Maybe Corel can be persuaded to buy the Mozilla Suite to go with their WordPerfect. It would fit with their company's objectives.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Well, the Mozilla Foundation aren't a bunch of crazy guys! Why would they drop support for Firefox which is headed for 40 Million+ downloads? Dropping the Suite, they're probably losing a large number, but I doubt it's near 40 Million.As for Corel buying Mozilla Suite: the only thing they could "buy" would be a developer (or more than one), since it's not something that can be "bought" Anyway, the Suite will go on, and it will probably even still be available from ftp.mozilla.org. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted March 13, 2005 Share Posted March 13, 2005 And what happens if in a year or so, Mozilla decides to work heavily on an email client,Uh they already ARE working heavy on an email client. It is called Thunderbird.Actually nothing that has happened here isn't what wasn't originally announced some time back and then shelved because of AOL/Netscape. The Firefox build was always going to replace the suite but because of Netscape and some major corporate uses the suite was still actively maintained. Now that NS has walked away from the suite and it tapping into Firefox and other resources the original plan can resume. SeaMonkey will likely fork and continue development outside of Mozilla. Which is kind of how Firefox started to begin with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted March 13, 2005 Share Posted March 13, 2005 I am sure the main reason that they are moving away from focus of any 'new' developements for the Mozilla Suite, is that Firefox is the Mozilla.org's premier browser, as was intended and Thunderbird their premier email client.Since they have gone to version 1.0 for each of them now. There is no need to really continue with new iterations of the Mozilla Suite.Firefox and Thunderbird will now have the full attention of the Mozilla.org staff and volunteers. This can only be good for Firefox and Thunderbird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil P Posted March 13, 2005 Author Share Posted March 13, 2005 Uh they already ARE working heavy on an email client. It is called Thunderbird.Actually nothing that has happened here isn't what wasn't originally announced some time back and then shelved because of AOL/Netscape. The Firefox build was always going to replace the suite but because of Netscape and some major corporate uses the suite was still actively maintained. Now that NS has walked away from the suite and it tapping into Firefox and other resources the original plan can resume. SeaMonkey will likely fork and continue development outside of Mozilla. Which is kind of how Firefox started to begin with.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> While I think you have a point, The Mozilla Foundation does NOT develop simply because it would benefit Netscape. AOL fired all of the employees (most/all of the guys (and girls) working at the Mozilla Foundation are ex-Netscape) of Netscape--so I wouldn't think the MoFo's policy would be dictated by Netscape.But I think a general trend away from Mozilla is a good reason to stop supporting it now, rather than later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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