The Gutenberg revolution
- Before printing was invented, monks were handwriting copies of the Bible. I took one year to complete a single copy.
- 1440: Printing was invented by Gutenberg
- End of XIXth Century: the Linotype was invented, enabling faster composition of texts
- Suddenly, it made sense to know how to read and write
- It was a revolution in terms of spreading culture and knowledge
Comparing Printing and Internet
- Internet enable the individual, as opposed to radio and TV
- Internet is about speed
- Internet is all about interoperability (Windows, Mac, Linux, mobile phone, PDA).
- Internet is independent of Operating Systems.
- With Internet, proprietary systems become obsolete.
AOL, Microsoft and the gold mine
- In the 80's, AOL invents the on-line service (successor to the Bulletin Board System);
- 1995: Microsoft wants to launch a proprietary service, MSN (Microsoft Network) to compete with AOL;
- A great model: consumers pay to get access, companies pay to sell stuff and advertise.
Le Web: an Open system
- 1989-1992: Tim Berners-Lee, scientist at the CERN, invents the Web, an open, freely accessible cyberworld, based on open non-patented, royalty-free technologies (HTML, HTTP, URL).
- 1995: Netscape, a young start-up company, ships Netscape Navigator and reveals the Web to the public at large;
- 1996: Microsoft gets really upset and rightfully feels threatened. Microsoft releases Internet Explorer for free, bundles it with Windows (their OS monopoly) and makes a deal with AOL.
- Netscape is struggling, AOL buys Netscape. Is the game over?
Little news on the browser front
- March 1998, Netscape reveals its source code to the public: Mozilla.org is born;
- October 2001: Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 is released. Since then, almost no news;
- June 2002: Mozilla 1.0 is silently released. Netscape offers products based on Mozilla, but with very little marketing
- June 2003: AOL and Microsoft reach an agreement. Microsoft gives 750 million dollars to AOL. All Netscape employees are axed;
Back to Gutenberg
- What if Gutenberg's invention was prevented by a company who had monopoly on hand-copying?
- What would be our civilization today?
- What if a company having a monopoly on candles. Would it let the electricity industry develop itself?
Enter the guerrilleros!
Thanks to the Open aspect of the project, it was possible for contributors to pick up the Mozilla project and continue it:
- July 2003: Mozilla Foundation was created. Goal: Offer choice and innovation on the Internet.
- February 2004: Mozilla Europe is launched. Goal: help Mozilla Foundation to conquer Europe. The Web site offers a choice of 5 languages;
- November 8th, 2004: Web site and start pages in 26 languages;
- November 9th, 2004: Firefox 1.0 is launched.
- Firefox 1.1 scheduled for June 2005.
A few figures
- 25 millions downloads in 100 days;
- 10% market share in France (source: Xiti);
- Xiti writes: "Firefox is here to stay, and Webmasters will not be able to limit their developments to Internet Explorer".
- 13% market share in Germany.
- Power users lead the pack, on some IT-related sites, Firefox is larger than Internet Explorer
Who are the guerrilleros?
- 15 employees at the Mozilla Foundation.
- 60 engineers paied by Red Hat, Oracle, Google, IBM, Novell, Sun;
- 1.000 people contributed code in 2004;
- 60.000 bugzilla accounts;
- Dozens of localization teams and local communities.
The guerrilleros' work
- Firefox 1.0
- Modern browser for Linux, OSX and Windows;
- Tabbed-browsing, pop-up blocking, integrated search, Live bookmarks (RSS);
- Extension mechanism;
- Small 5.1 MB download
- Easy migration from IE
- Peacefully cohabits with IE
- Thunderbird 1.0
- Modern mail client for Linux, OSX and Windows;
- Junk mail filter;
- Extension mechanism
Guerrilla Marketing
- SpreadFirefox.com is the focal point for community marketing;
- 70.000 registered users;
- Full page ad in the New York times paid by 10,000 volunteers in 10 days. Same for Germany (F.A.Z.).
- Firefox distributed parties: 9300 people in 390 parties worldwide to celebrate 1.0 launch!
- "Get Firefox" Banners and buttons in every language;
You too, can become a guerrillero!
Dealing with compatibility
Two main concerns:
- Implementing W3C standards (HTML, CSS, DOM, JS) in order to avoid the mistakes of the past;
- Remaining compatible with existing documents (litterally years of work to inject IE 4 and Netscape 4 quirks into our product);
- Test you web site with Firefox and other modern browsers (Safari, Opera, Konqueror);
- Check that your sites are valid, using http://validator.W3.org
- Demand Web standards conformance to your vendors
We think that, with 10% marketshare (not counting Safari and Opera), Firefox has achieved critical mass.
How can you help?
- Use Firefox or any modern browser!
- Subscribe to SpreadFirefox.com!
- Contact sites that are not compatible with Firefox. It always works in the end.
- Put Firefox on your USB stick! and install it everywhere.
- Consider donating to Mozilla Foundation and Mozilla Europe.
Conclusion
Take Back the Web!
http://mozilla-europe.org/
Use Firefox and help us take back the Web.