External Contributions Double as Thousands Help mozilla.org Build
The Web's Most Standards Compliant Browser
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Netscape (R), a subsidiary
of America Online, Inc. (NYSE: AOL), today announced that external developer
support for mozilla.org has more than doubled since the beginning of the year,
underlining the growing momentum for the organization chartered with managing
the open source development initiative for Netscape's Communicator codebase.
According to statistics released by mozilla.org
( http://www.mozilla.org/update.html ), more than 50,000 open source testers
throughout the world have downloaded and tested the milestone 7 release of the
mozilla browser, providing contributions and feedback that will help to
deliver the leading browser in the industry.
"By downloading the regularly updated milestone releases of the browser
even before a public beta version is made available, the mozilla community is
helping to ensure that the upcoming Netscape browser will be widely tested and
based on the most standards-compliant technology on the Internet," said
Bob Lisbonne, senior vice president of client products at Netscape.
"mozilla.org is establishing itself as yet another successful open source
project."
External code submissions have increased by over 50% in the period since
January, reaching 173 for the month of June compared to 114 in January,
helping to enhance the browser. Involvement from the Web is further evidenced
by the growing number of external module owners which has doubled since
January, going from 5 non-Netscape owners then to 12 in June. Module owners
play a critical role in the future of the browser as they assume
responsibility for specific areas of mozilla development.
Active external input regarding the browser's design, planning and review
is also evidenced by newsgroups postings which have increased by 50% since
January, part of a development model in which Web developer participation and
review are critical for the outcome of the software. In fact, unique
newsgroup posters averaged close to one thousand per month since the beginning
of the year, illustrating the growing number of individual contributors to
mozilla.org. More and more developers are also visiting mozilla.org regularly
as daily visits to the site increased nearly fifty percent since January.
Web developers have already praised the Netscape Gecko browsing engine's
adherence to Web standards, and recent numbers show that bug reports filed by
external developers on mozilla to improve standards compliance and quality
have more than doubled over the last five months. In June, 341 non-duplicate,
verifiable bug reports were submitted, a 2.4 times increase over the
142 reports filed in January.
"To use current browsers, developers have to keep elaborate lists of bugs
and workarounds. The fewer bugs there are in mozilla, the easier it will be
for Web authors in the future. Developers are helping to make sure the final
product has as few bugs and deviations from standards as possible," said
David Baron, a developer and leading authority on Cascading Style Sheets who
is also a student at Harvard University.
"I am quite happy to work for mozilla just to get a decent, free,
standards compliant browser onto the market," said Ian Hickson, a Web
developer from the UK who contributed to the mozilla BugAThon project. "That
is an incentive in itself, the rest is just a bonus."
mozilla.org has also received significant external contributions in the
form of new platform ports such as BeOS and OS/2 Warp, as well as technology
enhancements like the standards-compliant XML parser which was originally
contributed to mozilla.org by James Clark and recently enhanced to enable
localization for the worldwide use of XML.
In a related program, the international developer community is localizing
Netscape Communicator into languages that might otherwise not have been
available for specific areas. This additional language support is available
through the Universal Localization Program where there are currently
17 translation projects underway to offer localized Communicator versions in
languages such as Basque, Bulgarian, Catalan, Hawaiian and Maori
( http://www.mozilla.org/docs/l10n/l10n-projects.html ).
Web developers can get further information, download and test the browser
with each milestone build from http://www.mozilla.org, file bug reports at
http://bugzilla.mozilla.org and join the BugAThon at
http://www.mozilla.org/newlayout/bugathon.html to simplify bug reports
and create test cases.
Netscape is a leading provider of software and services for businesses
that want to transform the way they create and keep customers in the emerging
Net Economy. Recently acquired by America Online, Inc., Netscape is based in
Mountain View, California.
Additional information on Netscape is available on the Internet at
http://home.netscape.com, by sending email to info@netscape.com, or by calling
corporate sales at 650-937-2555.
NOTE: Netscape, Netscape Navigator and the Communicator logos are
registered trademarks of Netscape in the United States and other countries.
Other Netscape logos, product names, and service names are also trademarks of
Netscape Communications, which may be registered in other countries. Other
product and brand names are trademarks of their respective owners.
SOURCE Netscape Communications Corporation
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