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By the People

Continued from page 2

By Kate Greene

Friday, December 02, 2005

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Baker explains that although AOL contributed assets, it doesn't govern any part of the foundation. "We selected board members from the open source community...to promote a healthy ecosystem of innovation on the web, and a whole range of things aimed at public benefit," Baker says.

Judging from the number of downloads (roughly 100 million) and regular users (about 40 million) since it was released in 2004, Firefox 1.0 has been true to its mission. Even more impressively, the browser has been marketed almost entirely at the grassroots level. Spreadfirefox.com is the browser's Internet advertising home. In the coming days, Mozilla plans to launch Firefox Flicks on the site, featuring 30-second video testimonials from users about how the browser has made the Internet a better place.

Marketing Firefox in this user-focused way has created a sense of community, not just for those who design add-ons or find glitches in the system, but also less technology-oriented Internet surfers. This wide community is also a crucial source of funding for the Mozilla Foundation, according to Baker. Many donors attach personal notes to their checks, she says. "They say things like 'I was afraid of my computer. Life on the Internet was terrible. My friend insisted I install Firefox. Thank you. Here's my $25, keep at it.'"

Comments

  • Firefox
    I lost my Firefox browser when I downloaded some of the new features.  Now I cant use it because the Address line wont work anymore.  And I cant even get in touch with Firefox because they dont give you any easy way to contact them to fix the problem.  Now Im back to using IE.
    Rate this comment: 12345
    Guest (Grant Callaghan)
    12/02/2005
    Posts:1
  • Still doesnt work well on Macs
    Slows things down a lot. They havent addressed this issue even in 1.5
    Rate this comment: 12345
    Guest (Jan Moore)
    12/03/2005
    Posts:1
  • Firefox
    I lost my Firefox browser when I downloaded some of the new features.  Now I cant use it because the Address line wont work anymore.  And I cant even get in touch with Firefox because they dont give you any easy way to contact them to fix the problem.  Now Im back to using IE.
    Rate this comment: 12345
    Guest (Grant Callaghan)
    12/02/2005
    Posts:1
  • Still doesnt work well on Macs
    Slows things down a lot. They havent addressed this issue even in 1.5
    Rate this comment: 12345
    Guest (Jan Moore)
    12/03/2005
    Posts:1

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