Introduction
When most people think of Mozilla they automatically think of the very popular web browser, Firefox. However, there is much more to Mozilla than Firefox or even Thunderbird, another well known web program designed and controlled by the same corporation. Mozilla is actually a term that refers to many different aspects of several internet software applications.
MIS Theory/History
Management Information Systems Theory relates to the topic of Mozilla Organization in various ways. Particularly to Mozilla's history, MIS Theory relates to computer security software. Throughout the past few years, online security has become a major issue with web browsers, e-mail applications, as well as other software programs. In response, companies such as Mozilla have adapted in order to help protect the user as well as evolve as a business entity. Consequently, both Mozilla's Firefox and Thunderbird applications incorporate many aspects that are encompassed within MIS Theory.
Mozilla's Firefox web browser program contains "Phishing Protection", "Spyware Protection", and a "Pop-up Blocker". Phishing is a practice used by online criminals to gain personal information in order to commit identity theft. Spyware is deceptive software that gains entry into computers by way of free downloadable programs. These programs then track the online activity of the web users and store the information for unknown purposes. Pop-ups are unwanted windows from the internet that appear and can slow down the overall functionality of one's computer. All of these problems are addressed and remedied within Mozilla's Firefox version 2.0 web browser applications.
Mozilla's Thunderbird program is an e-mail application that possesses many of the same security features as its sibling application, Firefox. Its latest version includes an extra perk in the form of Thunderbird's "Junk-Mail Filters," which separate unwanted e-mails from the user's main inbox in an effort to create more order within the program.
The history of Mozilla also encorporates major business strategies because they set out to outfox and untimately surpass Mosiac, the first user friendly web browser in the history of the internet. Mozilla accompished this by offering the same service to internet users but presenting it in a more comprehensible, not to mention affordable package. Mosiac did a good job of making sure its users new how to operate the application, however it was not free like Mozilla's Firefox has always been. This illustrates that Mozilla utilized major business strategies to compete within the web browser world.
Findings
The Mozilla Organization is composed of a couple of different companies rolled into one innovative package. Instituted in 1998, The Mozilla Foundation is "a public-benefit organization dedicated to promoting choice and innovation on the Internet." The Mozilla Corporation is an auxiliary to the Mozilla Foundation that was established in mid 2005, and essentially concentrates on distributing both Firefox and Thunderbird to web surfers around the world. Mozilla Corporation also oversees "marketing and sponsorship of the products."
Mozilla?s origins date back to the mid 1990s to the Netscape Communication Corporation, a company that is currently non-operational. "Historically, Mozilla had been used internally as a codename for the Netscape Navigator web browser." In addition, the name Mozilla also refers a mascot that represented the Netscape Communications Corporation. The mascot is a reptilian creature that resembles Godzilla and "was designed by Dave Titus in 1994."
"When Netscape acquired the website directory NewHoo in 1998, they rebranded it the Open Directory Project with the nickname "dmoz" (Directory of Mozilla) due to its similarity to the Mozilla project. An image of Mozilla was placed on every page of the site, which remains the case today, despite Netscape's disbanding after its acquisition by AOL."
"In March 1998, Netscape released most of the code base for its popular Netscape Communicator internet suite under an open source license." Today, Mozilla's Application Suite is known as SeaMonkey.
The name Mozilla also serves as a comprehensive label used to represent all browsers that use Mozilla technology. "For example, when it is said that a website is usable by Mozilla browsers, it means that it is usable by Mozilla Suite, Firefox, Camino, and Netscape 6, etc."
In comparison to all the other many software applications that Mozilla offers, Firefox, Mozilla's open-source web browser, seems to be the most popular, innovative, and rapidly progressing internet program after all. Ever since its introduction to the computer world in late 2002, Mozilla's Firefox program has changed web browsing practices and procedures left and right.
Named "the second-most popular browser in the world" Firefox has been compared to and pitted against Microsoft's Internet Explorer since day one. Fortunately, this is exactly what the computer professionals who started Mozilla wanted from the start. The start was back in 2004, when a group of ten web experts sat down and decided that they would try to create a browser that could effectively compete with Microsoft's Internet Explorer, and possibly win. However, due to lack of financial support, the group opted for a less conventional, more creative method.
Group members, Asa Dotzler and Blake Ross took to the internet in search of any web pages etc. that utilized their then experimental Firefox browser.
"In two days they contacted almost 100 sites, asking if owners would put a "Download Firefox" button on their homepage. A staggering 85% said yes. Dotzler then enlisted a community of supporters, who used e-mail to spread the word further. Within weeks, a handful of volunteers built a "Spread Firefox" Web site where people could grab their own buttons and brainstorm other ways to spread the word."
One can imagine how quickly this plan became a success. Not long afterwards, there were over ten thousand web locations that boasted "Download Firefox" advertisement links. This also brought experimental stage of the project to a close.
"Today the number has grown to more than 65,000. Firefox has not only managed to wrest 10% of the browser market from Microsoft (MSFT) in about two years, it zoomed past other browser upstarts Opera and Apple's (AAPL) Safari, which together have less than 3% share." Firefox has grown to become a sizeable threat for Microsoft as well as many other software companies that distribute web browsing programs.
Conclusion
Considering review of the preceding information, it is clear that Mozilla, especially Firefox, did not start out as the renegade force that it has turned out to be to this day. "Firefox got its start as part of a fledgling open source effort that Netscape and AOL supported for a time." Mozilla itself started as a glimmer of hope in the eyes of a few computer specialists who succeed due to great ingenuity and tremendous volunteer support. Without the many people who spread the word about Mozilla?s exploits, to this day, the company would probably be nowhere near where it is today.