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Firefox: Mainstreaming Open Source Ben Goodger Software Engineer, Google Inc.

Firefox: Mainstreaming Open Source Ben Goodger Software Engineer, Google Inc. Outline. Building a Product Building a Brand Building a Community Successes and Failures Changes for 1.5 The Technology Platform The Future of Firefox Success in OSS Distribution. The promise: Small Size

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Firefox: Mainstreaming Open Source Ben Goodger Software Engineer, Google Inc.

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  1. Firefox: Mainstreaming Open Source • Ben Goodger • Software Engineer, Google Inc.

  2. Outline • Building a Product • Building a Brand • Building a Community • Successes and Failures • Changes for 1.5 • The Technology Platform • The Future of Firefox • Success in OSS Distribution

  3. The promise: Small Size Web Standards Next Generation Browser …In less than 6 months! In the Beginning…

  4. In the Beginning… The reality… …and a 12 MB download size!

  5. Phoenix Rising • Dissatisfaction among engineers, later users • Offshoot browsers: Manticore, Chimera, Phoenix • One common theme: Make a great browsing experience first. • “Mozilla Browser” is born in XUL in April of 2002.

  6. Phoenix Rising On top of the Netscape / Seamonkey core: • Remove less-used components • Polish the user experience • Market it!

  7. Phoenix Rising • Late 2002: “Phoenix” 0.1 • Early 2003: “Firebird” 0.6 • Late 2003: 1.0 roadmap drafted • Early 2004: “Firefox” 0.8 • Late 2004: Firefox 1.0

  8. Order to Chaos • Understand our target audiences • Specify requirements • Establish design direction • Design components • Allocate resources • Execute!

  9. Order to Chaos • Adhere to Mozilla’s module ownership policy • Say no a lot • Deal with being unpopular Understand that you can’t please everybody, and that the target audience is king!

  10. The 1.0 Roadmap Lower the barrier to entry: • Distribution Site • Installers • Data Migration Improve the Browsing Experience • Find Toolbar • Download Manager • Password Management …and so we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot: • Extension Management • Software Update • Help System

  11. The 1.0 Roadmap Other Firefox-specific features: • Integrated Search • Customizable Toolbars • Form Auto complete • Live Bookmarks … and improved default settings

  12. Building a Brand • Integrated brand identity • The Visual Design Team • Legal requirements • A new look

  13. Visual Design Quality, Consistency, Simplicity across: • Logos • Product skin • Web site and documentation

  14. Building a Distribution Machine • Top half of Mozilla homepage updated to have a consumer focus • One click to download featured products • Highly optimized download and install experience, as few user clicks and decisions as possible

  15. Building a Community • Testing, coding, localization and documentation • Release early and often • Provide useful feedback mechanisms • Provide a good set of developer tools • Provide a good set of collaboration tools • Provide a hackable, extensible codebase!

  16. art by rakaz http://rakaz.nl/ art by rakaz http://rakaz.nl/ design by mya leigh http://myaleigh.com/ by piro & inugamix http://piro.sakura.ne.jp/ http://inu.imagines.jp/ http://firemonger.org/ Community Marketing • SpreadFirefox.com • New York Times Campaign • Referral Campaigns • Individual Initiatives

  17. Challenges • Source management leading up to ship was painful • Consumer focus contentious among contributors • Security update distribution • Extension distribution site • Extension authoring • Too much serialization of effort

  18. Success • Nearly 100 million downloads • ~10% marketshare • Many happy users • Lots of recognition and attention for the Open Source model & community

  19. Changes for 1.5 • Retiring Seamonkey • Consolidated tree management • Better tools for developer documentation and communication • New update system • New extension site • New extension installation system

  20. Improvements in 1.5 • Much Faster • More Privacy Tools • Streamed Security Updates • Additional Tabbed Browsing controls • For Developers: SVG, <canvas>, CSS columns, easier extension development

  21. The Technology Platform • Scalable Vector Graphics • Programmable Image

  22. Firefox into the Future • Document Management • Search • Bookmarks and History • Enhanced Platform (SVG, XULRunner, etc) • Better Graphics (Cairo) source: Robert O’Callahan

  23. Successful OSS Distribution • Understand your users • Plan, plan, plan! • Use wikis • Track bugs • Optimize the delivery process • Be resolute

  24. Q&A

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