The open-source developer of the Firefox browser has fleshed out its plan for a new Mozilla Messaging subsidiary. The new division is expected to deliver significant enhancements to the next release of Mozilla Thunderbird, an e-mail client built on the same technology platform as the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation's successful Web browser.

"The stunning proportion of time that many people spend communicating online each day clearly indicates that, as a society, we are more intricately connected via the Internet than ever before," said Mozilla Messaging CEO David Ascher in a recent blog. "Yet the joy that communication can bring is too often replaced by frustration, confusion, or stress" as "privacy and control questions become more and more troublesome."

As Mozilla Messaging attempts to resolve this paradox, the Mozilla Foundation will place greater emphasis "on the notion that anyone can, and should, participate in helping fix whatever is broken," Ascher said.

A Collaborative Effort

Although Mozilla Messaging has its own core development team, the subsidiary has no intention of doing all the work on its own. As was the case with the development of Firefox, it expects major help from the worldwide community of open-source developers.

"We see our primary role as that of facilitating collaborative approaches to problem solving and incremental progress, through a combination of leadership and facilitation work," Ascher said. "We'll provide significant input and leadership in the direction setting, engineering work, and operational support, but the really interesting story will be whether we can convince people to spend their time working with us."

Still, the foundation believes it has sufficient consensus in the Internet community to decide which enhancements should be tackled first. Its goals are integrated calendaring, enhanced search and an improved user interface.

"What each of those means in practice will be worked out in public, on blogs, mailing lists, and newsgroups, as transparently as possible," Ascher said.

Key Strengths

Over the long haul Ascher thinks Thunderbird will be able to build on the key features that led to the success of Firefox, which derives considerable strength from its extensibility, he said.

"Another strength is that we already have a complete Web technology stack built into our mail client and, as a result, we can consider deep integration with both Web sites and Web services which other solutions can only dream of," Ascher said.

From the user's perspective, Ascher sees Thunderbird benefiting from the perception that it is an open-source desktop application that "belongs" to the individual using it. "As people struggle with keeping track of disparate communication channels and social networks, this nexus of control becomes a sweet spot for integration," he said.

Going forward, Mozilla Messaging will be looking to deliver a productive experience to individuals using multiple e-mail addresses and instant-messaging systems. The foundation will also be exploring the best ways to integrate IRC, blog, VoIP and SMS capabilities into the mix.

"We're excited to renew the focus of our open-source community on the future of Thunderbird," Ascher said. "Every one of us is committed to building a great e-mail product that people will love to use and that serves as the foundation for choice in a critical area of Internet software."