The Mozilla Foundation, which distributes the open source Firefox Web browser, last week created a corporate subsidiary to
support its moneymaking activities and to help widen the use of its products.
Although the goals of the subsidiary, called Mozilla, include generating revenue and profit, its main objectives are to sustain
the development of Firefox and other products and to promote open standards on the Web.
Mozilla products such as Firefox and the Thunderbird e-mail client will remain free and open source, the group said, and there
are no plans to hold an IPO or to add additional paid services.
The corporation was created because, as a tax-paying entity, it is easier for it to manage such business contracts, said Tristan
Nitot, a Mozilla spokesman who was involved in the reorganization.
"This is not a drastic change," Nitot said. "It makes more sense to have a commercial entity doing this rather than a public
foundation."
The wide adoption has created "unintended but real" economic value from Firefox, the group said. Firefox generates most of
its money through a tool that allows users to search the Web with various search engines and to search for products at Amazon
and eBay. Firefox takes a small share of revenue through those contracts.
The Mozilla Foundation will remain "the nucleus" of the organization and will be responsible for overseeing projects, distributing
source code, and managing relationships among contributors. The corporation will focus on marketing, sponsorships, and distribution-related
activities.
Most of the 40 or so people who worked at the Mozilla Foundation will become employees at the corporation; the foundation
will be left with just three staff members. The volunteers and commercial groups that contribute to the project will not see
any change in the way Mozilla code is developed, according to the group.
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