Mozilla, that the internet should be public, open and accessible.

Mozilla is a term used in a number of ways in relation to the now-defunct Netscape Communications Corporation and its related application software, including the Mozilla.org group and its successor the Mozilla Foundation.

Only three things have ever formally used the term Mozilla alone:

* The codename for the Netscape Navigator software project
* The official, public, original name of the Mozilla Application Suite, currently known as SeaMonkey
* The Mascot of Netscape.

The various other related uses of the term Mozilla are listed below in the order when they were first used.

Historically, Mozilla had been used internally as a codename for the Netscape Navigator web browser from its beginning. Jamie Zawinski came up with the name during a meeting while working at the company.The name was created as a contraction of the words "Mosaic killer", hinting that Netscape would be the end to the (then only) competitor browser, Mosaic. The logo was a reference to the name of the fictional monster Godzilla.

Mozilla was the mascot of the now-disbanded Netscape Communications Corporation, formerly called Mosaic Communications Corporation. Initially, the mascot took various forms, including that of a helmeted astronaut or "spaceman", but the eventual choice was a Godzilla-like lizard thought to go well with the Godzilla-like name. It was designed by Dave Titus in 1994.

Mozilla was featured prominently on Netscape's website in the company's early years. However, the need to project a more "professional" image (especially towards corporate clients) led to it being removed. Mozilla continued to be used inside Netscape, though, often featuring on T-shirts given to staff or on artwork adorning the walls of the Netscape campus in Mountain View. The color of the Mozilla lizard changed from its original green to a red version of the monster after the source code of the Netscape browser was released.

An early Mozilla mascot.

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. Netscape Communications continued using the image of the red Mozilla in its iconography in the Mozilla.org project web site.

"Mozilla" is sometimes used to refer to the free and open source software project that was founded in order to create the next-generation Internet suite for Netscape. The Mozilla Organization was founded in 1998 to create the new suite. On 15 July 2003, the organization was formally registered as a non-profit organization, and became Mozilla Foundation. The foundation now creates and maintains the Mozilla Firefox browser and Mozilla Thunderbird email application, among other software. The Mozilla trademark is held by the Mozilla Foundation as of 2006.

Firefox for Desktop

The award-winning Firefox Web browser has security, speed and new features that will change the way you use the Web. Don’t settle for anything less. Learn more.

Firefox for Mobile

By adding Firefox to your mobile phone, you can access rich Web content and enjoy your favorite Firefox features wherever you go. Learn more.

Thunderbird

Enjoy safe, fast and easy email, Mozilla-style. The Thunderbird email client includes intelligent spam filters, powerful search and customizable views. Learn more.

Featured Projects

The Mozilla community produces a lot of great software. This page contains links to some of the most popular projects and also provides links to places where you can find even more.

Mozilla Applications

These applications are developed by the Mozilla community and their code is hosted on mozilla.org.

• Bugzilla

  Bugzilla™ is a bug tracking system designed to help teams manage software development. Hundreds of organizations across the globe are using this powerful tool to get organized and communicate effectively.

• Camino

  Camino® is a Web browser optimized for Mac OS X with a Cocoa user interface, and powerful Gecko layout engine. It's the simple, secure, and fast browser for Mac OS X.

• Fennec

  Fennec is the code name of the effort to build a browser for mobile phones and smaller non-PC devices that provides the full web experience you get with Firefox on your desktop today.

• 

  Firefox

  Firefox® is an award-winning Web browser that is fast, secure, and fully customizable to your online life. Try out the latest version for the speediest, safest and most advanced Firefox yet.

• Lightning and Sunbird

  Lightning is a popular calendaring, scheduling and task management extension. Sunbird® is a cross-platform application that brings Mozilla-style ease-of-use to your calendar.

• SeaMonkey

  SeaMonkey® is the all-in-one application formerly known as the "Mozilla Application Suite", containing a web browser, a mail and newsgroups client, an HTML editor, web development tools, and an IRC chat client.

• 

  Thunderbird

  Thunderbird® is Mozilla's next generation e-mail client. Thunderbird makes emailing safer, faster and easier than ever before and can also scale to meet the most sophisticated organizational needs.

Mozilla-Based Applications

These applications are built by individuals and organizations using Mozilla technologies. If you would like to suggest other applications to feature here, please let us know.

• Eudora

  The next version of Eudora® under development is a new, open source email client that joins the Eudora user experience with Thunderbird's powerful and flexible framework.

• GlobalMojo

  GlobalMojo is a new web browser that helps you generate money for your favorite causes simply by browsing the Internet the same way you do every day, and at no cost to you.
• See more Mozilla-based applications...

Mozilla Labs Experiments

Mozilla Labs is a place where people come together to create, experiment, and play with new Web innovations and technologies.

• Jetpack

  Jetpack is a newly formed experiment in using open Web technologies to enhance the browser, with the goal of allowing anyone who can build a Web site to participate in making the Web a better place to work, communicate and play.

• Raindrop

  Raindrop's mission: make it enjoyable to participate in conversations from people you care about, whether the conversations are in email, on twitter, a friend's blog or as part of a social networking site.
• See more Mozilla Labs experiments...

Mozilla Technologies

The Mozilla community creates a variety of different technologies that are freely available for other people and organizations to use in their own products.

• Gecko

  Gecko is the layout engine that reads web content, such as HTML, CSS, XUL, and JavaScript and renders it on a user's screen. In XUL-based applications Gecko is used to render the application's user interface as well.

• XULRunner

  XULRunner provides an environment for developers to build XUL-based applications such as Firefox and Thunderbird. It provides mechanisms for installing, upgrading, and uninstalling applications.
• See more Mozilla technologies...

Mozilla Specifications

The Mozilla community has created and spearheaded the development of various specifications for languages that are used in Mozilla projects and can be used by others as well.

• XUL

  The XML User Interface Language (XUL) is used to build feature-rich cross platform applications and add-ons that extend the functionality of existing Mozilla-based programs. Web developers will learn XUL quickly and can start building applications right away.
• See more Mozilla specifications...

Add-ons

• Add-ons Site

  Find the latest and greatest extensions, themes and plugins for Firefox, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey and Sunbird.

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