Mozilla Turns 8 Years Old, Asks for Money Instead of Toys

Posted 07/18/2011 at 6:08am | by Paul Lilly

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A belated birthday wish goes out to the Mozilla Foundation, the not-for-profit organization which turned 8 years old on Friday. Mozilla's roots actually date back to early 1998 when Netscape created the Mozilla Organization to oversee the development of the Mozilla Application Suite. On July 15, 2003, AOL (Netscape's parent company) helped launch the Mozilla Foundation, and gave the three-person team a set of wings in the form of hardware, intellectual property, and a $2 million donation before pushing it out of the nest to fly on its own.

And fly Mozilla did. Mozilla's Firefox browser quickly became a fan favorite and remains, at least for now, the world's second most popular browser in terms of market share. At the time Firefox first came onto the scene as a public release, around 9.5 out of 10 people were surfing the Web with Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser. According to Net Applications, Firefox now claims a 21.67 percent share of the market, while IE's share has fallen to 53.68 percent.

So what do you get an 8-year-old? If that 8-year-old is Mozilla, then feel free to give money. In a Twitter post, Mozilla says the best birthday present would be to join the Mozilla Foundation, which you can do for $5 and receive:

• Deep inner pride for helping Mozilla build a Web for everyone
• Access to cool Mozilla and Firefox gear that will impress your friends
• Good feelings in the cockles of your heart

The other donation option is fork over $30 and you'll receive a Mozilla Firefox T-shirt to wear ironically as you surf the Web using Chrome.

History of the Mozilla Project

Image Credits: spreadshirt.com (t-shirt), Mozilla