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[FWD] Netscape to Release Source
Friends,.. especially the developers on the list -
..here's a forward from Dave Winer's e-mail newsletter,"DaveNet"..
/* editorial comments here:
Dave has been working himself into a frenzy trying to rationalize
developing for Windows..he recently decided to port his application
"Frontier" to Windows after having been a Mac only [ I think] developer for
some time. He's always carrying on about Microsoft and Bill Gates as though
they were just "regular guys"..I'm convinced he's trying to talk himself
out of feeling guilty for associating with them so intimately, as it were
...["extend and embrace"??"] */
This gives an interesting perspective on the move by Netscape though, and I
thought it might be of interest.
Heather
>X-Sender: dwiner@mail.well.com
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>Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 13:27:14 -0800
>To: DaveNet World <davenet-world@scripting.com>
>From: dwiner@well.com (DaveNet email)
>Subject: Netscape to Release Source
>Sender: <davenet-world@scripting.com>
>Precedence: Bulk
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>-------------------------------------
>>From Scripting News... It's DaveNet!
>Released on 1/22/98; 1:27:07 PM PST
>-------------------------------------
>
> Netscape did something remarkable today.
>
> In all my years in the software business, never has a single move by a
> single vendor done more to upset my assumptions about how things
> would move forward.
>
> I didn't think it could happen, but we've actually been thinking
> about this possibility for about a week. First, a popular developer
> site, slashdot.org, called for Netscape to release the source code
> for Navigator. Then I was cc'd on an email from Tim Lundeen,
> tlundeen@lundeen.com, to Marc Andreessen, marca@netscape.com,
> suggesting that Netscape release the source code for Navigator. To
> me it was amazing when Andreessen replied saying that they were
> considering the idea.
>
> Then this morning, along with news that Microsoft and the Department
> of Justice had settled the bundling issue, comes an announcement
> from Netscape that they will release the source code for Navigator
> with the 5.0 release, expected later this year.
>
> I have a lot of comments and ideas and questions stemming from this
> announcement. I'm sure there will be more to say as the idea sinks in,
> but here's what's on the top of my mind right now.
>
> The first thing I wonder is should I will do development in the new
> system? I had pretty much given up on getting features I want in web
> browser software. So much so, that I was looking to the next
> generation of content, XML, to provide the opportunity to play with
> smart sandboxes with scripted firewalls and stronger connections
> to content management software, all of which would require new
> features in the browser.
>
> There are also tags that would open up new power, things that would be
> easy to implement, but that we haven't been able to convince either
> Netscape or Microsoft to implement. In the new scheme, we won't need
> their permission. We can start a new browser using their source code,
> try the ideas out and then lobby them to include it in their next
> distribution. If they say no, and the ideas are compelling enough, we
> can release the software on our own.
>
> It also may mean a lot for the education of engineers. Think of it as an
> investment in the next generation of software developers. I learned
> a lot in the 70s reading the source code of the Unix OS. I'm sure
> programmers still do that. Adding a complex multi-threaded graphic
> program like Navigator to the mix will be very interesting from this
> standpoint!
>
> Will Microsoft match Netscape and release the source code for
> Explorer? What a trip that would be!
>
> Will venture capitalists invest in teams of browser developers?
> That would be interesting. And surprising! It could happen.
>
> Will Sun follow suit and drop the source for Java?
>
> Could we move beyond the page metaphor? Could entire new structures
> be built on HTML-based content? How about implementing Microsoft's
> version of Dynamic HTML in Netscape's browser? With the source code
> available this wouldn't have to wait for Netscape to do it.
>
> Further, this is a case of a company not buckling under the threat of
> Microsoft's competition. Unlike Novell and Apple who failed to zig
> to Microsoft's zag, Netscape is doing something different. Bravo!
> I've said it before, Netscape had options, they didn't have to drive
> into the Microsoft brick wall at full speed. This new twist shows that
> if you think creatively, you can find other options. I never would
> have been so bold as to ask them to release their source code. Now that
> they've done it, I'm very thankful. It's a high road move. Good deal.
>
> It's also good for the Internet. It's a vote of faith in capaphony and
> the creativity of the random programmer "out there". It totally
> levels the playing field, gives everyone a chance at breaking out of
> the browser wars.
>
> On the whole a nice way to shake the earth.
>
> Thanks Netscape!
>
> ***Mail
>
> There's already a lot of mail on this.
>
> Watch the Mail page on Scripting News:
>
> <http://www.scripting.com/mail/mail980122.html>
>
> Dave Winer
>
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