The Mozilla project has published a new project development roadmap, detailing plans for significant changes to the future development of the Mozilla codebase. The new roadmap represents the third major strategy update since the original project roadmap was published in 1998.

“We have achieved a Mozilla 1.0 milestone that satisfies the criteria put forth in the Mozilla 1.0 manifesto,” the group noted, but added that “incremental development of the kind we've had since 1.0 is not enough for a healthy open source project.”

The key strategy change consists of a new, more modularized Mozilla architecture based on the Gecko Runtime Environment (GRE), which can be shared among multiple application processes.

Five key aspects of the new roadmap are . . .

1. “Switch Mozilla's default browser component from the XPFE-based Navigator to the standalone Phoenix browser. Note: the Phoenix user interface is defined entirely using XUL. So in preferring Phoenix, we are not deprecating XUL. We are demonstrating how XUL is a sound basis for fast, cross-platform applications such as Phoenix.”
2. “Develop further the standalone mail companion application to Phoenix already begun as Minotaur, but based on the new XUL toolkit used by Phoenix (this variant has been codenamed Thunderbird). Note: the Phoenix toolkit is a compatible reimplementation of the XPFE toolkit, with added features such as customizable toolbars. We are not starting a new C++ GUI toolkit, we are simply moving to the next generation XUL toolkit.”
3. “Deliver a Mozilla 1.4 milestone that can replace the 1.0 branch as the stable development path, then move on to make riskier changes during 1.5 and 1.6. The major changes after 1.4 involve switching to Phoenix and Thunderbird, and working aggressively on the next two items.”
4. “Fix crucial Gecko layout architecture bugs, paving the way for a more maintainable, performant, and extensible future.”
5. “Continue the move away from an ownership model involving a large cloud of hackers with unlimited CVS access, to a model, more common in the open source world, of vigorously defended modules with strong leadership and clear delegation, a la NSPR, JavaScript, Gecko in recent major milestones, and Phoenix.”

The motivation behind the strategy adjustment is based on “preferring quality over quantity,” the group said.

Further details are available at mozilla.org.

 
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