Thunderbird to merge into Mozilla Labs

Mozilla had hoped its Thunderbird email software would rise to financial self-sufficiency like its better-known Firefox project, but was forced to unveil a Plan B yesterday that instead increases the organisation's focus on other communication technology.

The Thunderbird group, called Mozilla Messaging, will become part of Mozilla Labs — a research centre rather than a profit centre — and will lose its official name. David Ascher, who has led the Mozilla Messaging group, "now will lead a new innovation group within Mozilla Labs focused on online communications and social interactions on the web," said Mitchell Baker, chair of the Mozilla Foundation, in a blog post.

Mozilla will continue to develop Thunderbird under the new organisation but Baker made it clear that the vanguard of online communications is on the web, not standalone email software.

The web has changed a lot in the last few years. One of the biggest changes is how much we now use the web for messaging, communication and social interactions. We post messages on social networking sites, we tweet, we get messages (often known as "notifications") from applications and we use web-based mail systems. The pace and importance of innovation in this space is enormous and ever expanding.

Mozilla has an unusual structure. At the top level, it's a non-profit called the Mozilla Foundation, but that includes a corporate entity, Mozilla Corporation, that develops Firefox and garners the browser's search-related revenue from Google and other partners. In an attempt to make it more financially self-sufficient, Mozilla Messaging had been set up in 2007 in the same way, as a corporate subsidiary.

But now that's all over, as Mozilla centralises its focus on communications within Mozilla Labs. Baker described the consolidation in this way:

Mozilla has been exploring new ways to put people in control of their online communications and social interactions for a couple of years now. We currently have two teams. One is the team at Mozilla Messaging, which produces Thunderbird and messaging innovations such as Raindrop and F1. The second team is within Mozilla Labs, and has been working on identity, contacts and related topics.

Thunderbird will be built in the new Mozilla Labs home, with Ascher overseeing the work.

"Thunderbird users and contributors should see no difference in their experience. Email is a solid and foundational technology which retains immense value," Baker said. "We intend to continue our work with the Thunderbird email product to meet this need."

Via CNET