I just posted this to comp.os.os2.misc. I'm putting it here as well for
everyone's benefit.
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I was reading through some archives of this newsgroup and found that
there is a lot of confusion surround Warpzilla and IBM's involvement in
Mozilla.
I've put together this FAQ to hopefully answer some of the questions
that have come up.
Standard disclaimer applies - my mentioning an IBM branded browser or a
Java plugin is not a commitment from the IBM Corporation to produce such
products. These plans could change.
Q: Why would IBM create a "branded" browser?
A: Because that is what we are supposed to do.
Here is a quote from http://www.mozilla.org/releases/
"We make binary versions of of Mozilla available for testing purposes
only!"
Mozilla releases are not intended for end-users - they are intended for
testing and developing.
The expectation is that companies will take the Mozilla code and create
products with it. Netscape 6 is an example of this.
Serenity Systems could even take the Warpzilla code and produce an
eComStation branded browser.
So it makes sense for IBM to create an IBM branded browser for our
customers.
It is certainly not an issue of not wanting our customers to deal with
open source. We are making it perfectly clear to them that this browser
is built with Mozilla technology.
Q: Are there fixes in the IBM branded browser that are not in Warpzilla?
A: The answer is yes and they fall into two categories.
1. Cross-platform code that we are able to check in to our source
control system, but has not been approved to go into Mozilla yet.
Examples of this are:
http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=59855
http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=58668
2. Code that I have not had a chance to check in to CVS yet. Members of
my team are free to check code into our source control system, but only
I can check in to Mozilla at this time. I am a little behind with some
checkins, including some things from outside contributors.
It is important to note that we are legally obligated to make ALL
Mozilla code changes available by either publishing them in some way or
contributing them to Mozilla.
Q: Is there anything else in the IBM branded browser that is not in
Warpzilla?
A: In the same way there are technologies in Netscape 6 that are not in
Mozilla, there will be technologies that are in the IBM branded browser
that are not in Warpzilla. Examples of this would be the installer and a
spellchecker.
Q: What about SSL (security)?
A: Mozilla has made open source SSL available. They are currently in the
process of integrating it with the build. When it is fully integrated,
we will be putting it in the nightly builds.
In the meantime, the Mozilla 0.6 release for OS/2 will contain SSL.
Q: What about the Java plugin?
A: In as much as the Netscape 4.61 for OS/2 Java plugin was a part of
Java, a Java plugin for Mozilla based OS/2 browser would be a part of
Java.
Q: What about other IBM contributions?
A: We are working on other contributions to Mozilla, independent of our
OS/2 work. These include support for bidirectional languages (Hebrew and
Arabic) as well as the P3P specification.
Finally, I would like to address the more personal issues that have been
raised in this newsgroup.
My role as the 'owner' of the Warpzilla port can be equated to the
'owner' of a sports team. While I did not put the entire project
together, or write all the code,
I now am in the role of 'owning' the code. My role is to advocate OS/2
within the Mozilla community, as well as to act as the reviewer of OS/2
specific code.
But, I certainly stand on the shoulders of many people before me who
started this whole thing. People like John Fairhurst, Bill Law, and
Henry Sobotka, who continues to play an incredibly important role on
this team.
I have never taken credit away from these people. My new role only
exists because of these people.
I'd also like to point out that we have a new generation of
contributors, IBM and non-IBM. People like Dmitry Kubov, Dainis Jonitis,
Jeffrey Kobal, Javier Pedemonte, Jessica Blanco, Sharon Laquinta,
Russell Norberg, Aaron Reed, Jeffrey Jones, Skip Nizinski, Hunyh Trinh,
Joseph Samake, and more.
And that team, including myself, has made significant contributions to
the Warpzilla effort, up and above the work that was already done.
You can get an idea by looking at this link:
http://bonsai.mozilla.org/cvsquery.cgi?module=allrepositories&branch=HEAD&dir=&file=&who=mkaply%25us.ibm.com&sortby=Date&date=all
This link reflects all the changes that I have checked on behalf of
Henry Sobotka, IBM, and others.
So to sum up, I have two goals.
On the Mozilla side, my goal is to make sure that OS/2 continues as a
viable platform for Mozilla and Mozilla-based products.
On the IBM side, my goal is to make sure that IBM produces a quality
browser product for OS/2 based on Mozilla technologies.
I hope that clears things up.
Michael Kaply
IBM Mozilla Advocate
Mozilla OS/2 Port Owner
