On Thu, 26 Jul 2001 11:06, Michael Leone wrote:
> >Netscape is a clone of Mozilla from way back.
>
> Nope; Mozilla is the open source REWRITE of the original Netscape
> Navigator code. And it's so much better now than the original code, that
> Netscape has thrown away their old code, and used the Mozilla code.
Close, but not quite :-)
In 1998, Netscape released the alpha-level code for their version 5
Communicator suite as open source. The Mozilla Project was formed to turn
this into a functional product that Netscape could use with minimal
alteration. After about a year of trying to comprehend and work on this code,
the Mozilla developers deemed it more prudent to start afresh. This is a
major reason why Mozilla has taken so long to take shape. Other reasons
include its aims of being cross-platform and of becoming an entire platform,
not just a browser suite (e.g. there are office suites being made to work
inside Mozilla).
Netscape, as they originally planned, are using Mozilla as their base for
their Netscape 6 product. Only very minor alterations have been made, with
the addition of extra advertising and sidebar content.
> >In fact Mozilla is one of the grandaddys of web browsers
>
> Nope; that was Mosaic.
That is correct. Marc Andressen (a Netscape Communications founder) was one
of the leaders of Mosaic's development. Both IE (all versions) and Netscape
Navigator (up to version 4.x) are based on this code. Netscape 6 is the first
browser from the "browser wars" competitors (namely, M$ and Netscape) that
does _not_ contain any Mosaic code.
--
Sridhar Dhanapalan.
"There are two major products that come from Berkeley:
LSD and UNIX. We don't believe this to be a coincidence."
-- Jeremy S. Anderson
