Eariler this month, I spoke with Brendan Eich, CTO of Mozilla and creator of JavaScript. We discussed the development process for the open-source Firefox browser, the status of Firefox mobile, and new competition.
Eich maintained that increasing competition from Google and Apple, as well as Microsoft, is good for developers and users. It also helps that the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation garnered $75 million in revenue, mostly from its search partnership with Google, which ironically just launched Chrome, a competitor to Firefox. With $33 million in expenses last year, it appears the Mozilla team is well funded to continue development at a rapid pace and attract top talent.
Regarding competition with Google's Chrome and other browsers, Eich said:
It's really a neck and neck race. There is a contest going on not only between Google and Mozilla but also Apple to have the fastest JavaScript engine, to have the best performance on various benchmarks. This is great. Competition is good for users and for Web developers. Another focus for us, especially for me is the Web developers...We are right in there, we are slugging it out. On the Google benchmarks their JavaScript engine is faster, on Apple's benchmarks we're faster than Google currently. It is going to vary, you are going to see it go back and forth, so it is only going to go up, which is the best thing for developers and that is what we are focused on.
Watch the video
On this week's EIC Squared podcast ZDNet's Larry Dignan and I discuss Google's latest disruption in the Web 2.0 field, the Chrome browser, as well as Apple's product launch event on September 9. In addition, Larry explains his idea that Dell and Salesforce.com could merge. Dell is trying to be more of a software company and is using the Force.com platform, and Salesforce.com is a major Dell customer. But, it's unclear how Salesforce.com, its shareholders and customers, would hugely benefit from a union.
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