"I'm not in this for the money. I truly love it," Ross says. "I could never see myself sitting in a cubicle."
I wanted to write about fifty percent of the duo that helped bring Firefox to the forefront of internet browsing, Blake Ross. At the age of 15, well still in high school, Ross went to work for Netscape to help develop their web browser but quickly became disillusioned with the direction they were going in. One idea that stuck with Ross from Netscape was open source code. Open source code is an approach to the design, development, and distribution of software. With that idea Ross help create the Mozilla foundation and eventually the Firefox web browser. Firefox has become one of the most popular web browsers available with over 40 million people using it daily. Because Ross utilizes open source code the Mozilla Foundation is a nonprofit organization which means Firefox will always be free to the user. This gives Firefox a huge advantage against its main competitor, Internet Explorer. Because it’s free to the user and open source code it is easier for people to find and troubleshoot problems with the browser. As Ross put it, "It gives you a breadth of experience outside of just computer geeks. It also means the people are truly dedicated because there's no payday." (Time.com, 2006) Because his approach to business he has been able to help launch one of the most exciting and a successful internet browsers to date.
Lev Grossman (2006) Blake Ross. Retrieve August 10th 2009 from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570734,00.html
2 comments:
Firefox is my primary browser. I only use Internet Explorer if I absolutely have to access a website that doesn't work in Firefox. The open source code means that add-ons and functionality is more customizable to individual user preference; and since many of these are derived from actual user input/experience, the browser tends to be more "useful" than IE.
We are generally an Internet Explorer shop, but I have used Firebox when reviewing Web site pages after they've been updated. It's interesting the viewing differences from browser to browser. It sounds like I need to take the time to customize Firefox and use it.
Post a Comment