One consequence of the acquisition of Netscape Communications Corp by America Online Inc has been a certain level of anxiety in the open source community, which Netscape has been wooing for over a year, both by releasing the source code to its browser software and by acquiring the collective portal effort, Newhoo (CI No 3,541). On November 25, open source evangelist Eric Raymond published an open letter to AOL, in which he urged executives to continue to support the Mozilla browser project in particular and to take up Netscape’s productive alliance with the open source community in general. What’s good for AOL and us, in this case, is good for the consumer as well, Raymond argued, open standards increase competition and lower prices, and they create more niches in which new ideas and services can flourish. AOL appears to have been persuaded by the rhetoric. After reading Mozilla project leader Jamie Zawinski’s Fear and Loathing posting (CI No 3,546), Steve Case responded with a personal email. I did want to let you know personally that we’re very supportive of mozilla.org; indeed, we’re hopeful that our involvement might rally even more support among developers in the open source community, Case wrote. Mike Homer said Mozilla is larger than Netscape. I know it’s larger than AOL, too. For his NewHoo founder Christopher Tolles told Associated Press that he appreciated the extra month’s pay Case promised all Netscape employees when he visited the company headquarters. Otherwise, Tolles said he was unmoved by the acquisition. This merger didn’t exactly rock my world, he said.
