Mozilla gains stronghold in Europe
Mozilla Europe founded to advance Mozilla products in Europe.
February 17, 2004 (the Internet) - The Mozilla Foundation and European Mozilla contributors today announced the launch of the www.mozilla-europe.org web site and the Mozilla Europe non-profit organization to promote, develop and help deploy Mozilla products in Europe. These products include the award-winning Mozilla 1.6 web browser.
The Mozilla Europe initiative was founded by Peter Van der Beken and Tristan Nitot, both Mozilla contributors located in Europe, in order to leverage Europe as a source of contributors and users of the products.
The www.mozilla-europe.org web site is launched simultaneously in four languages (English, French, German and Spanish), underlining the added value that Mozilla Europe brings to the Mozilla project by leveraging Europe's Mozilla volunteers and their expertise in localization. Other translations will follow soon, starting with Dutch, Italian and Slovak.
"We see a tremendous potential for the Mozilla products in Europe. The European market is looking for reliable, secure and cross-platform web browsers and e-mail clients, and Mozilla is extremely well positioned to deliver on these needs", says Tristan Nitot, President of Mozilla Europe. "The products are great, users love them. But we know that giving away the best products is not enough, and we feel that companies and public services alike need local representation to discuss product evolution and ask for services before deploying Mozilla products on a large scale. We are here to help them".
Mitchell Baker, for the Mozilla Foundation, added: "We are delighted to see local, trusted, long-time Mozilla contributors create the first international Mozilla affiliate organization to help foster Mozilla development and deployment in Europe. There's tremendous untapped interest in Mozilla products in Europe from end users, public institutions and the private sector as well as a community of volunteer contributors that's eager to move the project to the next level. The Mozilla Europe team brings an impressive set of skills to achieve these dual goals of fostering Mozilla adoption and building an even more active community of Mozilla developers in Europe".
Tristan Nitot brings to Mozilla Europe his experience of Marketing, Technical Training, Technology Evangelism and Business Development in the IT industry, including 7 years at Netscape-AOL.
Peter Van der Beken, co-founder and Technical Director, brings to Mozilla Europe his 5 years' experience of working on the Mozilla project, recently as the XLST module owner, DOM module co-owner and super-reviewer. In the past, Mr. Van der Beken used to represent AOL/Netscape at the W3C XSLT Working Group.
Mozilla Europe's board of Directors also includes 4 other people:
- Pascal Chevrel, French citizen, renowned for helping French and Spanish Mozilla users with technical support issues;
- Axel Hecht, German citizen and Mozilla contributor;
- Olivier Meunier, French citizen and open source software DotClear contributor;
- Jan Varga, Slovak citizen and Mozilla contributor.
ABOUT MOZILLA EUROPE
Established in January 2004 by long-time Mozilla contributors from several European countries, Mozilla Europe aims to promote, develop and contribute to the Mozilla open source software project. Mozilla Europe is based in Paris, France.
ABOUT THE MOZILLA FOUNDATION
Established in July 2003 with start-up support from America Online's Netscape division, the Mozilla Foundation exists to provide organizational, legal, and financial support for the Mozilla open source software project. The Foundation is based in Mountain View, California and is the heir to the great legacy and tradition of the Internet's first widely used browser, Netscape. Mozilla and the Mozilla logo are trademarks of the Mozilla Foundation.
PRESS CONTACTS:
In Europe:
Tristan Nitot, +33 6 11 47 05 72
email: press@mozilla-europe.org
In the US:
Bart Decrem, (650) 387-0625
Catherine Corre, (650) 814-1356
email: press@mozilla.org
For the latest Mozilla-related news and commentary, as well as support and discussion, please visit MozillaZine, http://www.mozillazine.org/, the largest independent Mozilla news and support site on the web.