To Be Continue ...

In Mitchell's blog earlier post, Thunderbird Discussion, she listed few themes she could see from 159 (and counting ...) comments in Email Call to Action post. Until recent post on July 30, Thunderbird -- Revenue, she seems to have answered all questions
she listed previously. Let's see how she answers them:

1. Google is involved somehow.
   NO, NO, NO!
   % Google and Google products had nothing to do with this decision.
   % We did not ask Google about Thunderbird product planning, Thunderbird revenue, gmail product planning or gmail revenue.
   % We did not ask Google's opinion.
   % Google's plans for gmail -- whatever they are, and they are unknown to me -- are irrelevant to this decision.
   
   
2. Thunderbird and the Mozilla mission.
   Thunderbird doesn't fit into the mission of the Mozilla Foundation, is not my view at all. The other options are on the table precisely because Thunderbird is indeed within the Mozilla mission and none of us wants to see it decline. The question is:
   % How does the Mozilla Foundation best serve its mission?
   % Where does it focus?
   % How do we develop maximum participation in our software development and in improving the quality of Internet life?
   more ...
   
   
3. Feature thoughts about Thunderbird.
   People are encourage to take these topic to the Thunderbird development and discussion areas.
   
   
4. Why can't Thunderbird and Firefox both prosper inside the Mozilla Corporation?
   Money is NOT a problem! (?) The problem is trying to do two different types of things exceptionally well at the same time which is EXTRAORDINARILY difficult. Firefox gets the priority and will continue to get the vast bulk of resources. Firefox effects are felt in the standards world, where Firefox's footprint strengthens our efforts to move web standards forward. The effects of Firefox go far beyond the daily user experience of its usersbase. Thunderbird serves a userbase that is least in the order of magnitude.
   
   This is our setting. This is why I say that I do not see the existing Mozilla development organization increasing its focus on Thunderbird in the forseeable future. Every time we look at it we are convinced that the current prioritization is correct. We want Thunderbird to thrive as an open alternative for email. Thus the current effort to find a structure where Thunderbird and email can be the focus.
   
   
5. Is Mozilla exclusively focused on Firefox?
   YES! This could perhaps be OK if the two products were very similar, so that work on one was intimately related to the other. We have found this not to be the case. The two are complementary products for a set of users, but much less so in development. There are a number of reasons. The products are different, the userbase is different, the international aspects are different. The world is still moving new things into the browser platform, but many consumers are moving away, have already moved away or may never use stand-alone desktop email.
   
   % Web mail usage grows.
   % There are many parts of the world where email is less common than in the US, Western Europe or Japan.
   % Thunderbird is much closer to an enterprise product. Development may still focus on what's useful to an individual. But given the consumer adoption of webmail, enterprises are a significant source of interest in desktop email.
   
   
6. Revenue is the determining factor.
   NO, NO, NO! The reasons for looking at a change are:
   % The impact of browsing and the web, as delivered through Firefox, dwarfs Thunderbird. % Thunderbird is a different enough product and audience that the focus on browsing and the web doesn't automatically bring Thunderbird what it needs.
   % Thunderbird -- both its strengths and its weaknesses - are overshadowed by the giant footprint of Firefox.

Has everything come to an end? What will happen to Thunderbird? After all those PR calling us to get involved, where is she directing us to? Is she directing us to somewhere (or nowhere)? She still didn't claim her motive for the call in her blog. However, we shall see later.

I don't think that special call is done just for asking more people getting involved in Thunderbird! I don't know why I have such bad feeling about her call, I just believe that there must be some conflict among CEO and developers, a conflict about vision and resource for Thunderbird. Well, is it having others to discuss about the conflict in cooperation a value of openness and freedom? Or is it just like an ordinary general election debate, where each of them stands on own point of view, fighting for their own rights?