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<div id="newHeader"> <b>To: </b>"Kent
James"<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:kent@caspia.com"><kent@caspia.com></a> <br>
<b>From: </b>"David Ascher"<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:dascher@mozilla.com"><dascher@mozilla.com></a><br>
<b>CC: </b>"tb-planning" <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:tb-planning@mozilla.org">tb-planning@mozilla.org</a> <br>
<b>Sent: </b>Tuesday, 25/09/12 00:45:10 00:45 GMT Daylight Time
{GMT DT} +0100 [Week 39]<br>
<b>Subject:</b>Re: Proposal for Thunderbird crowdfunding </div>
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<br>
<blockquote class=" cite"
id="mid_D0EEBD1D_A586_446F_96F2_BDE4D87AE258_mozilla_com"
cite="mid:D0EEBD1D-A586-446F-96F2-BDE4D87AE258@mozilla.com"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">[David] +1 to Kent for pushing on this topic.
</pre>
</blockquote>
same here, most of the guys on the Tb Team know this is also my
stance on the future for Tb.<br>
<br>
<blockquote class=" cite"
id="mid_D0EEBD1D_A586_446F_96F2_BDE4D87AE258_mozilla_com"
cite="mid:D0EEBD1D-A586-446F-96F2-BDE4D87AE258@mozilla.com"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">
[David] I don't yet know what business models could work for Thunderbird, not for lack of trying. But I think we should keep exploring, pushing, discussing, how to make Thunderbird sustainable.</pre>
</blockquote>
Even more so - I would state "We _must_ develop a business model to
make Thunderbird sustainable. Otherwise it is destined to drop into
oblivion."<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">[Kent] That is my fear of where we are
headed with Thunderbird. I get the sense that people believe that
the really right thing to do is for armies of people to come
forward and offer to volunteer their experience to make this thing
really go. People who talk about monetization are viewed with
suspicion, as somehow not getting the message that it is "not
about money", it is supposed to be about having fun and doing
great things.<br>
</blockquote>
My question is, is this really the case? What is the view of the
community on this - are they really opposed to the thought of paying
for management / development? After all, when the project / teams
were paid by Mozilla, they didn't mind, either. I would much more
prefer to see Thunderbird sustaining itself than being in any way
dependent on monies from the Mozilla foundation (which must focus on
B2G / FxOS at the moment). I would even prefer outright hiring back
some of the time of the talented and knowledgeable people on the
existing Tb-Team who will be forced to re-allocate large portions of
their current work time to other Mozilla projects, a thing that
would be possible if Thunderbird had a Mozilla-independent
Management group.<br>
<br>
At the moment, the plan seems to be "outsource to the community, but
let them donate their work efforts for free" although it could be
"outsource to the community and let Thunderbird build a business
model to sustain itself". These is definitely a market, as we also
can see from the encouraging news from the French government. At the
moment Tb management seems to be in deep freeze until resources are
used up, and I do not think this is a good strategy to deal with the
future. <br>
<br>
If Mozilla is interested in "not killing" Thunderbird, I would like
to see at least _one_ official business manager / leader working on
this project full time in order to help making it self sustained,
and helping to "pass the key". I remember JB's slides from his
presentation (community to the bridge, Mozilla staff to the engine
room) - if Tb is a ship, who is / will be the captain? <br>
<blockquote type="cite">But if that model is unable to meet the real
need of what we all hope to achieve, are you doing more harm than
good by promoting the "fun and great things" model of
participation? Or asking for a few hundred dollars, and think that
is going to make a difference, when I would guess that Mozilla has
spent over $10,000,000 in the last few years sustaining
Thunderbird?<br>
</blockquote>
Rather than guessing about this, it would be good to know some of
the real figures, which plays into the "lack of management" topic.
Let's keep the discussion up, and please participate if you have any
opinion on this.<br>
<br>
thanks,<br>
Axel<br>
<br>
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<b class="myName" style="text-shadow: 1px 1px 2px
#DDD;cursor:pointer;-moz-transition-property:font-size;
-moz-transition-duration: 0.5s;">Axel Grude</b> [T]
<br>
Software Developer
<br>
Thunderbird Add-ons Developer
<span style="color:#666666; font-size:xx-small">(QuickFolders,
quickFilters, QuickPasswords, Zombie Keys, SmartTemplate4)</span>
<br>
AMO Editor </div>
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