New Web Based Mobile OS By Mozilla On The Way

By | July 26, 2011


New Web Based Mobile OS By Mozilla On The Way

It appears as if Mozilla is planning on developing what is deemed a truly open source mobile operating system based on the web. An HTML5 based mobile OS, to be exact.

Boot to Gecko, the name of the project as announced by researcher Andreas Gal, will be done in the open and all code would be published as it is written.

As many of you know, Gecko is the rendering engine that powers Firefox. The aim of the project will be to get apps running without the need for the browser, effectively creating a web based OS. Some building blocks from Android are going to be utilized for booting and drivers, though ditching Google’s OS is an option if that’s what the Mozilla community feels is best.

Mozilla believes that the web can displace proprietary, single vendor stacks for application development. To make open web technologies a better basis for future applications on mobile and desktop alike, we need to keep pushing the envelope of the web to include – and in places exceed – the capabilities of the competing stacks in question. – Andreas Gal, researcher at Mozilla

The project is looking to the Mozilla community to take part in the development of Boot to Gecko and if you have an interest in this, check out the link below.

Booting to the Web


About (Author Profile)


Being passionate about software, Armin joined FavBrowser.com in early 2011 and has been actively writing ever since. Having accepted the challenge, he also enjoys watching anime, indulging in good books, staying fit and healthy, and trying new things.

Comments (4)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Let’s hope it’s better than the current Mozilla products that are all huge bloated messes.

    • Shane Bundy says:

      I hate to say it, but I don’t think it will. It will be messy to integrate it and to build.

      The bloated Mozilla codebase won’t make it easy.

  2. Asknobody says:

    Mozilla from not on could change name to Copycat. I just don’t know how logo could represent copycats :)

  3. Shane Bundy says:

    Am I right in saying Mozilla idolises Google? The release cycles and the browser-based OSes sounds like it.

    Asknobody, I’d have no idea either but at least it would stick to Mozilla’s history of animal-based logos. :P