This is my report on activities of the Mozilla Foundation for the weeks ending May 26, June 2, June 9, and June 16, 2006. I should be back on my regular weekly update schedule next week.
Projects for the week
Here’s a partial listing of what I and others at the Foundation did the past few weeks:
Feed icon. I published multiple blog posts on the topic of the feed icon (aka RSS icon), including draft usage guidelines and an accompanying FAQ. I also initiated the process of abandoning the previously-submitted trademark registration application for the icon.
Next action(s): Publish final usage guidelines and FAQ, clean up any other loose ends.
Accessibility grants. Håkan Waara completed work on the OS X accessibility implementation plan (including creation of a new wiki page discussing Mozilla accessibility for Mac OS X, and submitted a new proposal for actual implementation of the recommended changes. That proposal was approved, and Håkan has started work on it. I’m still working on getting another accessibility-related grant started. Finally, I did a blog post outlining an overall motivation and vision for Foundation support of Mozilla-related accessibility work.
Next action(s): Get the other accessibility grant under way.
Calendar. The Foundation is sponsoring two volunteer contributors (Michiel van Leeuwen and Matt Willis) to attend a meeting in Toronto to discuss calendar-related issues with Dan Mosedale and other developers working on Mozilla-based calendar software.
Next action(s): Follow up on other calendar-related issues as appropriate.
Other grants. I discussed with Chris Hofmann the possibility of having the Foundation fund some Mozilla-related projects that didn’t make the cutoff for Google’s Summer of Code. I also worked with Olivia Ryan of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University to nail down final arrangements between GMU and the Foundation relating to the Mozilla Digital Memory Bank.
Next action(s): Work with Chris to identify suitable projects and find mentors for them. Clean up any loose ends with CHNM.
Certification Authorities. I evaluated and approved GRCA to have its root CA certificate included in Mozilla-based products (see bug 274106). GRCA is the root CA for a Public Key Infrastructure operated by the government of Taiwan; among other things, it issues personal certificates to Taiwanese citizens.
Next action(s): Work on more pending applications from CAs and try to clear the backlog.
NetSquared conference. I attended the NetSquared conference in San Jose on May 30–31. The main focus of the conference was the intersection of nonprofit organizations and technology, and it was a good opportunity to connect with folks at other nonprofits whose issues and activities might intersect with ours.
Next action(s): Do a blog post on the conference if/when I have time.
mozillafoundation.org. Zak Greant continued work on putting together a prototype for a standalone mozillafoundation.org web site.
Next action(s): Get design issues sorted out for the site, as well as issues with updating it. Create more content for site (adapting existing stuff on mozilla.org and elsewhere).
Security presentation. Did an informal presentation to a government panel on the general topic of how open source projects, and in particular the Mozilla project, take measures to prevent, detect, and respond to security vulnerabilities and related problems.
Next action(s): I may do a blog post on this general topic, time permitting.
Administrivia. Gerv Markham had surgery; he’s now out of hospital and back working on Mozilla stuff.
Next action(s): None at this time.
Upcoming activities
Here’s what we’ll be doing and where we’ll be in the coming months.
- I may be in Mountain View CA sometime in July for a Mozilla Foundation board meeting.
- I was planning to attend at least part of the O’Reilly Open Source Convention in Portland OR July 24–28, but will likely have to cancel the trip due to family issues. However Zak Greant is planning to be there.
This concludes the report.