Goals & Philosophy
The main idea behind MozOO.org is focus. The limited offering provides high value for a select but very large target group, mainly home and small business users.
MozOO.org is consciously not aiming for hobby users and other technically proficient crowds, who are already catered for with offerings like Knoppix, The Open CD and GnuWinII. These are all excellent initiatives, aimed at different users. For straight Linux, we recommend Ubunbu.
As you will have noticed, MozOO.org CD does not contain purely Open Source products, the most significant example of this is the Java Runtime Environment. For the lay user, this component is tricky to install on it own. For instance, it would need to be installed after Firefox, but before OpenOffice.org. This is why we have decided that it is a valuable addition to the CD. It removes the hassle.
Current CD Contents
The current version of the CD is 502, which means that it was published in February 2005. We publish a new version when any of the main components releases a major update. The main components are from Mozilla and OpenOffice.org, two well-known Open Source projects.
- Firefox 1.0.1 from the Mozilla project
- Browser
- Thunderbird 1.0 from the Mozilla project
- Mail and News
- Nvu 0.81 from Disruptive Innovations
- Web page authoring and publishing
- OpenOffice.org 1.1.4 from the OpenOffice.org project
- Writer, Impress, Calc, Draw
Also included are language tools (dictionary, thesaurus, and hyphenation rules) for both Mozilla and OpenOffice.org. Additionally, the CD contains other (non Open Source) components:
- Java Runtime Environment 1.4.2 from Sun Microsystems
- Used by the Mozilla web browser for Java enabled web applications.
- Used by OpenOffice.org for scripting and database connectivity.
- Flash Player 7 and Shockwave Player 8.5 from Macromedia
- Used by Firefox web browser for rich web sites.
Future Plans
Please remember that it is not the aim of this project to fill up the CD ;-)
Also, the ISO image fits on a MiniCD, and this has turned out to have some major marketing benefits. Where we have distributed MozOO.org on a MiniCD the response has been exceptional. People simply love it. So, this is a major marketing asset we would not want to lose.
Localisation
We aim, and the installer has been designed with this in mind, to provide localised versions of the CD. This would mean that the installer will be entirely in the target language, as well as all of the components that are available in that language too. It would also change the default selections of the language tools (dictionary files).
For starters, we are looking at German and Dutch. If you can assist us with any other major languages, please let us know.
The software powering this website also enables localised pages as well as tools to ease their maintenance.
Marketing & Distribution
As the localisation effort progresses, we will also aim to increase visibility in those countries, and get physical CDs available on the local level, online or (even better!) in stores.
To Be Included
We will only look at components that will enhance or complete the current offering for our target audience, without expanding it too much.
- We already moved from the Mozilla suite to Firefox, Thunderbird and Nvu.
- We will use OpenOffice 2.0 from the next release.
- MySQL will be included to provide a database component. MySQL 4.1 and 5.0 have an excellent Windows installer, and Georg Richter has even written a complete SDBC driver to connect to MySQL from OpenOffice.org (without the need for ODBC or JDBC). We're currently working to have the MozOO.org installer deal with the rest of the steps required for database connectivity from OpenOffice.org.
- Sunbird, Mozilla's stand-alone calendaring component. Currently in "experimental but quite stable" phase, so we'll keep an eye on it and consider adding it in the future.
Potential
- Inkscape - Vector Graphics Editor (similar to Adobe Illustrator)
- GAIM - A multi-protocol instant messaging client (MSN, ICQ, etc)
- GNU Image Manipulation Program
- Audacity - Audio editor and recorder (podcasting!)
Not To Be Included
This are components that were considered for inclusion, but rejected for practical, technical or licensing reasons.
- Adobe Acrobat Reader has been considered. This would be very useful, but Adobe's licensing does not allow bundling of their reader with another non-Adobe (or non-Adobe licensed) product that can create PDF files, and of course OpenOffice.org falls in that category. Many people already have Acrobat reader anyway as it comes included with numerous other products.
- A separate SVG viewer/plug-in. They weren't stable enough. But, Firefox now has built-in SVG support!
Geek Stuff
Not to be included, as it does not serve the MozOO.org target audience. Sorry, but we have to be strict!
- Putty, a free Telnet and SSH client.
- VNC, a remote desktop client and server.
- ChatZilla (as a separate app rather than a Mozilla component). Not 100% decided on this. Feel free to try and convince us.