chase's blog

At the Firefox Summit in December 2005 during the Mozilla Project Dynamics talk, Mitchell posed the question of what concerns we had as changes occurred within the Mozilla ecosystem. The concern I mentioned was that as the changes happened, we may forget who we were. It was a concern of an identity crisis. But as I vocalized my concern, I realized (and spoke) that I wasn't sure the community was even conscious of its own identity. Those present nodded in agreement. How could this problem come about? I don't believe it's the result of anyone's miscalculation. It likely stems from an informal group dynamic.

• The project is open source. One can get at the code without signing documents, or agreeing to the project's mission. The project is what people make of it.
• When people become a part of the community, prove themselves, and move into positions of responsibility throughout the project, no one's required to state an oath to selected principles.
• The "shared knowledge" in our community is a common phenomenon among projects of all sizes. But as we've grown from small to large, shared knowledge that's not written down has become a detriment.

These are a few things that lead to a big problem: No one knows why the other is here. So what unites us?

Are we united by a cool app? By many cool apps or the prospect of a cool app? Are we united by purpose of freedom? By community? Are we here for what could come? Is the process part of the reward? Or do we exist in a vacuum of values, where utility derived from the code is irrelevant to our communal interactions?

We are a bohemian collective of tech rebels and stalwarts. Sometimes we are our own producers and our own consumers. We are for our users. We are for open source projects. We are strong and unsure. Weak and wise. We provide a means for others' expression (such as Flickr, IBM, and Google on the web and with email). We can be method without soul, or soul without expression. Can we simply be what we choose to be?

What do you think Mozilla is all about? I welcome you to offer your views for what you see as the Mozilla project's identity in comments below.

As I see it, categorization, definition, etc. is nothing more than a tool... one that our minds use to assist with communication, group what it takes in in order to filter out the noise, etc. and trying to put down in words what the identity of a person, organization, etc. is can just as often be self-limiting.

So I ask, what value are you trying to get from these views? I ask because I believe there can be value and I would like to hear your thoughts on the value you see in this. I don't necessarily believe that it is a bad thing for identity to change over time (e.g. identity crisis) or that it is always necessary for it to be written down... though I do believe it is more often better for it to be written down - with due care taken so it is not self-limiting - so others that resonate to one degree or another with it are drawn into the community.

Posted by: Robert Strong at March 26, 2006 8:26 PM

What unites us is trying to make the world a better place. I think so anyway. We've changed the world for better or worse and we continue to do it every day. Our impact is humongous, in my humble opinion.

We're not united by just Firefox or a cool app to come. We're united because of community and knowing we can do better.

Posted by: Rafael at March 26, 2006 9:41 PM

We are UBM: United by Mozilla. That's our goal and it's what keeps us together.

Posted by: Christopher at March 27, 2006 6:33 AM

My thoughts: http://fantasai.inkedblade.net/weblog/2006/about-mozilla/

I'm interested to read what other people have to say. :)

Posted by: fantasai at March 27, 2006 2:04 PM