Firefox developer outlines plans to 'humanise' the internet

Mozilla wants to 'humanise' the internet and promote open standards that can be understood by all
Mozilla wants to 'humanise' the internet and promote open standards that can be understood by all

The Mozilla Foundation has outlined its long-term mission for developing the online web experience and user control of the internet over the next century, claiming that Firefox is just the start.

Mozilla Foundation head Mitchell Baker told the Register recently that the open source group's mission was "to build certain qualities into the human experience of the internet" and that while Firefox was "important for the immediate future" Mozilla has "barely started in user control."

According to executive director Mark Surman is leading a Mozilla project called Drumbeat, which uses a new set of independent programs in open-web technologies like HTML 5 "where students' work is rated and scored using a peer-rating system designed to go beyond the standard Microsoft or Cisco certifications."

Humanising technology

Surman outlined Drumbeat's objectives as follows: "Clearly, the goal is to get out to a new circle of people who care about the web already but who don't have a way to participate.

"We don't know what the market will be 100 years from now, but we do know that a dramatic increase in levels of ownership and participation in the web will be critical."

Surman wants to see university courses in HTML 5, Cascading Style Sheets and JavaScript and courses that promote Mozilla's Canvas.

"Hopefully over time that's something that starts to compete with and replace the Cisco academies and Microsoft engineers - more traditional teaching and training. We can use the power and ethics of the web for people to teach each other skills and get jobs," said the Mozilla web guru.

"It's not hard to get tens of thousands [involved] - they are knocking on the door now. And they are going to talk to their friends, neighbours, and colleagues, and that will help people who don't know the difference between Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Chrome," Surman said.

"They are the next layer of people who come in five to 10 years from now - and that's the next stage of the game."

Via The Register

Adam Hartley
Latest in Browsers
Woman using a Windows computer with Microsoft Edge
Don’t panic – Microsoft’s Edge browser isn’t about to subject you to a flood of unblocked adverts (not yet, anyway)
Google Chrome browser icon
A new split-screen feature is coming to Google Chrome, and it's surprisingly powerful
The Microsoft Edge logo on a black background displayed on a laptop screen.
Microsoft just gave Edge a great new feature to ensure the browser doesn’t slow down the PC, and it’s tempting me to switch from Google Chrome
Google Chrome with Christmas theme in Windows 11
I've used Edge, Firefox, and Opera, and yet after ten years in tech journalism, I still come back to Chrome
Woman using a Windows computer with Microsoft Edge
Microsoft gets rid of ‘Edge uninstall’ advice page after facing criticism over it having nothing to do with removing the app, and just promoting the browser instead
Microsoft Edge
Sorry, you're not getting Microsoft Edge off of your PC, at least according to its new 'uninstall' document
Latest in News
An image of the Nintendo Switch 2
Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders will start on April 2 according to Best Buy Canada
Person printing
Microsoft’s latest Windows 11 update exorcises possessed printers that spewed out pages of random characters
Pro-Ject A1.2 in black, playing a vinyl record in a hi-fi listening room
Pro-Ject's new fully-automatic turntable could be the buy of Record Store Day 2025
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet reportedly won't release until after 2026, as Neil Druckmann says that staff 'are playing it at the office' right now - but I don't think I can wait that long
Screenshot from action RPG soulslike Lies of P
Lies of P Overture won't elaborate on the game's eyebrow-raising post-credits twist, and I think that's good news
Nintendo Switch 2
The Switch 2 launching with a Mario Kart game 'is very unlike Nintendo' compared to the original Switch releasing with Breath of the Wild, says former marketing leads: 'That's what's gonna make you want to buy the new hardware'