A public internet deserves great beaches
Firefox releases have cool codenames while in gestation. As Chelsea explains, Firefox picks national parks as codenames, as metaphors for the values that go into making a Firefox release.
The idea made a lot of sense to us, so we decided to follow suit for Thunderbird. Rather than parks, we picked beaches. A good beach is a clear and compelling example of a public good. We can all go to the beach, share in the beauty and poetry of the place, swim, maybe surf. All that’s required of us in exchange is to treat it well — don’t fence it in, don’t litter, don’t crash your oil tankers into it. Yet beaches as a public commons are under threat. If Thunderbird can help beaches and beaches can help make it clear why Thunderbird matters, we all win.
Given the weather outside, it’s not too surprising that the codename for the next version of Thunderbird is Lanakai, in sunny Hawaii. “Warm turquoise green waters brush up against a fine sand beach while gentle trade winds offer a cool relief from the hot Hawaiian days. This beach is great for relaxing on the sand or taking a swim in it’s clear waters”. That pretty much sold us. Also, we can dream about having a Thunderbird summit there someday.
This sounds like a great way to tell people about Mozilla’s mission along with talking about our technology.
Next step is to have a contest for people to send us pictures from that beach to give everyone a good excuse to go visit
To be consistent, “Minefield” should also be renamed with a beach name, but one which clearly conveys an idea of danger. For instance :
Juno
Pascal: There’s already the name “Shredder” for Thunderbird “Minefield”.
Right, as an update: “Trunk builds” (which are never released, because they get a code name on the way to a branch) are called Shredder for Thunderbird, and Minefield for Firefox. Those aren’t codename for releases, just the ever-changing tip.
Sadly you are not the first one… There is already an open source project using names of beaches: http://otrs.org/
Errm, I think you’ll find its Lanikai:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanikai_Beach
I like the beach name idea. Coincidentally, I was just in Lanikai visiting my wifes family when TB 3 was released.
The Wikipedia picture really does not do justice. The beach has soft powder-fine white sand and a very tame surf since the waves break on a barrier reef off shore. The only complaint is that the beach is a bit short.