- Tristan Nitot discusses Mozilla's vision of an open web as the dominant mobile platform. He outlines issues with current smartphone models like vendor lock-in and censorship. Mozilla is developing Firefox for Android, a web API platform, and the Boot to Gecko mobile OS to allow users more control and promote an open, programmable web experience across all devices. Their goal is for the web to replace native apps and empower users through open standards and distribution outside centralized app stores.
UiPath Community: AI for UiPath Automation Developers
User freedom and control on the Web: from desktop to mobile
1. ConfSL 2012, Ancona -
User freedom and
control on the Web:
from desktop to mobile
Tristan NITOT
Principal Mozilla Evangelist
blog.mozilla.org/beyond-the-code
@nitot
2. Agenda
- Who is Mozilla?
- Program or be programmed
- PC vs Web vs Smartphones
- Mozilla’s approach: the Web is the Platform
- Firefox for Android and Web APIs
- Apps and Marketplace
- Boot To Gecko
6. Mozilla Manifesto
(excerpt)
- The Internet is a global public resource that
must remain open and accessible.
- The Internet should enrich the lives of
individual human beings.
- Individuals' security on the Internet is
fundamental and cannot be treated as optional.
- Individuals must have the ability to shape
their own experiences on the Internet.
7. Program or be
programmed
(a book by Douglas Rushkoff)
8. When humans beings acquired
language, we learned not just
to listen but how to speak.
When we gained literacy, we
learned not how to read but
how to write. And as we move
into increasingly digital reality,
we must learn not just how to
use programs but how to
make them.
9. In the emerging, highly
programmed landscape ahead,
you will either create the software
or you will be the software. It’s
really that simple: program, or be
programmed. Choose the former,
and you gain access to the
control panel of civilization.
Choose the latter, and it could be
the last real choice you get to
make.
10. In a PC world
- You have to pick a platform (Windows, Mac
OS, GNU/Linux)
- You create or buy or download software
- You use software
- Unhappy?
- Use some other software
- Patch it (if it’s Open Source / Free Software)
11. In a Web world
- Create/buy/install the software you want on
you server OR use existing service
- Use it in any browser, any device, from
everywhere
- No need to ask permission from anyone for
writing, deploying and using software! (Unless
you use someone else’s service)
12. In a Smartphone
world
- Pick a device (that comes with an OS and an
AppStore)
- Buy (or not) software that was allowed to be
featured in the AppStore. (Significant
censorship issues there)
- Want to patch? You’re out of luck. (Generativity/
participation issue there).
- Switching platform? Out of luck too. (Vendor
lock-in)
13. 2012 is the year when
the smartphones will
outsell PCs
14. We’re entering a
world where:
- The end-users have less control than with PCs
and the Web
- Tinkering / hacking / programming / creating is
discouraged
- Vendor lock-in is more important
- Censorship is more powerful
24. The web is the
platform
- Examples: Facebook, GMail, GMaps, Twitter...
25. The web is the
platform
- Examples: Facebook, GMail, GMaps, Twitter...
- As efficient as native apps
26. The web is the
platform
- Examples: Facebook, GMail, GMaps, Twitter...
- As efficient as native apps
- Run on every device that has a modern Web
browser
47. Mozilla Marketplace
- One distribution system
- Others could run their own
- Free and paid apps
- Reaches half a billion users
48. Mozilla Marketplace
- One distribution system
- Others could run their own
- Free and paid apps
- Reaches half a billion users
- Will run on different browsers, OSes and
devices.
52. What it is?
- Open Source mobile OS: Linux Kernel +
Gecko + Web Apps
53. What it is?
- Open Source mobile OS: Linux Kernel +
Gecko + Web Apps
- Everything is a web app
54. What it is?
- Open Source mobile OS: Linux Kernel +
Gecko + Web Apps
- Everything is a web app
- First partners: Telefonica and Qualcomm
55. What it is?
- Open Source mobile OS: Linux Kernel +
Gecko + Web Apps
- Everything is a web app
- First partners: Telefonica and Qualcomm
- First goal: Brazil in early 2013