The strategy: Get all your developers to enlist.
That's the upshot of Netscape Communications Corp.'s (Nasdaq:NSCP) year-old "open source" program, under which most of the source code -- the raw programming data -- for its Communicator application was released to the public.
Netscape runs its open-source efforts through the Mozilla.org Web site.
The idea, borrowed from popular open-source experiments such as the Linux operating system or the Sendmail e-mail software, lets any developer play around with the application while at the same time giving them a reason to keep using Communicator.
Speed is of the essence
But perhaps more important, Netscape says it will be able to develop new browser versions faster than would otherwise be possible.
"The benefit is to increase [Communicator's] functionality and lower investment in Netscape's own resources," said Michael Sullivan-Trainor, an analyst at International Data Corp. "It's also a way to generate a level of commitment and interest. When you combine that with the new distribution channel to users through America Online, it's pretty impressive."
The first fruit of Netscape's open source effort will be the Gecko browser engine, which provides the same functionality as the current engine in Communicator at one sixth of the size.
Netscape released the source code for Gecko in December, and largely because of positive response from developers, has decided to build the next release of Communicator around the engine.
Communicator 5, the working name for the Gecko-based suite of Internet applications, is set for release sometime in the first half of 1999.
Other projects
Netscape has an ambitious slate of other Communicator projects lined up, including porting the suite to the Be and Linux operating systems. The company says the scale of these efforts wouldn't be possible without the open-source community.
"A lot of companies are doing this development on their own just because it's open source," said Chris Saito, Netscape's director of client product marketing. "Others have started porting it to other platforms. They said, 'hey, it's out there, we should try other things with this.' "
Even as its Gecko-based software is being built from the ground up, Netscape continues to add to its existing Communicator suite.
The latest version of the Navigator browser, 4.51, includes new features such as "Quotes Anywhere," which allows users to retrieve stock quotes directly through the address window.
