Asa Dotzler
Asa Dotzler ( /ˈeɪsə ˈdɒtslər/; born June 5, 1974) is an American software developer best known for his work in development of the Firefox browser through its evolution from his volunteer work when Netscape released Mozilla as open source code and employment as community coordinator for several Mozilla projects to director of Mozilla's Firefox desktop. He was founder of Mozilla's Quality Assurance (QA) and Testing Program, which grew under his leadership from just a few contributors when Dotzler joined the project to tens of thousands of volunteers today.
Dotzler is also co-founder of the Spread Firefox project with Blake Ross, launched in October 2004, where he spearheaded Mozilla's open source marketing program. Spread Firefox is charged with empowering Firefox community members to raise awareness of the popular web browser. Today, he works with Mozilla's Technology Evangelism team, helping people understand, build, and benefit from the Open Web.
Dotzler has been an active member of the Mozilla community since 1998. After volunteering for more than a year, Dotzler joined "staff@mozilla.org", the leadership team for the Mozilla organization, and has played a key role in delivering products including the release of Mozilla 1.0 and the release of the Mozilla Firefox web browser and Mozilla Thunderbird e-mail client. He has spoken about Firefox and Mozilla's mission around the world in cities including Tokyo, Moscow, Seoul, Beijing, São Paulo, Rio de Janiero, Buenos Aires, Monterrey, San Diego, Seattle, and Portland (OR).
Dotzler is known in his community for tracking the 2009 Lockheed Fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains[1].
Mozilla work
Dotzler is currently an employee of the Mozilla Corporation, producers of the Firefox Web browser. Before moving to the Corporation, Dotzler was one of the original employees at the non-profit Mozilla Foundation. Dotzler's first paying job on the cross-platform Mozilla web browser was in Mountain View, California as an employee of Netscape Communications Corporation. He was hired by Netscape in May 2000 to work with the "staff@mozilla.org" team. When AOL shut down the Netscape browser unit in July 2003, Dotzler was an original member of the team to start up the Mozilla Foundation. Before joining Netscape, Dotzler worked on Mozilla as a volunteer for over a year while living in Austin, Texas. Dotzler moved to Austin in 1997 after meeting his spouse, Deanna Pierce.
Blog
Dotzler maintains an active weblog with an emphasis on Mozilla development and news, and also at times cover topics of personal or academic interest.
Quotes
- "I think we're going to see some serious bottom up pressure in the enterprise space... We'll even get some of the big boys in the Fortune 500... It's going to be a great year for Firefox, and it won't be limited to the home user."
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- In a 2005 entry on his Mozilla blog: Enterprise Adoption - weblogs.mozillazine.org.
- "Webmasters, listen up. Respect your users or you will lose them. With Firefox, the user is no longer just a spectator, he's a participant. Play nice or face extinction. Seriously."
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- Regarding website owner practices; from Dotzler's article: No Respect for the User
- "Even more exciting is how much progress Firefox is making and how quickly. At nearly 20% and growing almost half a point per month, I don't think anyone can discount Firefox's potential to succeed in the enterprise as well as it is with consumers. Go Firefox!"
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- In a 2008 entry the same blog: Stats from tall buildings - weblogs.mozillazine.org
- "Yeah, I'm just a critic and I had absolutely nothing to do with bringing Firefox to 250 million users. Dave, go piss up a rope."
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- Responding to Dave Winer in Feb. 2009 stating, "It's so easy to be a critic, and so much harder to make a contribution. To some extent because of people like yourself.": brilliance
- From the dialog between Dotzler and Mike Kaply in Kaply's blog: Kaply: If you want to kill IE, you have to win in the corporation. Dotzler: "I don’t want to kill IE. I want to empower users, promote innovation, and increase participation on the Open Web." Kaply: You’re basically saying you don’t care about corporations. Dotzler: "Yes, I’m basically saying that I don’t care about making Firefox enterprise friendly." Kaply: Does that mean you want a large user base to stay attached to IE? Dotzler: "IE9 is a fine browser and probably better suited to those who want long-term support. It’ll always be behind the consumer browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera) but it does offer enterprises a more conservative and slow-moving option.", June 23, 2011
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- Understanding the Corporate Impact
- "Years ago, we didn't have the resources [to solve the enterprise support problem]. Today, I argue, we shouldn't care even if we do have the resources because of the cost benefit trade," Dotzler said. "A minute spent making a corporate user happy can better be spent making many regular users happy. I'd much rather Mozilla spend its limited resources looking out for the billions of users that don't have enterprise support systems already taking care of them." Dotzler later added, "Enterprise has never been (and I'll argue, shouldn't be) a focus of ours," Dotzler said. "I can't imagine why we'd focus at all on the kinds of environments you care so much about.", June 24, 2011
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- Microsoft exploits uproar over Firefox 4's retirement to beat IE drum"
Quotes about Dotzler
- "Finally, Mozilla had a product that could compete with Microsoft. The question now was how to publicize it. Open-source management seemed to work well when it came to developing software. But open-source marketing was an unexplored concept. Would people be willing to volunteer to get the word out on Firefox? Baker thought they might, and one reason was Asa Dotzler."
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- Inc. Magazine February 2007; "Mitchell Baker and the Firefox Paradox"
External links
Official sites
News and media
- LQ Radio Interview — Interview with Dotzler on LinuxQuestions Radio (July 27, 2005)
- Behind the scenes at Mozilla HQ — A glimpse of the Mozilla Foundation office including Dotzler from ZDNet UK (July 19, 2005).
- Firefox: The alternative history — Interview with Dotzler from ZDNet UK (July 19, 2005).
- Firefox: Doing it for love — Another interview with Dotzler from ZDNet UK (July 19, 2005).
- Mozilla: IE 7 to boost Firefox growth — from CNet (July 18, 2005)
- Why Linux isn't ready for desktops — Commentary by Dotzler from ZDNet Australia (July 18, 2005).
- Job Morph: Herding Cats — Fast Company magazine article on Dotzler (March, 2007).
- 25 Years of PC Magazine: Year Twenty 2001, Innovators: Asa Dotzler — PC Magazine article on Dotzler (September, 2007)
- Firefox Turns 500 Million — Interview with Dotzler on NPR (February 25, 2008).
- Mozilla's Asa Dotzler on Firefox, Fighting Bloat and the Problem with Democracy — Interview with Dotzler on WIRED Blogs (March 27, 2008).
- Mozilla at 10: A Photo Tour of the Lizard’s Lair — Dotzler in WIRED Gallery celebrating 10th anniversary of the birth of the Mozilla project (March 29, 2008).
References
| Persondata |
| Name |
Dotzler, Asa |
| Alternative names |
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| Short description |
Software developer |
| Date of birth |
June 5, 1974 |
| Place of birth |
Summertown, Tennessee, United States |
| Date of death |
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| Place of death |
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