Eudora Going OSS

[Michael Brian Bentley]

The world's greatest email client of all time -- 
that is, the one that has given me the least 
number of problems since 1987 or so -- goes open 
source.

Press releases from Qualcomm and Mozilla:

http://www.eudora.com/press/2006/eudora-mozilla_final_10.11.06.html

http://www.mozilla.com/press/mozilla-2006-10-11.html

QUALCOMM Launches Project in Collaboration with 
Mozilla Foundation to Develop Open Source Version 
of Eudora Email Program

Open Source Version of Eudora will be Free of 
Charge; Final Commercial Versions of Classic 
Eudora for Windows and Mac Available Now

SAN DIEGO - October 11, 2006 - QUALCOMM 
Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM), a leading developer 
and innovator of Code Division Multiple Access 
(CDMA) and other advanced wireless technologies, 
and the Mozilla Foundation, a public-benefit 
organization dedicated to promoting choice and 
innovation on the Internet, today announced that 
future versions of Eudora® will be based upon the 
same technology platform as the open source 
Mozilla Thunderbird email program. Future 
versions of Eudora will be free and open source, 
while retaining Eudora's uniquely rich feature 
set and productivity enhancements. QUALCOMM and 
Mozilla will each participate in, and continue to 
foster development communities based around the 
open source Mozilla project, with a view to 
enhancing the capabilities and ease of use of 
both Eudora and Thunderbird. QUALCOMM also today 
announced that it has released the final 
commercial versions of the current Eudora 
products for Windows and Mac operating systems. 
The open source version of Eudora is targeted to 
release during the first half of calendar year 
2007. Once the open source version of Eudora is 
released, QUALCOMM will cease to sell Eudora 
commercially. In the interim, QUALCOMM will 
continue commercial sales, at a reduced price of 
$19.95 and with a six-month period of technical 
support. Existing technical support commitments 
will be honored in their entirety.

"I'm excited for Eudora to be returning to the 
open source community," said Steve Dorner, vice 
president of technology for QUALCOMM's Eudora 
Group. "Using the Mozilla Thunderbird technology 
platform as a basis for future versions of Eudora 
will provide some key infrastructure that the 
existing versions lacked, such as a 
cross-platform code base and a world-class 
display engine. Making it open source will bring 
more developers to bear on Eudora than ever 
before."

"We're pleased to welcome Eudora and its millions 
of users to the world of open source," said Frank 
Hecker, executive director of the Mozilla 
Foundation. "This effort should further enrich 
the Thunderbird technology platform and provide 
users of both products with an even richer email 
experience."