Thunderbird sheds lead developers

 

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Posted on 8 Oct 2007 at 12:29

Two of the chief Thunderbird developers have announced they will not be joining the open-source email software when it moves to its new home.

Lead developer Scott McGregor and David Bienvenu both revealed on their blogs that they are leaving the Mozilla Corporation, where Thunderbird has been nurtured since its 2003 debut. Neither gave reasons for their departure.

Both will continue to "freelance" as Thunderbird developers, but their departure at such a critical stage in Thunderbird's development will not make it easy for the new Thunderbird organisation when it assumes responsibility for the software.

Mozilla announced last month that it was setting up a new company to develop internet communications software based on the Thunderbird email client.

Both McGregor and Bienvenu publicly supported Mozilla's decision to focus on its highly-profitable Firefox web browser.

Author: Simon Aughton