Roll your own

Robert S. Thau (rst@ai.mit.edu)
Thu, 22 Jan 1998 13:36:27 -0500 (EST)


tbyars@earthlink.net writes:
> A friend writes, "Rumors from sources inside the company
> say that Netscape will announce Thursday morning that it will be
> release the source code to Navigator to the public sometime this
> year. Dates are up in the air as they have to resolve how to
> distribute the source and deal with parts of Navigator that are
> licensed."

Confirmed in http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/content/zdnn/0122/277371.html;
it's apparently supposed to happen quite soon:

The source code [for NN5.0] will be available for
modification and redistribution later this
quarter when the company releases the
developer version of the software.
Netscape will also set up a special Web
site for downloads, and discussions of
the code.

A quote from Barksdale seems to be saying that they will be posting
source for the whole Communicator package, not just Navigator per se.

I've seen no specifics yet on whether and which licensed products are
included, or how they're planning to deal with the crypto issues ---
FWIW, it is interesting to note that Netscape ships Java support for
at least a few platforms on which it is not otherwise readily
available (e.g., SunOS).

rst