The future of Firefox operating system (OS) is a bit more uncertain now after its creator Mozilla lost its technology chief. Mozilla is perhaps best known for its Firefox OS and browser. The man who oversaw both tech products has now left Mozilla, however, to pursue a startup venture. That man is Andreas Gal, who was Chief Technology Officer at Mozilla for almost seven years.
Why did Gal leave? To launch a startup that wants to provide the computer intelligence behind the Internet of Things, which is a general term that refers to everything from the web to door locks. This is a new market that Gal is heading into, which leaves behind Mozilla, and its tech future is in peril.
Furthermore, Mozilla is about to face competition from its former president Li Gong, who has created a new setup. This venture is creating a mobile OS that takes a similar web-based viewpoint as Firefox’s operating system. The startup cleverly is becoming known as Gone Fishing. It was in April that Gong left Mozilla as per his LinkedIn account.
Mozilla became part of Samsung, Microsoft, and Blackberry, after realizing it couldn’t compete successfully with the competition. Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android operating systems have the majority of the market, and that leaves little room for other contenders.
The loss of both Gong and Gal will be a hard hit for Mozilla. The strategy for Firefox OS will have to be revamped. Gal’s startup, meanwhile, will get set to rival Firefox OS. His startup is with two other ex-Firefox employees. They are Chris Jones, a founder of Firefox OS along with Gal, and Michael Vines, who was Firefox OS’s first Qualcomm engineer.
Perhaps there will be a strengthened relationship forming between Gal’s startup and Gong’s startup. We will wait to see what the future holds for the Firefox alumni.
