The Book of Mozilla
The Book of Mozilla is a well-known computer Easter egg found in the Netscape and Mozilla series of browsers.
About The Book of Mozilla
There is no real book entitled The Book of Mozilla. However, apparent quotations found in Netscape and Mozilla give this impression by revealing passages similar to the Book of Revelation of the Bible. When about:mozilla is typed into the location bar, various versions of these browsers display a message in white text on a maroon background in the browser window. In all, three different passages have been produced.
The book is named after Mozilla, Netscape's green lizard mascot, who later gave his name to the Mozilla project (whose mascot is a different, red dinosaur).
Before Netscape 1.1, about:mozilla produced the text "Mozilla rules!". In some versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer, a blank blue page is produced. Some say it is parodying the Blue Screen of Death.
The Book of Mozilla, 12:10
The Book of Mozilla first appeared in Netscape 1.1 and stayed until Netscape 4.8. The following prophecy was displayed:
And the beast shall come forth surrounded by a roiling cloud of vengeance. The house of the unbelievers shall be razed and they shall be scorched to the earth. Their tags shall blink until the end of days.
from The Book of Mozilla, 12:10
The "beast" is Netscape. The punishments threatened towards "unbelievers" (non-Netscape users) are traditionally biblical, but with the strange threat that their "tags shall blink until the end of days". This refers to the controversial <blink> HTML tag introduced in an earlier Netscape version. This proprietary HTML extension, which made text blink on and off, was widely derided as annoying, distracting, and ugly - thus making it an undesirable punishment. The chapter and verse numbers 12:10 refer to the release date of Netscape 1.0, December 10, 1994.
The Book of Mozilla, 3:31
Netscape versions 6.0 and later were based on Mozilla code and featured the following message (which was also included in all Mozilla builds):
And the beast shall be made legion. Its numbers shall be increased a thousand thousand fold. The din of a million keyboards like unto a great storm shall cover the earth, and the followers of Mammon shall tremble.
from The Book of Mozilla, 3:31
(Red Letter Edition)
Again, the "beast" is Netscape. The text probably refers to Netscape's hope that, by opening its source, they could attract a "legion" of developers all across the world, who would help improve the software (with the "din of a million keyboards"). Some suggest that "Mammon" refers obliquely to Microsoft, which seems plausible given that Microsoft Internet Explorer was Netscape's chief competition (and that the word "mammon" or "ממון" means "money" in Hebrew, as reference to Microsoft's unproportionally larger monetary power). The numbers 3:31 refer to March 31, 1998, the date on which Netscape released their source code. This day is considered important enough to be a "Red Letter" Day.
The Book of Mozilla, 7:15
The next installment was written by Neil Deakin and is included in all versions of Mozilla released since July 2003 and all Netscape versions from 7.2 onwards (not including Netscape Browser):
And so at last the beast fell and the unbelievers rejoiced. But all was not lost, for from the ash rose a great bird. The bird gazed down upon the unbelievers and cast fire and thunder upon them. For the beast had been reborn with its strength renewed, and the followers of Mammon cowered in horror.
from The Book of Mozilla, 7:15
The "beast" falling refers to Netscape being closed down by its now parent company AOL (though since this verse was written, AOL has resumed releasing Netscape browsers). The "great bird" that rises from the ash is the Mozilla Foundation, which was established to continue Mozilla development. (The previous can also refer to the project name: "Phoenix" - the bird reborn of fire - given to the newly created Mozilla Browser.) The bird casting down "fire" refers to Mozilla Firebird (now Mozilla Firefox) and the "thunder" to Mozilla Thunderbird. Both products became the main focus of Mozilla development a few months before the death of Netscape. The fact that the beast has been "reborn" indicates that the spirit of Netscape will live on through the Foundation (which is made up entirely of ex-Netscape employees) and its strength has been "renewed" as the Foundation is less reliant on AOL (who largely neglected Netscape). The fact that the beast has risen in a phoenix-like way (from the company's own ashes) could also refer to a previous name for Mozilla Firebird, Phoenix. This time the numbers 7:15 refer to July 15 2003, the day that the Mozilla Foundation was established.
