Firemonger

Infobox Software
Firemonger
name = Firemonger

operating_system = Windows
Mac OS X (under development)
language = Multilingual
license = [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.5/ Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 License]
website = http://www.firemonger.info
use = Distribution CD

Firemonger is a community-run project aiming to provide a multilingual easy-to-use distribution CD for Mozilla Foundation's Mozilla Firefox web browser and Mozilla Thunderbird e-mail client.

The project mostly targets new and less experienced users, attempting to introduce these users to Firefox and Thunderbird as alternatives to their Microsoft counterparts (Internet Explorer and Outlook).

Overview

The project is being developed with novice and intermediate computer users in mind. The Firemonger compilation will therefore allow these users to try out, install and begin using Mozilla's browser and e-mail client without the hassle of having to find and install the needed files manually.

Firemonger was designed to be distributed and run from a CD, but the program can be launched from a downloaded location as well. For ease of distribution, Firemonger publishes its files both as a zip file and as an ISO image. The distibution also contains plugins, utilities, and various resources for easy customisation of Firefox and Thunderbird. For people with a limited bandwidth, a smaller "lite version" is provided, which contains links to locations where these larger files can be downloaded.

The Firemonger CD cover presents a big orange flame, logo of Firemonger. After inserting the CD, the program automatically launches an internal version of Firefox to display the program's pages. The user can then choose to install Firefox, Thunderbird, or themes and extensions for each of these programs. Guides for beginners are also included, describing each of the major features of Firefox and Thunderbird, from pop-up blocking to spell-checker and download manager. Firemonger also contains quick start guides, providing an overview of both Firefox and Thunderbird's features.

After the user has tried the software, he/she is encouraged to copy the CD and give it to colleges, family and friends. To "pass the torch", so to speak, so they can experience these Mozilla products. This method of dissemination, disparagingly called "viral marketing" is often used for projects with a limited budget.

Background

The Firemonger Project was founded by James Wierick in September 2004 and was originally called FirefoxCD. It was renamed The Firemonger Project in November 2004. In July 2005, The Firemonger Project merged with the MozCD Project, combining the advantages of both projects for the 1.5 version (which was initially going to be called v2). Starting with version 1.5, Firemonger Project's releases use the MozCD technology, in order to add many new features and capabilities to the CD, making it more user-friendly, and improve updating tasks for the project's translators. The software's backbone now consists of XHTML files which use DTD's to include text.

Current version

As of December 2006, the current version is Firemonger 2.0. This version was released shortly after the release of Mozilla's Firefox 2.0 browser and incorporated some changes and improvements, to keep it relevant for Firefox 2.0.

License information

The Firemonger Project is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.5/ Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 license] . Materials and software included in the compilation are distributed under their own licenses.

External links

* [http://www.firemonger.info Firemonger Home Page]
* [http://www.firemonger.org/forums/ Firemonger Forums] - The forums are the community center for Firemonger, where discussion of developing, improving, and spreading the product takes place.