14 DAY TRIAL // Until recently, few people would have thought of using “Madagascar” and “Firefox” in the same sentence, but since the latest code name for the latter was released, this no longer seems an unlikely phrase. For those of you who do not know, the 3.6 version of Firefox is called Namoroka, named after a park in the northwest area of Madagascar.
The Mozilla team has already started and maintained a tradition when it comes to promoting free access to software and creative solutions for developing a “health ecosystem of communities” where “a shared space, shared resources or network of ideas, applications and products that are free to use.”
It seems Mozilla developers consider that parks resemble the open source software environment in terms of recreation, collaboration and conservation, not to mention the fact that both concepts are vital ecosystems for their respective fields.
Of course, it is not the first time when Firefox gets its pre-release code named after a park, other examples being Gran Paradiso (Italy), Bon Echo (Canada) and Shiretoko (Japan). Furthermore, the Japanese appeared to be very proud to have inspired the Firefox 3.5 code name that they even created Discover Shiretoko, a website designed for promoting the park with the same name, and to advertise it as a valuable part of the country's national heritage.
On the other hand, Mozilla and Firefox teams have always tried to take things to the next level when choosing certain code names, besides making them more popular to the average user. This time, the spotlight is on the eight species of lemurs that live in the Namoroka park, which is quite well known for its extensive Karst topography, with numerous caves, canyons and natural swimming pools.
The Mozilla team had decided to celebrate the next stable release of Firefox with more than just the regular enthusiasm and is launching a fundraising for protecting lemurs in the aforementioned park and all over Madagascar. Like many others around the world, the country is currently struggling to enhance the quality of life for its inhabitants while also preserving forests and the remaining wildlife.
In order to be able to offer a helping hand, Mozilla has joined MFG (Madagascar Fauna Group) for supporting the country. This organization has already been dealing with conservation issues in Madagascar for 20 years, exposing environmental and social causes for the endangerment of lemurs through deforestation and traps.
All the money raised through this activity will go towards optimizing MFG's website, as well as its online fundraising actions, enabling them to reach contributors and donors worldwide. In addition, the donations will also support Madagascar's nature preservation and the deployment of educational programs for protecting the natural ecosystem of the island.
Mozilla Firefox 3.6 Beta 5 can be downloaded from here.