<http://www.techweb.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=3CLDVCAMXHCUUQSNDLRSKH0
CJUNN2JVN?articleID=193200613>Eudora 
goes open source
The e-mail program Eudora is going open source. 
Starting in 2007, Eudora will be based on 
Mozilla's Thunderbird code. Qualcomm will 
continue selling Eudora until the open-source version appears.

Qualcomm Dumps Eudora Into Open-Source
By
Gregg Keizer
, TechWeb Technology News
Qualcomm Inc. and
Mozilla
  Corp. on Wednesday jointly announced that 
future versions of Eudora, Qualcomm's
long-running e-mail client, would be based on 
Mozilla's open-source Thunderbird code.
The move effectively puts an end to the 
proprietary Eudora, which launched in 1988
and once had a significant share of the e-mail software market.
Developers from both companies will work on 
Mozilla's e-mail project, which will
feed to Eudora and Thunderbird. The first 
open-source Eudora will release during
the first half of 2007, said the pair.
"I'm excited for Eudora to be returning to the
open source
  community," said Steve Dorner, Qualcomm's vice 
president of technology for the Eudora
Group, in a statement. "Using the Mozilla Thunderbird technology
platform
  as a basis for future versions of Eudora will 
provide some key infrastructure that
the existing versions lacked, such as a 
cross-platform code base and a world-class
display engine."
Dorner, who created Eudora in 1988 while at the 
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
gave away the software for a time. Later, it went 
commercial, with a for-fee Pro
version and a free Lite edition. Qualcomm acquired the program in 1991.
Qualcomm cited business incompatibility as the 
reason for ditching Eudora. "Qualcomm
has decided not to remain in the e-mail market 
because it is not in alignment with
the core business or strategic goals," the company said in a
  FAQ on its Web site
.
Although Qualcomm will stop selling Eudora once 
the open-source edition appears,
in the meantime it will continue to offer the commercial
client
  at a reduced price of $19.95. Ironically, 
Qualcomm used the announcement to also
tout its last commercial Eudora, which was released Wednesday for Windows
and
Mac.
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Copyright C 2006
CMP Media LLC


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