Mozilla CTO Eich takes broader engineering role
The creator of JavaScript now leads Mozilla's day-to-day engineering work as the organization expands beyond Firefox into ecosystem-busting services.
- I've been covering the technology industry for 24 years and was a science writer for five years before that. I've got deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and other dee
Firefox maker Mozilla has concentrated more engineering power in the hands of Chief Technology Officer Brendan Eich as the organization expands its ambitions beyond just browsers.
Eich, who in the 1990s invented the JavaScript at the heart of the Web's interactive abilities, had been leading Mozilla's strategy and Web standards work. Now he'll be more directly involved overseeing engineering for projects including Firefox for PCs and Android phones, the upcoming Firefox OS, and efforts such as the Firefox Marketplace. He'll also lead the organization's work marshaling the open-source programmers who help Mozilla.
The move comes as Mozilla moves beyond the browser into higher-level domains where it sees proprietary lock-in encroaching into people's lives, notably ecosystems of interlinked products and services.
"Our strategy has to move up the stack to the services currently tied to walled gardens, like identity," Eich said in an interview today.
It's not the only change at the not-for-profit organization. Late in 2012, Johnathan Nightingale was quietly promoted to vice president of Firefox engineering.
And Damon Sicore, who had been vice president of engineering, is leaving for an unnamed startup after working at Mozilla for six years.