Mozilla is planning on redeploying its full-time developers away from working on its Thunderbird email client on to its Firefox Mobile OS smartphone platform, according to a leaked internal email.
According to Phoronix, the leaked email states: “[Mozilla will] adapt the Thunderbird release and governance model in a way that allows both ongoing security and stability maintenance, as well as community-driven innovation and development for the product.”
“This will mean an eventual shift in how we staff Thunderbird at Mozilla Corporation – we are still working out details, but some people will likely end up on other Mozilla projects.”
The news comes just days after Mozilla announced that it was working with Alcatel and ZTE on developing Firefox Mobile smartphones, based on the Firefox web browser, which it expects to launch in early 2013.
Mozilla is set to announce its long-term plans for Thunderbird in September, and while the redeployment does not necessarily mean the discontinuation of the email client, it does raise questions about its long-term future.
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