New Mozilla CEO knows mobile, user interface

Mozilla named Gary Kovacs as its new CEO and the appointment highlights how

important mobile and user interfaces will be to the future of Firefox.

In a blog post, outgoing CEO John Lilly officially handed off to Kovacs. Mozilla also made an official announcement as did Mitchell Baker.

The naming of Kovacs as Mozilla CEO is notable, but his track record may be more interesting since it tips the direction of the open source organization. Mozilla went with a leader well versed in software development.

Lilly noted that Kovacs is a veteran of rich media and mobile---two areas critical to the future of browsing. Kovacs had stints at Macromedia, Adobe and Sybase.

As Lilly noted:

He’s got deep background in the battlefields that will define the future of the Open Web: mobile and rich media, and he’s been involved in building great organizations several times over.

Indeed, Kovacs' experience also has a little enterprise twist to it. Prior to joining M

ozilla, Kovacs was senior vice president of markets, solutions and products at Sybase, now part of SAP. He was also vice president of mobile and devices at Adobe and vice president of product marketing at Macromedia.

As the browser, via HTML5, starts delivering more rich experiences on the desktop, Kovacs' user interface knowledge will be necessary. And as the desktop is replaced with mobile devices, Kovacs' mobile mojo will be needed too.

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