Mozilla's Firefox 3 release event yesterday was an epic success. The servers logged over 8 million downloads during the 24-hour download day, and Mozilla has declared victory after exceeding its initial goal of 5 million downloads.

I was at the official launch party at Mozilla headquarters yesterday in Mountain View, where some revelers stayed all night to party and watch the download counter. During the event, Mozilla chairwoman Mitchell Baker's speech was broadcast live from Seoul, Korea over the Internet to all of Mozilla's offices. She reflected on the success of Firefox 3 and illuminated some of Mozilla's long-term goals.

"Today reflects so many great things about Mozilla," she said. The download day is the collaborative achievement of "millions of people on a global basis doing things that everyone thought was impossible." Mozilla is all about "keeping and building an Internet that is open and participatory, where individuals have control."

During the interview, she answered several questions from members of the Firefox community who were participating via an IRC channel. When she was asked what percentage of browser market share Mozilla aims to achieve, she said that Mozilla wants only enough to be able to achieve the organization's primary goal, which is building an open web. "We want enough market share to be able to move the Internet toward our goals. There is no exact number," she said. "It is not our goal to be a single source that unilaterally determines where the web goes. Mozilla is about having fun and building a better Internet."

A big part of Firefox's success is its spirited grassroots marketing efforts. I discussed this with Mozilla evangelist Asa Dotzler. Mozilla's strategy of inclusiveness and participatory advancement isn't confined to just software development. The same principles extend to Mozilla's publicity projects. The grassroots marketing campaigns give users who lack programming expertise a way to become active participants and contributors. Through the SpreadFirefox portal, those users can become an important part of the Firefox project. Grassroots marketing is also a major win, said Dotzler, because word of mouth is one of the strongest vehicles for directly promoting Firefox adoption.

I also asked Dotzler some questions about the process through which Mozilla's download day statistics will enter the Guinness World Records. The server logs and download information will be given to an independent review board consisting of Corey Shields and Paul Vixie, which will then conduct a thorough audit, weed out duplicate and incomplete downloads, and determine an exact number. The download day event, which was orchestrated by Mozilla's global marketing team, has been one of Mozilla's most successful awareness campaigns to date.

The first 24 hours are over, but the downloads continue to pour in. At press time, the official counter shows that the current rate is approximately 5,500 downloads per minute, and the total number of downloads is roughly 8.8 million. It's further confirmation that the Firefox web browser is rapidly becoming mainstream; it has long since ceased being a niche product confined to early adopters and enthusiasts. Firefox has had a profound impact on the web and will likely continue to play a central role in shaping the future of the Internet.