Final version:

What is B2G OS?

The Boot to Gecko (B2G) project was started [1] in 2011 to build a complete, standalone operating system for the open web. B2G is a community maintained open source project based on the Linux kernel and Gecko rendering engine and has been used as the basis of commercial Firefox OS smartphone and smart TV products.

In December 2015 the Mozilla Corporation announced [2] it was shifting its focus away from smartphones to other types of connected devices [3]. Since then a transition project [4] has been underway to modernize B2G and create a leaner platform on which to build smart TVs and other potential connected devices products in the future. As part of this transition, Mozilla’s community of volunteers is taking ownership over the smartphone-specific parts of B2G so that Mozilla employees can focus their efforts elsewhere.

The transition project aims to replace Mozilla’s legacy app runtime with new standards-based web apps and move the core B2G system closer to the architecture of the Firefox web browser. This will reduce complexity and maintenance costs and create a platform for the future based on emerging web standards.

Why Do We Need Your Help?

Maintaining an operating system is a big project and a large community of volunteers is needed if we are to keep B2G running on the smartphone form factor. There are many ways to contribute such as building and testing the OS, filing and fixing bugs, developing new features, porting to new devices, helping with documentation and localization and even just using and talking about the B2G project.

Help is already needed on the transition project to get core system features working, port smartphone apps to the new architecture and document everything which has changed. Once the transition is complete we hope to build an even bigger community of contributors to help making B2G move forward.

If you’re interested in the challenge of helping to maintain a complete, standalone operating system for the open web, then we want to hear from you! B2G is made by the community for the community and we need your help.

How to Get Started

There are many ways to get in touch with the B2G community including the main forum [5], the dev-fxos mailing list [6], our #fxos IRC channel for real-time chat [6] and telegram group [7] for more general and informal discussions. We also hold weekly public meetings [8] on Vidyo where you can catch up with the latest news and meet other members of the team.

See B2G OS [9] on MDN for a list of ways you can get involved depending on your particular interests.