Giving how shockingly similar Firefox OS is to webOS (now also open source), I would have much rather that they support that OS instead of reinventing the wheel.
Some strange strategic decisions coming out of Mozilla inc. these days, I would much rather see them focus on their browser instead (and Thunderbird!).
As far as "total users", Firefox OS has the potential to overtake Thunderbird in a matter of weeks after launch.
I use Thunderbird and have done for many years. I would like to see them continue developing it. But Firefox OS is much, much more important. The World needs a free alternative to Android based on open standards.
Yes I read that from your other comment, the engineer begins with:
> There are many similarities
Indeed. And he then goes on to admit that a new version of Enjo JS will address many of the perceived shortcomings in webOS:
> This is a simplification, and I should also note that Enyo 2 (the next version of the webOS application framework, not yet released) is designed to be less platform-specific and allow Enyo apps to run on both webOS and in standard web browsers: http://enyojs.com/
First off, B2G started well over a year ago, when there were no signs of WebOS becoming open source (it was more likely that it would be sold). So what you're suggesting is that they either have waited or that they should have stopped working when Open WebOS was announced (even though it was just released a few weeks ago).
Secondly, the existence of 2 OSes that support the same apps is not a negative; it is an overwhelming positive. Just as having multiple browsers in Windows is positive. The SysApps working group was created to standardize the (currently incompatible) APIs that exist between Firefox OS, Tizen, Chrome OS, and others. http://www.w3.org/2012/05/sysapps-wg-charter.html
Some strange strategic decisions coming out of Mozilla inc. these days, I would much rather see them focus on their browser instead (and Thunderbird!).