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Mozilla Firefox is one of the most popular web browsers out there. Everyone remembers the massive migration that occurred when it first came out, after Microsoft's own Internet Explorer got plagued both by security threats and its seeming disregard for the rising trend of open-source software. But not many people know the woman sitting on top of Mozilla.

Mitchell Baker is the Chairperson of Mozilla Foundation, Inc., which she helped form in 2003 after America Online stopped developing the Netscape browser. Her experience in the Open Source Applications Foundation has developed in her an advocacy for open-source software, which has been a defining characteristic of the Mozilla Firefox web browser.

During her time as Mozilla's CEO, she was very public and very vocal about her involvement with the Foundation's goals and vision. She has recently relinquished the CEO position to then-COO of Mozilla, John Lilly, and is now spends most of her time developing the message that Mozilla presents to the information tech/media industry.

Mitchell is a wife and mother of one, and she spends her free time as a skilled trapeze artist. That's right -- she apparently has a little fun "flying" at least a few times a week. The folks at Mozilla love her to bits, and while her official designation is "Chairperson," everyone fondly knows her as the company's "Chief Lizard Wrangler." I kid you not -- some may even tell you that the Mozilla Firefox logo was patterned after her unique hairstyle!

Right now Mozilla has to deal with the new kid on the block, Google Chrome. Google's own web browser has all the trappings of a great open-source application, and with the information tech industry's brightest minds working on it, it can pretty much give Firefox a run for its money.

But Mitchell remains optimistic over the whole thing, saying that open-source actually encourages this kind of competition. If anything, she has said, it's going to promote development and innovation in Mozilla. I guess that means Firefox users like me will be seeing lots of improvements in the near future.

Open-source truly is the future of technology, and any self-respecting hardware and software manufacturer should look into developing their products with open-source in mind if it wants to survive in a highly-dynamic, constantly-evolving market.