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Mozilla lays off 250 employees while it refocuses on commercial products

blog.mozilla.org

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Re: Mozilla lays off 250 employees while it refocuses on commercial products

#201

Post by jacquesm »

eamsen wrote: post #131
jacquesm wrote: post #95

Mozilla management has me puzzled. They have a position that is incredibly strong, lots of dedicated users that would rather quit the web than switch to Chrome or Edge. "But we know we also need to go beyond the browser to give people new products and technologies that both excite them and represent their interests" Is exactly what they should stay away from. Work on the bloody browser, forget about the rest. There a…

How much are you willing to pay for a browser?

Let's turn that around: How much would it cost to run a lean-and-mean Mozilla that just focuses on FireFox? How much does it cost to run an unfocused Mozilla that tries very hard to compete with all those huge platforms out there?

It's the latter company that I would not be willing to pay for, the former would have my cash, and more than they would likely expect from one single user. That's because I think that ceding the territory to Chrome/Edge is exactly what we do not need. (oh, and there is of course Safari, but Apple has other problems)

Re: Mozilla lays off 250 employees while it refocuses on commercial products

#203

Post by saagarjha »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #83
calvinmorrison wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why Mozilla has almost 1,000 employees blows my mind. Isn't this an project for an open source web browser?

How many people do you think a browser's team + all components + support + management + marketing + finances need? Chromium alone has 1700+ contributors ( https://github.com/chromium/chromium ), Firefox has hundreds of "core contributors" ( https://wiki.mozilla.org/Community#Core_Contributor ) and many more beyond those.

Chromium is known to be a fairly well-staffed project; it’s really not a great example to compare against.

Re: Mozilla lays off 250 employees while it refocuses on commercial products

#204

Post by gfodor »

jacquesm wrote: post #192
gfodor wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A common refrain, but is anything but obvious. Focusing on the browser could be a losing strategy. I'd argue it probably is. The trajectory is terrible: the tech is being commoditized (WebKit, Chromium) and the market share picture is bleak. The opportunity cost is huge: maintaining a web engine, one which basically just tries to keep up with the others put out by Google et al, takes armies of people that could perha…

Yes, it is a losing strategy because this is a rearguard action. There are only losing strategies, nothing will turn Mozilla around to be some kind of powerhouse besides what it already is. And that's fine . It doesn't need to be the next singing, dancing platform with bells and whistles. It's a tool. It should do one thing and do that one thing well. FireFox is not a failing product, it is the only product they have…

Your two claims (Mozilla can't do anything other than Firefox, Firefox is not failing) are easy to provide counter-evidence to.

You're making strong statements here as fact that are not only subjective but which run against evidence.

Re: Mozilla lays off 250 employees while it refocuses on commercial products

#205

Post by gspr »

Datenstrom wrote: post #198

> "Recognizing that the old model where everything was free has consequences, means we must explore a range of different business opportunities and alternate value exchanges," Baker said. > We must learn and expand different ways to support ourselves and build a business that isn't what we see today. Perhaps I am wrong, but to me this reads as Mozilla plans to give up on not being evil and to do whatever it takes to…

> Sounds like Mozilla products will soon become toxic including Firefox if not forked.

This is extremely worrisome. Has it not been demonstrated quite clearly that developing and maintaining a modern and secure web browser is a gargantuan task, almost on par with an OS itself? Isn't Mozilla really the only organization that currently stands a chance at keeping a truly free and open such browser in the game?

This is very troubling.

Re: Mozilla lays off 250 employees while it refocuses on commercial products

#207

Post by pjfin123 »

I you think projects like Mozilla and Firefox are important donations can really go a long way. If enough people even donated ~$5/mo to projects like this, which is less than lots of people spend for Spotify or buying coffee, it would make open source privacy respecting projects a lot more viable.

Re: Mozilla lays off 250 employees while it refocuses on commercial products

#208

Post by dx87 »

takluyver wrote: post #179
burkaman wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would pay $100 or $5/month or something for Firefox. I don't really understand why they don't have a pay-if-you-want model. I donate to nonprofit news organizations I read even though I can get their news for free, and I pay for a couple Android apps I want to support even though the "premium" versions don't have any meaningful extra features. I'm sure they wouldn't get enough revenue to replace Google's support, b…

They do take donations: https://donate.mozilla.org/

Donations to the Mozilla Foundation have no guarantee of going to the browser. From their website:

> The not-for-profit Mozilla Foundation supports open-source apps, web literacy curriculum, gender equality in tech and more.

Re: Mozilla lays off 250 employees while it refocuses on commercial products

#209

Post by wtetzner »

Datenstrom wrote: post #198

> "Recognizing that the old model where everything was free has consequences, means we must explore a range of different business opportunities and alternate value exchanges," Baker said. > We must learn and expand different ways to support ourselves and build a business that isn't what we see today. Perhaps I am wrong, but to me this reads as Mozilla plans to give up on not being evil and to do whatever it takes to…

Charging money doesn't necessarily mean they're going to start being evil.

In fact, they may be able to provide better and more secure products, if it means they can stop relying on Google/advertising/etc. to stay afloat.

Re: Mozilla lays off 250 employees while it refocuses on commercial products

#210

Post by spinningslate »

I feel for everyone who will lose their job here. That's never a pleasant thing, particularly so in current circumstances.

Notwithstanding that though - and with no disrespect to anyone being laid off - I'm actually really encouraged by this. The key quote from the announcement is this one:

"Furthermore, Mozilla's contract with Google to include Google as the default search provider inside Firefox is set to expire later this year, and the contract has not been renewed."

Mozilla's reliance on Google is a major detraction from delivering privacy-focused products.

I've said before, and I'll say again: I'd gladly pay a fee for Firefox if it meant (a) it was funding the product so that (b) there was no need for them to peddle in surveillance.

I really wish Mozilla all the best. Commit to provacy, show me where to pay and I'll gladly sign up.

--

I'm aware they accept donations and have already donated. But that's different from paid-for products.

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