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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

#221

Post by gspr »

pjfin123 wrote: post #207

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.

> I you think projects like Mozilla and Firefox are important donations can really go a long way.

I know this kind of goes against my other comment stating that I'm super worried about losing the only viable free and open browser out there (my only browser), but: what's keeping me from donating is the bad aftertaste of the money being used for frivilous things. I don't want to fund their bookmarking service. I don't want to fund their VPN rebranding effort. I don't want to fund their authentication services. I don't want to fund their voice recognition services. They're probably great, but it's the browser that's absolutely essential and irreplaceable at this time!

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

#222

Post by wtetzner »

spinningslate wrote: post #210

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 la…

I would also happily pay for Firefox. I'm not sure if it would be better or worse for the browser though, in terms of market share. If they don't charge for it, hopefully they can cover costs with other paid services, like their VPN service.

Honestly, it would be great if Mozilla could provide privacy focused cloud services like storage, email, etc. I'd gladly pay for it, knowing they are not interested in collecting my information.

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

#225

Post by calcifer »

jacquesm wrote: post #195
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But they did that, and now Firefox market share is almost negligible because it wasn't the default browser on mobile OS's. Firefox has never been a default browser on any OS, mobile or otherwise, and I don't see how that could ever change short of Firefox developing their own OS. Which is in fact something they tried a while back for mobile, and it didn't go so well.

Firefox has been the default browser on many linux distros.

So? We're still talking about a negligible market share.

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

#226

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 privacy, 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.

EDIT: cross-posted comment above from duplicate thread [0]. Don't think that's against guidelines - apologies if so.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24121166

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

#227

Post by yread »

gfodor wrote: post #204
jacquesm wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

What other not failing products are there? Are people standing in long lines to get their shiny new Firefox OS phones? Did Pocket flourish under Mozilla?

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

#228

Post by Nimitz14 »

DNied wrote: post #53
cameronhowe wrote: post #15

It is so refreshing to see an ethical company like mozilla when faced with financial struggle say "We at the top level have slashed our salaries to ensure we can keep paying as many contributors as possible as it is they who make our products great"

The linked article says nothing like that.

That's the point.

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

#229

Post by frabbit »

GnarfGnarf wrote: post #121

I wish they would get their "Send" feature up & running again. It's so simple for one-off's, better than DropBox. https://send.firefox.com/

/That/ I would pay for. Add in Matrix server(s) , email hosting and I'm a subscriber.

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

#230

Post by dom96 »

GnarfGnarf wrote: post #121

I wish they would get their "Send" feature up & running again. It's so simple for one-off's, better than DropBox. https://send.firefox.com/

huh, I hope that they aren't planning to discontinue it. I've used it a couple of times and found it really useful.
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