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Firefox usage is down despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up

calpaterson.com

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Re: Firefox usage is down despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up

#601

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> t wasn't long ago that comments were shouting that this was the absolute most qualified person to lead Mozilla when others were questioning having a lawyer lead a tech company. I don't think you'll be able to attribute that quote to me. Eich fucked up, and should have realized that you can't be leading a flagship of diversity on the one hand and be a bigot on the other. But he resigned (he wasn't forced out, though…

> I don't think you'll be able to attribute that quote to me. Eich fucked up, and should have realized that you can't be leading a flagship of diversity on the one hand and be a bigot on the other. I have a problem with characterizing Brendan Eich as a bigot for donating to a non-fringe political group. IIRC, the proposition campaign he donated to had close to a 50/50 split in support for/against. Eich's ouster cryst…

> I have a problem with characterizing [a person] as a bigot for donating to a non-fringe political group.

Your word choice is your business. But why would a bigot become not-a-bigot because there were more of them?

Morality is not a popularity contest.

Re: Firefox usage is down despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up

#602

I'm two fences on Firefox doing "too many unrelated things" as the article suggests. Firefox OS has been pretty much unsuccessful, but it sort of made sense? It started to be made when Firefox was still on top on desktop, but mobile started eating its lunch; and it was clear that Firefox need to do something about it, or the future will be all Chrome and Safari, on the two locked-down platforms. Which eventually happ…

Firefox OS kind of make sense, yet could they implemented ecosystem?

* There are Firefox browser users shocked by spyware addons, it is a norm on mobile. There are no paid Firefox addons. This does not work in "pay or product" reality. Open source and freeware is a small (and awesome) niche.

* There is a Mozilla stance against DRM. There is a lot of paid books, movies, music on Google Play.

* DOM is slow. Javascript has good parts. Google decided in favor of Android apps, not Chrome apps. Also Google Fuchsia.

* Bluetooth, Contacts, NFC, SMS, Wifi [1] access can be asked from OS.

[1] https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Archive/B2G_OS/API

----

Firefox was not default Windows browser, yet it succeeded. The reason I've never tried Firefox on Android is the loss of Firefox reputation on desktop. Memory bloat, falling behind Developer Tools, constant UI changes, not so snappy UI. Firefox was slow on desktop how could one expect it to perform well on mobile?

Re: Firefox usage is down despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up

#603

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And they can't reduce their salary now because it'd be unfair on their families. This kind of bullshit infuriates me to no end.

How can you even spend around 2.5 million A YEAR (okay, before taxes, whatever) if you're not BURNING the cash? I don't get it.

You don't spend $60 to fix a faucet, you spend $100K to redo the bathroom.

Re: Firefox usage is down despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up

#604

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Previously they had appointed an excellent CEO from within that is universally well respected for his technology contributions and then they fired him after 11 days without cause. Now that guy is a CEO at a different company. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan_Eich

Thanks for the link, wasn't aware of the details. While I 100% disagree with him on marriage equality I don't understand why he was driven from his role that has nothing to do with Proposition 8. Why did his freedom to support a cause with his own money result in him having to resign, seems anti-democratic to me.

I'd say the answer to that is the same reason why there was a front page article the other day about which was more important: revenue stream or culture. Comments almost made it feel like people would gladly ride a company to the grave so long as they could feel good about what they haven't accomplished (making money).

Re: Firefox usage is down despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up

#605
post #552

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a possibility, doesn't matter how low, I like to think about: Group of people leaving Mozilla, forking the Firefox and creating another non-profit.

I hope for the blender foundation doing a browser

Considering the amazing work they did recently, that sounds pretty awesome.

Re: Firefox usage is down despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up

#606
post #13

There's a quote from the CEO saying that they looked at the market and felt like they were being underpaid. And they can't reduce their salary now because it'd be unfair on their families. Firefox has a problem. It gets most of its revenue from Google. They need a different revenue stream but their ideas haven't worked. Their executives are clearly failures. But with such high pay, they're cashing out. Buying themsel…

> And they can't reduce their salary now because it'd be unfair on their families. This kind of bullshit infuriates me to no end.

Don't get infuriated at someone for something they were mis-quoted at saying. See the original statement here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24565071

Re: Firefox usage is down despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up

#607

Isn't the obvious answer that CEO/executive pay should be tied more closely to performance? I don't root for anyone to lose their job, but in this case, it seems like the leadership of Mozilla is failing to lead them in the right direction. I don't see how that gets rewarded. If my performance metrics at work go down 85% - I'm probably getting fired. In this case, executive performance metrics should be closely tied…

> I understand it's hard to get someone "good" in as CEO of you can't offer competitive pay [..]

Q: Can you define "good"?

Re: Firefox usage is down despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up

#608
post #253

> Mobile browsing numbers are bleak: Firefox barely exists on phones, with a market share of less than half a percent. This is baffling given that mobile Firefox has a rare feature for a mobile browser: it's able to install extensions and so can block ads. This is true, and indeed very strange. I use FF on mobile and it works perfectly. So Mozilla's problems aren't only technical, there's also a question of market aw…

Firefox mobile has an awkward UI and weak rendering engine.

Re: Firefox usage is down despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up

#609

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't think you'll be able to attribute that quote to me. Eich fucked up, and should have realized that you can't be leading a flagship of diversity on the one hand and be a bigot on the other. I have a problem with characterizing Brendan Eich as a bigot for donating to a non-fringe political group. IIRC, the proposition campaign he donated to had close to a 50/50 split in support for/against. Eich's ouster cryst…

I'm still a FF evangelist though it is getting harder by the day. Eich should have realized that his actions as CEO of a highly visible entity would be viewed in a different light than if he were merely just another nobody. Missing that was his crucial mistake, he could have made the donation anonymously, but decided to do it in his own name making it a given that this would be associated with Mozilla. That was stupi…

The term "bigot" is highly loaded, ambiguous term and we seem to be using it in some random cancel-culture way that only applies to selective beliefs and ascribing some sort of "evil" property to the individuals we throw it at. I'll even go out and say that I am a bigot because I am unreasonable about a lot of different topics and points of view that I disagree with.

Here are a bunch of variations of the definition, for your perusal.

Oxford: "a person who is intolerant towards those holding different opinions."

Merriam Webster: "a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices. Especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (such as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance"

Cambridge: "a person who has strong, unreasonable beliefs and who does not like other people who have different beliefs or a different way of life: "

Dictionary.com: "a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion."

Collins: "Someone who is bigoted has strong, unreasonable prejudices or opinions and will not change them, even when they are proved to be wrong. "

Oxford Learners: "a person who has very strong, unreasonable beliefs or opinions about race, religion or politics and who will not listen to or accept the opinions of anyone who disagrees"

Re: Firefox usage is down despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up

#610

Isn't the obvious answer that CEO/executive pay should be tied more closely to performance? I don't root for anyone to lose their job, but in this case, it seems like the leadership of Mozilla is failing to lead them in the right direction. I don't see how that gets rewarded. If my performance metrics at work go down 85% - I'm probably getting fired. In this case, executive performance metrics should be closely tied…

Supply and demand dictates pay. People who rise to become CEOs are not going to take bad contracts.
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