Firefox to regularly nag users to change their default browser

> Unfortunately, it did not perform anywhere near as well

Just guessing here, but I strongly suspect that by "performance" they're only paying attention to the number of people who made Firefox the default browser right away and totally ignoring the number of people who were so irritated that they won't use Firefox again, ever, unless forced to do so.

It's like the websites that justify throwing up a million interstitial popups by claiming that it increases mailing list signups by 0.012%, while blithely ignoring all the people who are angered by such time-wasting shenanigans.

You're allowed to ask me to install your software/subscribe to your newsletter/like your app on the App Store.

Once.

More than that and I'm going to do anything I can to avoid using your product ever again.

Mozilla is really the sad old tale of how money can in fact corrupt. Ruining great technology, firing talented people all so that some CEO can make millions.

So many people would be tremendously happy about a free Web Browser that is not run by corporate interests, respects privacy and offers power user features.

And yes it could run on donation just fine. Wikipedia is running on donations and it more than well financed.

I have so often wished for a way to directly donate to and only to Firefox development but no they know better.

Not to mention the GNU project has proven that developers are in fact willing to work for the greater good for free, especially if you pick a license that protects users freedom instead of corporate interest.

I think this zero-sum game thinking, where Firefox is either the default browser or it isn't, is antiquated.

While I'm not necessarily representative of a broader population, I find that I prefer different web browsers based on what I want to do in my browser.

For example, I really like Safari for shopping because of its first class support for Apple Pay on my Mac. I just tap my finger on the sensor, and I'm done.

When I use Google Meet, Safari doesn't work great, so I will boot up Brave or Chrome.

For reasons that are unclear to me, Firefox renders pages with extremely rich and bright colors that jump right off the page. So I love using Firefox for browsing pages with a lot of photos or interesting graphic design.

Apps like https://www.choosyosx.com have helped make workflows like the above a bit easier, but are far from perfect. I wonder if there is a place for Mozilla to explore a way to make the UX for multiple browser vendors even better. I think many people would love to have Firefox as their default browser for 80 - 90% of the web, but not 100%.

Annoying your users, even the ones who have explicitly said they don't want to be annoyed, is not the key to market success.

Well, if this is the plan, fine. I think it is inadvisable. However, I also think asking people nicely, in creative, well grounded fashion is better than a full on nag, however low key it is.

"Please consider using Firefox as your default browser because [insert what FF is all about] matters."

"Browser monoculture leads to [insert it here], why not help out by using Firefox as your default browser?"

You get the idea.

Again, inadvisable, but if you all are going to do it anyway, really do it. Have some fun, be passionate.

Maybe it will work despite the naysayers, myself included. Sometimes things do.