Ask HN: Why is Firefox losing marketshare and how would you save it?

Post by prmoustache » Tue, Feb 15, 2022, 1:58 PM UTC

grey_earthling wrote: post #836

prmoustache wrote: post #770

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you actually took the time to setup firefox to your liking once? From the above post it looks like you didn't. Pocket is pretty much invisible, especially if you remove the button from the toolbar. The only time I see mentions of the mozilla VPN is when I go to the configuration of an existing container and I see the option to integrate it to mozilla VPN.

> Did you actually took the time to setup firefox to your liking once? Yes. I use Firefox pretty much exclusively. I'm saying that the first-run experience, and the amount of setting up it takes to make Firefox less intrusive, illustrate that Firefox is not as focused on being a useful tool as I would like.

Post by account42 » Tue, Feb 15, 2022, 2:03 PM UTC

Permit wrote: post #287

Hnaomyiph wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The CEO and upper management do loads to steer the ship. If all they care about is enriching themselves, they will likely struggle to find developers who are in it for the passion. Look at Google. It is a late-stage, post-IPO business that’s now, frankly, ran by the CFO with a CEO who cares only about the board and an ever-increasing stock number. The people who have passion left for the most part. Replaced by those…

I guess my post was meant to capture the idea: "Do you find it suspicious that you are recommending CEO/Management be in it for the passion (and low pay!) but seemingly not expecting software engineers to make the same sacrifices?" > Would those who have passion stuck around if Google was ran by people who still had passion? I’d imagine a much greater number of them would still be there. Why not just lower compensati…

Post by prmoustache » Tue, Feb 15, 2022, 2:04 PM UTC

grey_earthling wrote: post #837

account42 wrote: post #831

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have set up Firefox to my liking but UI reworks and new anti-features mean that I have to invest significant time for each update to just get things back to how I like them.

I agree. More than this, it's not just “I don't like change and I have to tweak Firefox to my liking”; it's “I don't trust that Mozilla is acting in my interests; I expect that any changes are to my detriment”.

Post by paulcole » Tue, Feb 15, 2022, 2:55 PM UTC

na85 wrote: post #729

paulcole wrote: post #648

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you use Firefox because it’s a better browser or because of philosophical reasons? If it’s the former, then I want to know that somebody thinks it’s the best way to browse the web. If it’s the latter, then tell me it’s worse but the politics of supporting Google are distasteful to you. Don’t tell me it’s “very usable” because I’m going to interpret it as the latter which may or may not be correct.

>I want to know that somebody thinks it’s the best way to browse the web I think it's the best way to browse the web. Chrome on Android, at least, doesn't allow ad blocking. Who the fuck in The Year of Our Lord 2022 doesn't use ad blocking?

Post by carapace » Tue, Feb 15, 2022, 3:04 PM UTC

account42 wrote: post #847

carapace wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like I understand the situation but I'm doubtful that browser engine diversity is compelling. It seems like duplicate effort. As long as Chromium accepts pull requests, what's the problem with browser monoculture? (In case it's not clear, I'm asking in earnest. I'm not trolling.) - - - - edit: Okay, pull requests alone are not enough, but the objections y'all are raising seem like they could all be answered by…

> Okay, pull requests alone are not enough, but the objections y'all are raising seem like they could all be answered by forking, no? If Google upsets their users then a different browser has a chance to gain users: Forking is an uphill battle starting at 0% market share, which is less than Firefox has now.