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Mozilla appoints new CEO Anthony Enzor-Demeo

blog.mozilla.org

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Re: Mozilla appoints new CEO Anthony Enzor-Demeo

#41

Post by mgbmtl »

I for one, am grateful to Mozilla for still being around, pushing for an open web.

Their documentation is excellent, the improvements and roadmap for Thunderbird made me finally adopt it, and I appreciate their privacy-friendlier translation services. uBO works great in Firefox, and I can't stand using a browser without its full features.

About MBA types: the free software project I work for has an MBA type, which I initially resented as being an outsider. However, they manage the finances, think about team and project growth long-term (with heavy financial consequences), and ignore the daily technical debates (which are left to the lead devs), and listen to users, big and small. Some loud users like to complain that we don't listen to them, and sometimes we kick them out, because we do listen to users.

I don't know much about Mozilla internals, if I am to judge from the results: Mozilla is still here, despite everyone saying for 10+ years that they are going to die. They are still competitive. They are still holding big tech accountable, despite having a fraction of their power. I can imagine that they make a lot of people here very uncomfortable.

Re: Mozilla appoints new CEO Anthony Enzor-Demeo

#42

Post by zetanor »

> Aspiration: doing for AI what we did for the web.

> Strength: $1.3B in reserves + diverse operating models (product, deep tech, venture, philanthropy) make Mozilla unusually free to bet long-term.

> Strategy: Pillar 1: AI. Pillar 2: AI. Pillar 3: AI.

Oh yes.

Re: Mozilla appoints new CEO Anthony Enzor-Demeo

#43

Post by jsheard »

abcd_f wrote: post #11
ecshafer wrote: post #4

It looks like they chose a Product Manager and MBA. Why can't we get a software engineer or computer scientist?

They had one. Until he made a fatal mistake of giving a tenner to the wrong people.

But then he went on to make Yet Another Chromium Fork, so it doesn't seem like he was particularly attached to Gecko or what it stands for in the browser engine market anyway. What's to say that Mozilla wouldn't have given up the fight and pivoted to Chromium, like Opera and Edge did, if he was still in charge?

Re: Mozilla appoints new CEO Anthony Enzor-Demeo

#45

Post by cies »

fidotron wrote: post #28
Fiveplus wrote: post #7

Does anyone else feel like the "Trust" angle is the only card they have left to play? Technically, Chrome is faster on JS benchmarks. Edge has better OS integration on Windows and comes by default. Safari wins on battery life on Mac. Firefox's only unique selling point is "We aren't a massive data vampire." If they clutter the browser with AI which inherently requires data processing, often in the cloud, they dilute…

As a semi Rust hater, but Firefox user, I believe Mozilla should go absolutely all-in on Rust, for a mixture of direct and indirect effects. That and/or launch an open source e-Reader development project. No MBA type is going to be able to do anything of the sort.

[flagged]

Re: Mozilla appoints new CEO Anthony Enzor-Demeo

#46

Post by quchen »

miki_oomiri wrote: post #39

If I were the CEO, I would: - focus 100% on Firefox Desktop & Mobile - just a fast solid minimalist browser (no AI, no BS) - other features should be addons - privacy centric - builtin, first-class, adblocker - run on donations - partner with Kagi - layoff 80% of the non-tech employees I worked for them for many years, I guarantee you that Mozilla will be fine without all the non-sense people, just put engineers in c…

To expand on Firefox mobile: if you haven’t tried it, give it a shot. uBlock Origin works just like on desktop. I have seen maybe five ads on my phone browser (including Youtube!) since buying it in 2019.

Re: Mozilla appoints new CEO Anthony Enzor-Demeo

#47

Post by aleph4 »

Fiveplus wrote: post #7

Does anyone else feel like the "Trust" angle is the only card they have left to play? Technically, Chrome is faster on JS benchmarks. Edge has better OS integration on Windows and comes by default. Safari wins on battery life on Mac. Firefox's only unique selling point is "We aren't a massive data vampire." If they clutter the browser with AI which inherently requires data processing, often in the cloud, they dilute…

Well, that's kind of their whole point-- can AI be done in a way that guards privacy. It's not impossible even with cloud processing.

And "Trust" should be a big deal-- unfortunately most people don't care and Chrome has a much bigger marketing budget (and monopoly on Android).

Re: Mozilla appoints new CEO Anthony Enzor-Demeo

#48

Post by aleph4 »

perlgeek wrote: post #18
Fiveplus wrote: post #7

Does anyone else feel like the "Trust" angle is the only card they have left to play? Technically, Chrome is faster on JS benchmarks. Edge has better OS integration on Windows and comes by default. Safari wins on battery life on Mac. Firefox's only unique selling point is "We aren't a massive data vampire." If they clutter the browser with AI which inherently requires data processing, often in the cloud, they dilute…

They also have the "extensions that can do real ad blocking" angle.

Yes, although they can't go all in on that because it doesn't help monetization...

Re: Mozilla appoints new CEO Anthony Enzor-Demeo

#50

Post by aleph4 »

afavour wrote: post #32
Fiveplus wrote: post #7

Does anyone else feel like the "Trust" angle is the only card they have left to play? Technically, Chrome is faster on JS benchmarks. Edge has better OS integration on Windows and comes by default. Safari wins on battery life on Mac. Firefox's only unique selling point is "We aren't a massive data vampire." If they clutter the browser with AI which inherently requires data processing, often in the cloud, they dilute…

Mozilla (in its previous form) has long been doomed. Mobile cemented it, I think. Browsers are part of the operating system and getting users to switch from the default is an incredible uphill climb. Especially when browsers are essentially utilities, there are so few unique compelling features. That lack of connection to tech giants is a strength in the trust angle. And I think they’re right to be thinking about AI:…

Exactly.

Unfortunately, we live in a time when anti-trust regulations mean nothing.

The fact that it's difficult to separate Chrome from Android dooms most competitors, which is bad for everyone.

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