Is Mozilla trying hard to kill itself? • Hacker News Board

Re: Is Mozilla trying hard to kill itself?

#11

Post by iLoveOncall » Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 10:16 AM UTC

Unfortunately Firefox is basically already dead, it has an incredibly small market share and it will never grow again because their leadership is affected by the corporate mind virus.

I know most HN users are on Firefox, but they should get used to an alternative now, not when its inevitable death happens.

Re: Is Mozilla trying hard to kill itself?

#12

Post by major505 » Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 10:16 AM UTC

dom96 wrote: post #6

Genuinely can someone with knowledge of the business explain why they aren't simply doubling down on making Firefox better? Is there an existential problem facing them that they are trying to solve by adding AI into the browser?

[flagged]

Re: Is Mozilla trying hard to kill itself?

#13

Post by colesantiago » Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 10:17 AM UTC

dom96 wrote: post #6

Genuinely can someone with knowledge of the business explain why they aren't simply doubling down on making Firefox better? Is there an existential problem facing them that they are trying to solve by adding AI into the browser?

What does "doubling down on making Firefox better?" mean?

What can Mozilla Firefox do to make their 500 million without Google?

Re: Is Mozilla trying hard to kill itself?

#14

Post by major505 » Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 10:17 AM UTC

jfrifkfnfofifmk wrote: post #5

Mozilla rebranded itself as a "crew of activists". Browser is just a side business to generate revenue!

They are probably a money laundy scheme this days. I used to donate every year to Mozilla. Of course, small ammounts because Im not rich. Today they would have to beat this money from my hands.

Re: Is Mozilla trying hard to kill itself?

#15

Post by some_furry » Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 10:18 AM UTC

This Mozilla fiasco has convinced me that being a nonprofit isn't enough. We need a web browser that is actively hostile towards corporations and surveillance capitalism.

Re: Is Mozilla trying hard to kill itself?

#16

Post by bluehex » Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 10:18 AM UTC

I just noticed last week that Chrome was putting multiple versions of some 4GB AI model [1] on my hard disk that I'd never asked for, so when I upgraded my laptop I took the opportunity to switch to Firefox, and now this.

My image of Mozilla as a bastion for user first software just shattered.

[1]: https://developer.chrome.com/docs/ai/get-started

Re: Is Mozilla trying hard to kill itself?

#17

Post by herobird » Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 10:18 AM UTC

It's kinda frustrating that Mozilla's CEO thinks that axing ad-blockers would be financially beneficial for them. Quite the opposite is true (I believe) since a ton of users would leave Firefox for alternatives.

Re: Is Mozilla trying hard to kill itself?

#18

Post by dhruv3006 » Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 10:19 AM UTC

Correction : It has already killed itself.

Re: Is Mozilla trying hard to kill itself?

#19

Post by arresin » Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 10:20 AM UTC

major505 wrote: post #12

dom96 wrote: post #6

Genuinely can someone with knowledge of the business explain why they aren't simply doubling down on making Firefox better? Is there an existential problem facing them that they are trying to solve by adding AI into the browser?

[flagged]

Money laundering? Is there evidence for that? That’s a pretty big thing to throw out there.

Re: Is Mozilla trying hard to kill itself?

#20

Post by 4gotunameagain » Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 10:21 AM UTC

K0nserv wrote: post #10

dom96 wrote: post #6

Genuinely can someone with knowledge of the business explain why they aren't simply doubling down on making Firefox better? Is there an existential problem facing them that they are trying to solve by adding AI into the browser?

No knowledge of the business. But I think it's because of the underlying question that plagues Mozilla: How will that make money?

They don't really need money. Look at Mozilla's CEO compensation for example. It was 7 million USD in 2022. Seven. Million. For ruining a bastion of the open internet.

The problem is the MBAs.