131–140 of 178 posts
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of course it does. Why do you think google buys the rights to firefox's search bar (as a default setting)?
And by extension, all users of FOSS must be the product, right?
Crowd sourced Development and Quality Assurance for something multiple companies, governments and the military are using.
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of course it does. Why do you think google buys the rights to firefox's search bar (as a default setting)?
And by extension, all users of FOSS must be the product, right?
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> "If you're not paying for it, you're the product being sold" This is such a un-nuanced take. In this case Firefox's route-to-market is the product. It's a distribution channel where some people who receive the free version will upgrade. Free tiers for products where some will pay to upgrade seems like a reasonable compromise, but it does depend on how the deal is structured. If Mullvad pays Firefox for the free use…
>This is such a un-nuanced take. I agree in principle, but we interact with hundreds of companies per day. Which ones are honest and which ones are taking advantage of us? I really don't have the cycles to run it all down, and keep up with it over time. Perhaps Firefox VPN will be totally private initially and then violate privacy 2 years in? Would I ever know? Maybe? I need to err on the side of caution for a lot of…
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> "If you're not paying for it, you're the product being sold" This is such a un-nuanced take. In this case Firefox's route-to-market is the product. It's a distribution channel where some people who receive the free version will upgrade. Free tiers for products where some will pay to upgrade seems like a reasonable compromise, but it does depend on how the deal is structured. If Mullvad pays Firefox for the free use…
"Firefox’s free VPN won’t be using Mullvad’s infra though; it’s hosted on Mozilla servers around the world (if beta testing of the feature done in late 2025 tracks)." From OMG Ubuntu
Two huge reasons people use VPNs is piracy and saying things/accessing content that's not legal in their country. If that company has a legal presence in your country, then they'll hand over that data to the police should you criticize the wrong person or download a movie without permission. At which point a VPN becomes kind of pointless.
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I doubt Mullvad would be doing this if they weren't getting compensated given they've always said (even right now[1]) they don't offer a free tier since they don't believe it makes sense. The other aspect is I expect it would stain the IP pool further. VPN IPs often end up on various blacklists due to abuse and introducing a wave of free users would only make it worse for paying customers. [1] https://mullvad.net/en/…
It's already pretty bad for mullvad. 3/4 of the websites I visit do bot checks it used to just be a few.
People think Mullvad is special but it's same shit as all the others in most cities/markets, I wish they would use some of their big ad money spend to deleverage from these typical dodgy scam hosting ASNs.
As I understand it, it is just like in Opera. So a proxy not a VPN. I honestly find it distasteful that they may call it a VPN without it actually being one.
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"Firefox’s free VPN won’t be using Mullvad’s infra though; it’s hosted on Mozilla servers around the world (if beta testing of the feature done in late 2025 tracks)." From OMG Ubuntu
What makes me not want to use it is I assume Mozilla has a legal presence all around the world. Two huge reasons people use VPNs is piracy and saying things/accessing content that's not legal in their country. If that company has a legal presence in your country, then they'll hand over that data to the police should you criticize the wrong person or download a movie without permission. At which point a VPN becomes ki…
I probably won't use Mozilla's offering, because i want any VPN to cover the whole system, not just the browser (correct me if i've made a bad assumption here)
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> > Also, "free": "If you're not paying for it, you're the product being sold" > HN is "free" too. :) Indeed: you deliver valuable information about market trends, market sentiments, technology, ... to SV startups and investors. Additionally, Hacker News is basically a marketing expense of YC.
And crowd sourced think tank.
As a Firefox user: if I want a VPN I'll use an actual VPN. Focus on making a great browser, and not all this distraction. Also, "free": "If you're not paying for it, you're the product being sold"
I'd love to have a free VPN directly integrated into the browser, it's not a distraction. It's a developer tool for website developers.