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MDN Plus

developer.mozilla.org

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Re: MDN Plus

#211

Post by FriedrichN »

alphabravoB wrote: post #123
FriedrichN wrote: post #78

I wasn't totally against this until I discovered the A/B testing thing with the subscription costs. Something about that stinks. Just name your price and I'll think about it, don't be shady about it.

The price for every subscription you have was likely A/B tested. It's very standard and not shady. Subscription prices vary by all types of audiences for subscription-based models, test segments are just one of them, and one of the least shady in my opinion. It's a brand new product and they're gauging the right price.

It is shady. I expect Amazon, Netflix and their like to do this. Mozilla is supposed to have more integrity, after all their mission is to "build a better internet" and "empower" people. Just because something is industry standard doesn't mean you have to do it as well, especially when you place yourself above others morally.

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/mission/

Re: MDN Plus

#212

Post by nly »

Someone1234 wrote: post #16

The $10/m right now seems on the high side. Even the copy suggests you're better off not getting this, waiting at least a year for the content to be posted "every month," then subbing for a single month to read it all. Maybe the Wikipedia/donation model would have been a better play for MDN then this, particularly as freemium was originally about micro-transactions, not $2 more than the cost of Netflix's Basic tier.…

I think they're targeting this at the kind of people who are almost happy to donate money to MDN just to see it continue.

The exclusive content just seems like a way of pushing would-be donors over the edge.

It's sort of similar to LWN. The articles are top notch but available for free after a delay (likewise, anything truly useful on MDN+ will leak out on to other platforms). People who subscribe to LWN just want to support the efforts and make sure the content continues to flow, they're not really concerned with the exclusivity of getting it first.

Re: MDN Plus

#213

Post by nly »

moosebear847 wrote: post #168
gilrain wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are naming different prices for different people. You walk into a bar and the guy in front of you orders a beer for $5. Looks good, so you order the same thing. The bartender says, "For you it's $10." Do you feel fairly treated?

If you sold ice cream on the street and needed to figure out how to become profitable, would you be so opposed to trying out selling at $5 one day and $7 the next? Or would this be too unfair to the people that paid $5? It's the intent I guess. The bartender story seems to imply a bad reason for the discrepancy (some type of unfair discrimination), while in this case it's to find out if you can charge more to eg capt…

You have the benefit with ice cream of a functioning market. You can look at hundreds of competitors across similar towns with a little research

Re: MDN Plus

#215

Post by mantas »

PaulHoule wrote: post #35
krono wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here are some news articles that might make you rethink that: - https://calpaterson.com/mozilla.html - https://www.techrepublic.com/article/why-mozillas-layoffs-an... Help out, sure. To fully fund them would be taking it too far.

Fully funding means they can put better governance in and throw the captain overboard if need be.

Should EU nationalize a company based in US? :)

Or should they buy it from a corrupt current management? :)

Another way would be to establish a EU-funded foundation that would fork Firefox. But EU has a poor track record for this. Anybody remember EU-backed Google killer? And forking major open source projects has a bunch of issues too.

Re: MDN Plus

#216

Post by forgotpwd16 »

Zababa wrote: post #25

$5 a month when I'm using my regular web browser (chrome), $10 a month when I'm using private navigation. $10 a month on Firefox too. Maybe because I'm in Europe and it's adjusted to salaries/cost of living?

This isn't what is happening here which is a simple A/B test. But the adjustment you mention can be implemented utilizing the purchasing power parity. It'll be nice seeing projects taking this into consideration.

Re: MDN Plus

#218

Post by HerminaC »

RheingoldRiver wrote: post #182
HerminaC wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are indeed reading this feedback. And I get your point - thanks!

Yeah, I have little interest in any of the listed services. But, I'd be happy to contribute a couple dollars a month to a "pay what you like to support us" tier. Either way I'll probably sign up if it's priced reasonably (or tiered), but imo it's definitely worth marketing "support MDN" prominently for this. Two issues I found: 1) I had no idea there was a waitlist til I read another comment here; I wasn't going to e…

When you tried it, we've probably had it already closed. We have removed the sign-up to waitlist option yesterday evening.

Re: MDN Plus

#219

Post by Rapzid »

Late comment but I don't understand why all of MDN, and this, can't be fully funded through corporate sponsors via Open Web Docs. There's already about ~750k in annual budget and there is nearly(I say nearly because I'm not sure but couldn't find it) zero reference to it from MDN; you know, the site people actually visit and know about.

I would imagine if sponsorships were more visible, and given the importance of MDN to the industry, there would be plenty of money available to operate the project both technically(servers etc) and managerially(staff writers/developers providing the framework for browser vendor and other contributions).

It's really baffling to try to pull these funds from individual developers' bottom line instead of companies; the entry point of the revenue stream generated with the benefit of these docs. It just doesn't quite feel right but I can't fully explain why. The move just feels off.

EDIT: Okay I think this might come close to conveying my sentiment. We are being asked to pay to support Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Mozilla's browser documentation.. Huh?

Re: MDN Plus

#220

Post by Rapzid »

tristan957 wrote: post #207
MikusR wrote: post #27

Reminder that Mozilla fired the people that wrote the content.

Mozilla fired the people working on this because it was not a revenue stream. How is that surprising? The Mozilla Corporation exists to partially make money just like any other corporation. How can HN both complain when Mozilla sheds dead weight, but also diversifies revenue? Mozilla shepherded MDN into the hands of the community quite well imo. They busted their butt to make the content easy to contribute to through…

> The Mozilla Foundation works to ensure the internet remains a public resource that is open and accessible to us all.

> The Mozilla Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation

> The Mozilla Corporation's stated aim is to work towards the Mozilla Foundation's public benefit to "promote choice and innovation on the Internet."

That's why; it's not so 1 + 1 = 2. There is a ton of discretion and leeway baked into their mission on matters like MDN.

I'm conducive to the possibility that Mozilla has, as another commenter has said, "lost its way".

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