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A New Chapter for Mozilla

by brycewray on 2/8/24, 2:56 PM with 28 comments

  • by anotherhue on 2/8/24, 7:43 PM

    Things I want to donate for: Core Browser Development. Google disconnection.

    Things I don't want to donate for: CEO inflation, marketing-tie ins, random acquisitions.

  • by xethos on 2/8/24, 3:48 PM

    I cannot help but wonder just how many commenters here will start to donate to Mozilla now. I've lost count of how many "I'd love to donate, but if only Mitchell Baker weren't making such a mess of it" comments I've seen - hopefully Mozilla can get a jump with some additional funding by way of donations, and accelerate from there.

  • by anotherhue on 2/8/24, 7:44 PM

    > Doubling down on our core products, like Firefox

    THERE IS NO OTHER PRODUCT

  • by bruceb on 2/8/24, 7:20 PM

    Lot of words to say not much.

  • by dang on 2/8/24, 9:53 PM

    Related ongoing thread:

    Mozilla names new CEO as it pivots to data privacy - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39302744 - Feb 2024 (331 comments)

  • by Communitivity on 2/9/24, 2:09 PM

    Could someone ELI5 why there is a Mozilla Foundation (a non-profit) and a Mozilla Corporation (a public-benefit but for-profit)?

    I hear "Refining the company’s vision and aligning the corporate and product strategy behind it" and I feel like I am back at Booz Allen (not a bad thing necessarily, for an org who's goal is to maximize profit).

    I have been using Firefox and its lineage since Mosaic. Only time I don't is when Firefox can't handle a website, or when required to use Chrome by work.

    That's even during the times when it was slower than Chrome, or had less features, as I considered using something other than Firefox a moral hazard[1]. That's because I felt I needed to support it's mission of a free open source browser with the goals of an open web, open source software, and user rights.

    Cut to today. Firefox is funded mostly by Google fees for search defaults, according to what I read (81% in 2022) [2]. There is a Mozilla Foundation and a Mozilla Corporation. Presumably the Mozilla Corporation hires developers, is everything they write Open Source, or are there some proprietary bits?

    I did find that the Mozilla Corporation is a public benefit company, which is something. I also found it is a subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation (no idea how that could work). However, the announcement [3] of the Mozilla Corporation does not mention the rationale for why a corporation is needed in addition to the foundation. I wouldn't think revenue exceeding a certain amount would be it, because it's not profit if it goes right back out in awareness campaigns or developer sponsorship, right?

    [1] https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/moralhazard.asp

    [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation#:~:text=it....

    [3] https://www-archive.mozilla.org/press/mozilla-2005-08-03.htm.....

  • by brycewray on 2/8/24, 3:50 PM