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A New Chapter For Mozilla
(blog.mozilla.org)
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this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2024
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Most of the time this is true, but for browser engines it's different because of their sheer size, complexity, need to adhere and collaborate with others to form web standards, need for security experts, day one vulnerability patches, etc.
If Mozilla dies, LibreWolf can't just pick up the slack. They die too. Volunteers alone can't run a modern web engine, it takes hundreds of millions per year to upkeep.
There's a reason why we're down to just Google, Apple, and Mozilla. Nobody wants to foot that bill unless they have a damn good reason for doing so.
It's probably more expensive to maintain a browser engine than a full operating system at this point.
Perhaps we should take the clue and - if we also see clues of Mozilla enshittifying - switch globally to an easier internet that's also easier to program for. Something like Gemini (the post-Gopher thingy, not Google's latest fad) for example, where I take it maintaining a browser is nowhere near the same order of magnitude as complex.
I'll never understand why Microsoft dropped their engine. They can afford to develop it and it would've been a great advantage vs Google. I mean, it wouldn't have helped open source folk either way, but I just don't get why they dropped it.
What makes it a great advantage vs Google?
Because they now have to go along with most things that Google says. They're reliant on Google now, they have to do what daddy tells them.
Add to that, they've conceded any sway in setting web standards, granting Google more control to push the web in the direction that benefits Google and harms competition.