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Mozilla Announces Layoffs, Renews Focus on Firefox
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this post was submitted on 14 Feb 2024
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Having a separate, open source JavaScript engine is in everyone’s interests even if they don’t know what they’d lose without the Mozilla Foundation and Firefox. I’m a web developer and Mozilla has protected the open web for all of us and if people understood what they’ve done, they’d all donate.
Google and Microsoft cannot and should not control standards. Mozilla is the conscience of the industry. Support it or you won’t know what you lost.
I was donating until I got an email telling me to donate more signed by their CEO or something who earns a couple hundred thousand a year.
Mind, I wasn't opted into communcation like that. Only updates and news this was neither. If their new CEO cleans house and refocuses as they said they will, I will consider renewing my donations again.
She earned 7 million and then asked for 3.5 million in donations iirc.
A couple hundred thousand is a pittance if he's keeping shit together. When CEOs push 500 to over a million at a nonprofit, that's absurdity.
She received 6.9 million dollars in 2022 and 5 million in 2021, 3 million in 2020.
CEOs are scum who do not earn anywhere near close to that. They should be lucky to get a couple hundred thousand.
And fuck Firefox having the nerve to ask for donations.
She.
And how are they keeping anything together. Market share isn't substantially better than before and rather than focusing on the product mozilla was created for they keep pivoting to weird BS like this AI grab. I actually think market shares gone up recently... cause google pushed through manifestv3. That would've happened even if mozilla did nothing. I think mozillq is still the better browser but that sure as hell doesn't seem to be because of whose in charge.
If any CEO should make this much, I think it's the one helping to keep browser choice a thing
That's Capitalism lol
The CEO of the Mozilla Corporation shouldn't be asking for donations. It's the non-profit Mozilla Foundation which collects donations (and owns the Mozilla Corporation). It is a bit confusing, yes...
...and, more importantly, none of the donations go towards Firefox development. Instead they go towards "causes" that Mozilla Foundation finds worthy, and usually they have nothing to do with the open web.
@amju_wolf @Ephera _Exactly right_
Note that the best way to support it is to actually use its products, Firefox in particular. That's what gives Mozilla the ability to influence the direction of the web and web standards.
They actually have money in the bank, they just aren't profitable on their own in any way, and rely on search partnerships for yearly funds. I think they are just being responsible here and cutting people who aren't working on relevant projects going forward.
I’m not saying they are the right size. Just that if we lose Mozilla and Firefox, it’ll be almost as bad as losing Wikimedia for certain things. We need to protect the open web.
The problem is that the vast majority of end users prefer apps over websites. They have no clue whatsoever that 99% of all apps are essentially just wrapped websites.
Since Mozilla has been unable to find a viable business model (No, relying on Google handouts is not a viable business model) I fear that there is only one possible future and a free web is not part of it.
This is the only realistic answer. Corporations have effectively decided that the future of the web is closed source proprietary javascript bloatware apps that are all functional skinner boxes. Many people, especially young people, have no clue how to use an actual computer. It's "click the bubble to make it pop and give us your mom's credit card number to unlock super premium bubbles." That's the future of the internet. But probably worse.
@mindlight @ShittyBeatlesFCPres When they took away SSB's (aka PWA) in Firefox 86 and utterly refused to reconsider, that was the end for me. Idiots
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Mozilla (the foundation) is still involved with Firefox, so chance that your donation won't go toward maintaining the engine. https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/what-we-do/
Mozilla (the company) manages Firefox and doesn't seem to accept donation. They do accept manpower contribution: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Contribute
Yeah, employing this many employees, the donations would not cover it and you can hardly guarantee a stable job position. It might take just one scandal (whether it's true or not) for everyone to stop donating.
The Mozilla Foundation uses donation money rather for political activism and they've also often distributed money to important open-source projects which are too small to collect donations.
@Ephera @redcalcium I don't mind them using funds on activism directly related to privacy and an open web but they have been blowing huge amounts on far left political causes unrelated. That's why I ignore donstion requests.
They get 500M every year from Google and keep focusing on random bullshit instead of Firefox. Plus, the money you donate in no way is guaranteed to go to Firefox.
There's no way I'm donating money to an org like that. I use Firefox because it's the only alternative, but honestly, I hope Mozilla dies and is reborn as a Firefox non-profit. One singular focus: browsers. Only then will I donate.
But Google won't let them die. They need an excuse should they ever be accused of web domination. "What do you mean domination? We give half a billion a year to at least one competitor out there. What else are we supposed to do?".
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