4 ms·

I've given money to FOSS projects before (last time $5 for a really basic color picker for elementary OS). I'm sure people would give something if Mozilla aske

I've given money to FOSS projects before (last time $5 for a really basic color picker for elementary OS). I'm sure people would give something if Mozilla asked--kind of like Wikipedia do it with a message on their site. Why can't they just do that? It doesn't look like it could hurt more than this.

pryelluw 9y ago
I don't think the problem is sourci g individual donations. It's more of a predictable revenue model they can make decisions on. Crowd funding the expenses of a whole corporation seems a difficult process to take on every year. Sustainability is something that plagues every open source project.
- nkkollaw 9y ago
  Well, I don't think the add-on promotion/spam was funding the expenses of the whole corporation. Perhaps they can augment their business model with donations instead of crazy initiatives that alienate their users? I also wonder if--once they figure out what percentage of users donates--donations couldn't be predictable. By basing their business model on donations (at least in part), their focus would shift to getting more users (or making existing users like them more), which would in turn mean creating a better product. I don't see how that would not be a huge gain for everyone. DISCLAIMER: I have never run a corporation though, so I have no idea :-)
  - pryelluw 9y ago
    Those a good points. These sort of experiments seem to be them trying to find a revenue model that works. The way they are handling it sends a signal of desperation. Which should be the question here. Why does Mozilla need to do this? Why dowe the tech community praise open source in one hand and abandon it on the other?
    - nkkollaw 9y ago
      They probably are, desperate. The phone project has been a pretty bad hit for them. They so seemed to be able to be successful again with FF 57... I guess it was luck.
dingaling 9y ago
> I'm sure people would give something if Mozilla asked--kind of like Wikipedia do it with a message on their site. They do ask, I have a Mozilla request for donations today on FF57's about:newtab, yes every time I open a a new tab. There is a blue button to 'make a donation' once I have selected the appropriate amount ( 50, 25, 10 or 3 Euros ). Apparently this goes towards protecting my privacy on the Internet. There is no button to say 'no thanks' or 'already did' or 'that's a bit hypocritical given your latest stunt'
- nkkollaw 9y ago
  Ah. Never seen that. So, I assume the donation strategy is not working.
christophilus 9y ago
This appears to not have been about money[0]. It was supposed to be an easter egg written by some folks at FireFox who were fans of Mr. Robot. It wasn't supposed to be the bomb that it turned out to be. Shame, really. [0] https://www.metafilter.com/171227/Your-Reality-Is-Driven-By-Marketing#7265127 https://www.metafilter.com/171227/Your-Reality-Is-Driven-By-...

pryelluw 9y ago

I don't think the problem is sourci g individual donations. It's more of a predictable revenue model they can make decisions on. Crowd funding the expenses of a whole corporation seems a difficult process to take on every year. Sustainability is something that plagues every open source project.

nkkollaw 9y ago
Well, I don't think the add-on promotion/spam was funding the expenses of the whole corporation. Perhaps they can augment their business model with donations instead of crazy initiatives that alienate their users? I also wonder if--once they figure out what percentage of users donates--donations couldn't be predictable. By basing their business model on donations (at least in part), their focus would shift to getting more users (or making existing users like them more), which would in turn mean creating a better product. I don't see how that would not be a huge gain for everyone. DISCLAIMER: I have never run a corporation though, so I have no idea :-)
- pryelluw 9y ago
  Those a good points. These sort of experiments seem to be them trying to find a revenue model that works. The way they are handling it sends a signal of desperation. Which should be the question here. Why does Mozilla need to do this? Why dowe the tech community praise open source in one hand and abandon it on the other?
  - nkkollaw 9y ago
    They probably are, desperate. The phone project has been a pretty bad hit for them. They so seemed to be able to be successful again with FF 57... I guess it was luck.

dingaling 9y ago

> I'm sure people would give something if Mozilla asked--kind of like Wikipedia do it with a message on their site. They do ask, I have a Mozilla request for donations today on FF57's about:newtab, yes every time I open a a new tab. There is a blue button to 'make a donation' once I have selected the appropriate amount ( 50, 25, 10 or 3 Euros ). Apparently this goes towards protecting my privacy on the Internet. There is no button to say 'no thanks' or 'already did' or 'that's a bit hypocritical given your latest stunt'

nkkollaw 9y ago
Ah. Never seen that. So, I assume the donation strategy is not working.

christophilus 9y ago

This appears to not have been about money[0]. It was supposed to be an easter egg written by some folks at FireFox who were fans of Mr. Robot. It wasn't supposed to be the bomb that it turned out to be. Shame, really. [0] https://www.metafilter.com/171227/Your-Reality-Is-Driven-By-Marketing#7265127 https://www.metafilter.com/171227/Your-Reality-Is-Driven-By-...