4 ms·

> Work on the bloody browser, forget about the rest. But they did that, and now Firefox market share is almost negligible because it wasn't the default browser

• alsdkfjkqjwer 6y ago
  > Firefox market share is almost negligible because it wasn't the default browser on mobile OS's "Working on the browser" includes allying with ACLU/EFF/etc to sue google/apple, just like Google itself sued microsoft for the very same reason in the 90s. That's the whole point of having an "ecosystem" corporation like mozilla, instead of a few loose devs like most open source projects!
• Wowfunhappy 6y ago
  > But they did that, and now Firefox market share is almost negligible because it wasn't the default browser on mobile OS's. Firefox has never been a default browser on any OS, mobile or otherwise, and I don't see how that could ever change short of Firefox developing their own OS. Which is in fact something they tried a while back for mobile, and it didn't go so well.
  • jacquesm 6y ago
    Firefox has been the default browser on many linux distros.
    • calcifer 6y ago
      So? We're still talking about a negligible market share.
      • jacquesm 6y ago
        Of which I've been a part for the last 15 years.
        • calcifer 6y ago
          So am I, for even longer. How is that relevant?
    • Wowfunhappy 6y ago
      Very good point, I forgot about that! Sadly though, I don't know how relevant it is due to Linux's desktop marketshare.
      • jacquesm 6y ago
        For me extremely relevant. And that probably explains a lot of my perspective. I'm one of those 'free software all the way' types and FireFox is a very important component in that toolchain. Of course, being more or less forced into Gmail and Google docs (or office 365) means that that too is now a losing battle but I hope to fight this rearguard as long as I need to be commercially active. Frankly, I can't wait to shut down my email account and call it a day but it's still some years away.
  • input_sh 6y ago
    > Which is in fact something they tried a while back for mobile, and it didn't go so well. A fork of it (KaiOS) is currently more popular than iOS in India. I'd argue that their PWA-focused OS was just a few years ahead of its time.
    • jacquesm 6y ago
      I use KaiOS on my phone. It's pretty good. A nice cross between 'dumb' and 'smart'. I like it a lot. No forced upload of my contact lists and no forced membership of some eco system. The only gripe I have is that pre-installed software can not be easily uninstalled but I understand they need to eat there too so I'll give them a pass. Rearranging the icons took care of that particular irritation.
  • Vinnl 6y ago
    > I don't see how that could ever change short of Firefox developing their own OS. Which is in fact something they tried a while back for mobile, and it didn't go so well. Exactly, and they only did that when it was too late, and it was proven that mobile was going to be big. It'd have required betting on mobile before it was a sure thing, instead of just focusing on the browser they had.
    • Wowfunhappy 6y ago
      Wikipedia says it was announced in 2011, I'd say that was pretty early. I don't think Mozilla had any chance in this market. Microsoft couldn't do it, Blackberry couldn't do it, Palm couldn't do it, Nokia... probably could have done it if they hadn't been sabotaged by Steven Elop, but still. After the iPhone came out, everyone else failed except Google, who I'd posit just got lucky with a couple of well-timed carrier deals in key parts of the world. The only thing Mozilla needed to do was have more foresight than all of the other guys with far more resources... sure, I guess. I don't think the target you're giving them is reasonable.
      • Vinnl 6y ago
        I mean, the same holds true for browser features. It's always been David vs. Goliath for them.