6 ms·

Given how different their missions are, I'm surprised to see Facebook on this list.

Wowfunhappy 6y ago
I was a bit surprised too, but presumably the priority right now is helping their former employees.
core-questions 6y ago
Eh, they need to hire, Mozillians need jobs, typically people who make what a Mozillian made will have a lifestyle that demands they find a new job pretty quickly, so they may not get to be that picky.
- rorykoehler 6y ago
  Capitalism 101.
  - rosstex 6y ago
    Ethics is great and all until the money stops flowing
metajack 6y ago
The CTO of FB is an ex-Mozillian. There are quite a few ex-Mozillians here, including myself. Despite Mozilla's public posture that FB is enemy #1, the internal technical culture is more similar than different.
- blub 6y ago
  They'll probably work with the same customers too, except instead of helping them fight Facebook tracking they will help Facebook track them better.
- AshamedCaptain 6y ago
  Enemy #1? I hear more about Facebook in the Firefox default startpage than _everywhere else I look_. Today, in fact, there is a huge pseudo-advertisiment (at least in fr_FR) about "how I should not feel guilty about browsing Facebook [through Firefox]" , which almost made me puke. As a person who doesn't care about Facebook whatsoever, I didn't get the impression that FB was enemy #1, but rather I assumed FB was paying them money like Google is... I can actually see FB being happy to just give money away to Mozilla, just to influence them away from Google.
  - MikusR 6y ago
    That full page ad was advertising the Mozilla made Facebook container. Based on absence of Mozilla made Google container, I think that ad was paid by Google.
  - sciurus 6y ago
    I believe what you saw was a promotion of https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/facebook-container/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/facebook-cont... That extension is described as: "Prevent Facebook from tracking you around the web. The Facebook Container extension for Firefox helps you take control and isolate your web activity from Facebook."
- LunaSea 6y ago
  What about the ethics culture?
xwdv 6y ago
A job is a job.
- raverbashing 6y ago
  Agree I am critical of some fb practices, but if it was a choice between having a job and not having one, the decision is not hard It's a big company, with multiple areas. Find a less contentious area and go for that
tw1423214 6y ago
This comment really demonstrates the divide between those with a casual working understanding of Mozilla due to peripheral awareness vs those who are or were once heavily involved with the project. (Side note: it's hard to read discussions about Mozilla on HN for this reason.) Mozillians at Facebook is not new or novel. There was a time when it seemed like everyone was leaving Mozilla for Facebook. If someone collected the data, tallying every subsequent company worked at for every employee departed, it would be would be pretty unsurprising if the results showed Facebook as the biggest employer of former Mozillians.
- speedgoose 6y ago
  I thought that people working at Mozilla were passionate about privacy, open-source, trust, and were working at Mozilla for the values. But you say many of them would work to the company with opposite values.
  - stu2b50 6y ago
    The reality is that most people like working with smart peers and cool technology. Being paid is also nice. Any moral or ethical values is somewhere in the middle of the pyramid of needs.
  - kjeetgill 6y ago
    Like any company's employees: they're all different people! They each have their own reasons for where they work and their own goals and ambitions. Any job you take is going to be a blend and balance across your personal passions, values, talents, desire for impact, financial goals and responsibilities, risk tolerance, and alternative available opportunities. Is it so surprising that one of the largest employers in the bay has attractive opportunities across a range of reasons?
    - yarrel 6y ago
      Employee motivations have zero relevance when discussing corporate actions where those actions are contrary to those motivations. The reverse is not true.
jtsiskin 6y ago
It’s easier to make change from the inside than out. I imagine more Mozillians probably means a stronger push towards E2E encryption, more data controls, stronger auditing, etc.
- anoncake 6y ago
  Facebook is not a democracy. There can be no change from the inside.
  - jtsiskin 6y ago
    Even a dictatorship has middle managers
    - anoncake 6y ago
      That have to do what upper management does or get fired.
627467 6y ago
I think this confirms that at least Mozilla PR team was very effective in their job
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

I was a bit surprised too, but presumably the priority right now is helping their former employees.

Eh, they need to hire, Mozillians need jobs, typically people who make what a Mozillian made will have a lifestyle that demands they find a new job pretty quickly, so they may not get to be that picky.

rorykoehler 6y ago
Capitalism 101.
- rosstex 6y ago
  Ethics is great and all until the money stops flowing

metajack 6y ago

The CTO of FB is an ex-Mozillian. There are quite a few ex-Mozillians here, including myself. Despite Mozilla's public posture that FB is enemy #1, the internal technical culture is more similar than different.

blub 6y ago
They'll probably work with the same customers too, except instead of helping them fight Facebook tracking they will help Facebook track them better.
AshamedCaptain 6y ago
Enemy #1? I hear more about Facebook in the Firefox default startpage than _everywhere else I look_. Today, in fact, there is a huge pseudo-advertisiment (at least in fr_FR) about "how I should not feel guilty about browsing Facebook [through Firefox]" , which almost made me puke. As a person who doesn't care about Facebook whatsoever, I didn't get the impression that FB was enemy #1, but rather I assumed FB was paying them money like Google is... I can actually see FB being happy to just give money away to Mozilla, just to influence them away from Google.
- MikusR 6y ago
  That full page ad was advertising the Mozilla made Facebook container. Based on absence of Mozilla made Google container, I think that ad was paid by Google.
- sciurus 6y ago
  I believe what you saw was a promotion of https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/facebook-container/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/facebook-cont... That extension is described as: "Prevent Facebook from tracking you around the web. The Facebook Container extension for Firefox helps you take control and isolate your web activity from Facebook."
LunaSea 6y ago
What about the ethics culture?

xwdv 6y ago

A job is a job.

raverbashing 6y ago
Agree I am critical of some fb practices, but if it was a choice between having a job and not having one, the decision is not hard It's a big company, with multiple areas. Find a less contentious area and go for that

tw1423214 6y ago

This comment really demonstrates the divide between those with a casual working understanding of Mozilla due to peripheral awareness vs those who are or were once heavily involved with the project. (Side note: it's hard to read discussions about Mozilla on HN for this reason.) Mozillians at Facebook is not new or novel. There was a time when it seemed like everyone was leaving Mozilla for Facebook. If someone collected the data, tallying every subsequent company worked at for every employee departed, it would be would be pretty unsurprising if the results showed Facebook as the biggest employer of former Mozillians.

speedgoose 6y ago
I thought that people working at Mozilla were passionate about privacy, open-source, trust, and were working at Mozilla for the values. But you say many of them would work to the company with opposite values.
- stu2b50 6y ago
  The reality is that most people like working with smart peers and cool technology. Being paid is also nice. Any moral or ethical values is somewhere in the middle of the pyramid of needs.
- kjeetgill 6y ago
  Like any company's employees: they're all different people! They each have their own reasons for where they work and their own goals and ambitions. Any job you take is going to be a blend and balance across your personal passions, values, talents, desire for impact, financial goals and responsibilities, risk tolerance, and alternative available opportunities. Is it so surprising that one of the largest employers in the bay has attractive opportunities across a range of reasons?
  - yarrel 6y ago
    Employee motivations have zero relevance when discussing corporate actions where those actions are contrary to those motivations. The reverse is not true.

jtsiskin 6y ago

It’s easier to make change from the inside than out. I imagine more Mozillians probably means a stronger push towards E2E encryption, more data controls, stronger auditing, etc.

anoncake 6y ago
Facebook is not a democracy. There can be no change from the inside.
- jtsiskin 6y ago
  Even a dictatorship has middle managers
  - anoncake 6y ago
    That have to do what upper management does or get fired.

627467 6y ago

I think this confirms that at least Mozilla PR team was very effective in their job

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]