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This is disappointing, but not surprising: there seems to be very little interest these days in funding the sort of work that created computers, the major opera

This is disappointing, but not surprising: there seems to be very little interest these days in funding the sort of work that created computers, the major operating systems and the internet. Software and tech is basically treated as a cost by everyone.

numpad0 6y ago
If we look at IRL, governments pay for infrastructure from taxes charged on citizens on non-voluntary basis. Maybe Mozilla Foundation is one of those infrastructures inherently unprofitable, unattractive, not price competent on individual level?
- gibolt 6y ago
  Totally agree, but I'm not sure which government would fund it. I know the US heavily funds quite a few dev tools, but would be reluctant to fund large consumer facing tools without multiple country cooperation.
  - agustif 6y ago
    The EU likes privacy, most states already have weird public tv taxes and such. In spain you used to pay a canon/fee for every disk, hdd, or pendrive that can contain pirateed content, it's like a preemptive tax for everyone. lol...
- franga2000 6y ago
  (EDIT: mainly talking about Firefox here) I don't think it's inherently unprofitable (and neither is most public infrastructure), but more that any possible step towards more profit would be almost always against the users' interest. Like with motorways and much of other public infrastructure, competition is basically impossible (and would be too inefficient) due to the sheer scale of the project, and letting a for-profit run it would be nothing but harmful to the public.