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Looks like Mozilla is becoming VPN company shifting it's previous focus which was on browserware. Mozilla VPN seems to be just rebranded resell of Mullavad VPN

Looks like Mozilla is becoming VPN company shifting it's previous focus which was on browserware. Mozilla VPN seems to be just rebranded resell of Mullavad VPN with Mozilla Goodies. Mozilla Monitor seems to use https://haveibeenpwned.com/ https://haveibeenpwned.com/ (also as seen in Firefox desktop) Mozilla Firefox Private Network looks like another Cloudflare Warp's rebrand (with litte good additions maybe?) seeing that it uses Cloudflare . Mozilla Firefox is also losing it's usershare and Management division may force in future to ditch Gecko and adopt Webkit/Blink in the hope that it could bring more userbase (just my thought) to lessen maintainance and focus on revenue. If it brings revenue for them doing this,then it is absolutely good for them , but we are slowly loosing the Original Mozilla as Company based on Philosophy.

irrational 6y ago
Is Gecko open-source? If not, I hope they do open-source it before ditching it.
- varbhat 6y ago
  Ofcourse, Gecko is Open Source. There are many forks of Gecko and Firefox too. Browsers would be forked then. But,maintainance and adding features require lot of effort which is almost impractical by single dev/group without much funding in the world of ever changing large web.
varbhat 6y ago
I am getting very much downvoted. Any fallacy in my reply? Please tell me so that i can correct it in future
- staktrace 6y ago
  To me your comment seems based on a misguided idea of what Mozilla is about. I recommend reading https://civilityandtruth.com/2020/08/13/mozillas-uncertain-future/ https://civilityandtruth.com/2020/08/13/mozillas-uncertain-f... for some good background.
- shard 6y ago
  I know it's against HN policy to complain about downvotes, but I think your response is not covered under that rule in that you are looking to learn, not to vent. You have my upvote, at least.
- ksec 6y ago
  No idea why, I reread your post a few times and see nothing wrong with it. Likely some people see Mozilla different to others based on their perceived view on "Philosophy". Which they might disagree on. And I dont see any of your comment about diverging into other product market a bad thing at all.
evolve2k 6y ago
They are going through the necessary but deeply painful process of diversifying their income away from Google payments, which is much easier said than done. Mozillas initially incredible partnership with Google, from which they earn the vast majority of their income, essentially turned toxic once Google started experimenting with Chrome. On that day Google’s favourite browser to support shifted from Firefox to Chrome. Being financially reliant on your main competitor is a deeply troubling and dysfunctional position to be in. Regardless of how good it started, its time to move on.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- ifmpx 6y ago
  This is only necessary because the company has been honorably mismanaged for so long and lacks any sort of consistent vision. Maybe Mozilla should also look into reducing leadership compensation or at least have it reflect the performance of the company.
  - koolba 6y ago
    s/honorably/horribly/?
  - evolve2k 6y ago
    > lacks any sort of consistent vision I have no insider knowledge of how well it’s been managed so I’ll leave that to other commentators. However I’d say that their vision for openness is part of their curse. Google in developing Chrome are not held to the same community expectations. It’s expensive to build and maintain a modern day browser and the competitors have deep pockets to the extent of it being worth completing even at a loss due to the benefits of controlling the platform (being the browser platform). Mozilla have to extract value somewhere. But where should it be? I think the challenge is to reframe that Mozilla are maintaining an open commons that all are welcome to visit for free without access fees while also metaphorically “selling cool drinks nearby for a price”. If the community won’t let them charge for anything they do, and claim “extraction/extraction!” with every move they are destined to go under. I think the most useful framing for Mozilla fans is: What here should be part of our global commons and needs to be freely available and what would I/we be willing to pay Mozilla for that extends or compliments these core offerings?
thesimon 6y ago
>and Management division may force in future to ditch Gecko and adopt Webkit/Blink in the hope that it could bring more userbase (just my thought) to lessen maintainance and focus on revenue. They laid off most people working on Servo, so the adoption of WebKit/Blink seems rather likely.
- orclev 6y ago
  I certainly hope it doesn't come to that. Servo was really starting to show serious improvements in both memory usage and speed relative to Gecko and Webkit. It would be a shame to see Firefox devolve into just another rebranded Webkit browser, particularly since everyone loses when things devolve to a monoculture.
- jdashg 6y ago
  Servo was never actually the heir-apparent to Gecko.
  - kevincox 6y ago
    Never officially. But I think once they started to migrate components into Firefox it seemed obvious that the experiment was a "success" and that it was on the path to replacing gecko (starting piece by piece and maybe eventually making a switchover).
    - dblohm7 6y ago
      Mozilla developer here. The Gecko team was mostly spared from the layoffs. There is no intention to cease Gecko development.
      - fabrice_d 6y ago
        I really hope this is true, but there as been absolutely zero clear communication from Mozilla VP and above managers about being committed to Gecko. Why is Firefox CTO not writing a blog post about that?
  - 6y ago
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

irrational 6y ago

Is Gecko open-source? If not, I hope they do open-source it before ditching it.

varbhat 6y ago
Ofcourse, Gecko is Open Source. There are many forks of Gecko and Firefox too. Browsers would be forked then. But,maintainance and adding features require lot of effort which is almost impractical by single dev/group without much funding in the world of ever changing large web.

varbhat 6y ago

I am getting very much downvoted. Any fallacy in my reply? Please tell me so that i can correct it in future

staktrace 6y ago
To me your comment seems based on a misguided idea of what Mozilla is about. I recommend reading https://civilityandtruth.com/2020/08/13/mozillas-uncertain-future/ https://civilityandtruth.com/2020/08/13/mozillas-uncertain-f... for some good background.
shard 6y ago
I know it's against HN policy to complain about downvotes, but I think your response is not covered under that rule in that you are looking to learn, not to vent. You have my upvote, at least.
ksec 6y ago
No idea why, I reread your post a few times and see nothing wrong with it. Likely some people see Mozilla different to others based on their perceived view on "Philosophy". Which they might disagree on. And I dont see any of your comment about diverging into other product market a bad thing at all.

evolve2k 6y ago

They are going through the necessary but deeply painful process of diversifying their income away from Google payments, which is much easier said than done. Mozillas initially incredible partnership with Google, from which they earn the vast majority of their income, essentially turned toxic once Google started experimenting with Chrome. On that day Google’s favourite browser to support shifted from Firefox to Chrome. Being financially reliant on your main competitor is a deeply troubling and dysfunctional position to be in. Regardless of how good it started, its time to move on.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
ifmpx 6y ago
This is only necessary because the company has been honorably mismanaged for so long and lacks any sort of consistent vision. Maybe Mozilla should also look into reducing leadership compensation or at least have it reflect the performance of the company.
- koolba 6y ago
  s/honorably/horribly/?
- evolve2k 6y ago
  > lacks any sort of consistent vision I have no insider knowledge of how well it’s been managed so I’ll leave that to other commentators. However I’d say that their vision for openness is part of their curse. Google in developing Chrome are not held to the same community expectations. It’s expensive to build and maintain a modern day browser and the competitors have deep pockets to the extent of it being worth completing even at a loss due to the benefits of controlling the platform (being the browser platform). Mozilla have to extract value somewhere. But where should it be? I think the challenge is to reframe that Mozilla are maintaining an open commons that all are welcome to visit for free without access fees while also metaphorically “selling cool drinks nearby for a price”. If the community won’t let them charge for anything they do, and claim “extraction/extraction!” with every move they are destined to go under. I think the most useful framing for Mozilla fans is: What here should be part of our global commons and needs to be freely available and what would I/we be willing to pay Mozilla for that extends or compliments these core offerings?

thesimon 6y ago

>and Management division may force in future to ditch Gecko and adopt Webkit/Blink in the hope that it could bring more userbase (just my thought) to lessen maintainance and focus on revenue. They laid off most people working on Servo, so the adoption of WebKit/Blink seems rather likely.

orclev 6y ago
I certainly hope it doesn't come to that. Servo was really starting to show serious improvements in both memory usage and speed relative to Gecko and Webkit. It would be a shame to see Firefox devolve into just another rebranded Webkit browser, particularly since everyone loses when things devolve to a monoculture.
jdashg 6y ago
Servo was never actually the heir-apparent to Gecko.
- kevincox 6y ago
  Never officially. But I think once they started to migrate components into Firefox it seemed obvious that the experiment was a "success" and that it was on the path to replacing gecko (starting piece by piece and maybe eventually making a switchover).
  - dblohm7 6y ago
    Mozilla developer here. The Gecko team was mostly spared from the layoffs. There is no intention to cease Gecko development.
    - fabrice_d 6y ago
      I really hope this is true, but there as been absolutely zero clear communication from Mozilla VP and above managers about being committed to Gecko. Why is Firefox CTO not writing a blog post about that?
- 6y ago

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]