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They well deserve some donations, and I just sent some quid, but would also buy some merchandise for me and gifts for friends/relatives if shipping costs make i

They well deserve some donations, and I just sent some quid, but would also buy some merchandise for me and gifts for friends/relatives if shipping costs make it worth, but apparently there's no way to purchase from them. A search brought some sites selling Mozilla branded items, but I'd like to be sure the money, or most of it, goes to the Mozilla Foundation. Any suggestions? Thanks.

butz 6y ago
Would be great if Firefox set up monthly donations system on Patreon, OpenCollective or similar platform, and all donations would go directly to browser development.
- jonnytran 6y ago
  I would totally pay a yearly subscription to support Firefox, ideally giving me access to hosted features like Firefox Send (end-to-end encrypted sending of files). I realize that people who would do so are a minority. But maybe that would help solidify the idea that, while Chrome is for Google, Firefox is for its users.
  - toyg 6y ago
    A bunch of random ideas: - partner with Dropbox to offer an integrated web-based filesystem and other file-oriented stuff like Send. - partner with bitwarden or 1Password to provide integrated authentication - the web desperately needs an open competitor to Google/Fb/Apple in this area, I’d definitely pay for this. They could probably just repurpose Persona. - rebrand Pocket (which, let’s be honest, has pissed off too many people to ever succeed) and use it to build something like old del.icio.us, targeted to (web) developers. - make containers more mainstream. The FB-container addon is wildly popular, surely there are other applications that could be baked in. All these should be optional services that can be turned on, never again we should see the corrupted practices that gave us Pocket.
    - pseudalopex 6y ago
      They already have Lockwise. Pocket had millions of users already when Mozilla integrated it. A lot of people seem to like the recommended articles. The minority who know and care Mozilla was dishonest about why it was integrated 5 years ago would just keep criticizing Mozilla for not removing it.
      - toyg 6y ago
        Lockwise is just another password manager. It’s also free, which means it’s never going to generate revenue. We need something that can rival “Log on with Facebook” and can generate enough money to self-sustain. I would happily pay to have Mozilla act as an independent super-secure auth provider for me, in a way I’d never do with any small startup.
        rrdharan 6y ago
        They tried that already (Persona).
        toyg 6y ago
        Persona was supposed to be a standard, not a paid-for service.
- trynewideas 6y ago
  As an open source project, there's no reason a fund to support Firefox development has to in any way involve Mozilla. It can exist independently and fund developers directly. If having a sustaining fund dedicated solely to Gecko/Firefox development, and it seems implicitly to specific elements of that development (ie. not those that directly or primarily benefit other Mozilla services) is truly important, don't wait on Mozilla to provide one for you to donate to. They don't have the incentive, or frankly the need, to do that.
sp332 6y ago
Just to be clear, it's the Corporation that makes Firefox, not the Foundation. There aren't many ways to give the Corporation money. Paying for a service, like the VPN or Pocket Premium, is all I can think of.
ThePhysicist 6y ago
It seems the Mozilla foundation don't use donations for Firefox development though: https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/a98gmi/donations_to_mozilla_foundation_are_not_used_for/ https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/a98gmi/donations_t...
- squarefoot 6y ago
  That is bad, I hoped to be able to help in some way. They're underestimating how much their logo and a short description could help to boost the product adoption.
  - notriddle 6y ago
    In order for the two-company Foundation/Corporation system to be even remotely legal, they must actually operate as distinct entities. That means the Foundation and the Corporation have separate bank accounts, separate employee rosters, and, as a result, they can legally be taxed differently. If the Foundation started employing Firefox developers, they would have to convince the tax man that those developers were not de-facto employees of the Corporation. This would be very hard, because there would inevitably be chat logs where Corporation employees tell the Foundation employees what to do, because that's how code review works. What would be the point, anyway? The Google Search deal gives the Mozilla Corporation far more money than the Mozilla Foundation gets from donations.
    - sp332 6y ago
      It's not that complicated. The Corporation sends the Foundation a significant chunk of money every year as "royalties" for the use of the name and logo. If the Foundation wants to pay for a few more developers, they can just decrease the "royalty" charges.
      - notriddle 6y ago
        The royalty charges can never be negative. This isn’t currently a problem, since MozCo gets more search money than MoFo gets from donations, but for anyone who dreams of Firefox becoming totally unconnected with Google, it makes this an unsatisfying non-solution.

butz 6y ago

Would be great if Firefox set up monthly donations system on Patreon, OpenCollective or similar platform, and all donations would go directly to browser development.

jonnytran 6y ago
I would totally pay a yearly subscription to support Firefox, ideally giving me access to hosted features like Firefox Send (end-to-end encrypted sending of files). I realize that people who would do so are a minority. But maybe that would help solidify the idea that, while Chrome is for Google, Firefox is for its users.
- toyg 6y ago
  A bunch of random ideas: - partner with Dropbox to offer an integrated web-based filesystem and other file-oriented stuff like Send. - partner with bitwarden or 1Password to provide integrated authentication - the web desperately needs an open competitor to Google/Fb/Apple in this area, I’d definitely pay for this. They could probably just repurpose Persona. - rebrand Pocket (which, let’s be honest, has pissed off too many people to ever succeed) and use it to build something like old del.icio.us, targeted to (web) developers. - make containers more mainstream. The FB-container addon is wildly popular, surely there are other applications that could be baked in. All these should be optional services that can be turned on, never again we should see the corrupted practices that gave us Pocket.
  - pseudalopex 6y ago
    They already have Lockwise. Pocket had millions of users already when Mozilla integrated it. A lot of people seem to like the recommended articles. The minority who know and care Mozilla was dishonest about why it was integrated 5 years ago would just keep criticizing Mozilla for not removing it.
    - toyg 6y ago
      Lockwise is just another password manager. It’s also free, which means it’s never going to generate revenue. We need something that can rival “Log on with Facebook” and can generate enough money to self-sustain. I would happily pay to have Mozilla act as an independent super-secure auth provider for me, in a way I’d never do with any small startup.
      - rrdharan 6y ago
        They tried that already (Persona).
        toyg 6y ago
        Persona was supposed to be a standard, not a paid-for service.
trynewideas 6y ago
As an open source project, there's no reason a fund to support Firefox development has to in any way involve Mozilla. It can exist independently and fund developers directly. If having a sustaining fund dedicated solely to Gecko/Firefox development, and it seems implicitly to specific elements of that development (ie. not those that directly or primarily benefit other Mozilla services) is truly important, don't wait on Mozilla to provide one for you to donate to. They don't have the incentive, or frankly the need, to do that.

sp332 6y ago

Just to be clear, it's the Corporation that makes Firefox, not the Foundation. There aren't many ways to give the Corporation money. Paying for a service, like the VPN or Pocket Premium, is all I can think of.

ThePhysicist 6y ago

It seems the Mozilla foundation don't use donations for Firefox development though: https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/a98gmi/donations_to_mozilla_foundation_are_not_used_for/ https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/a98gmi/donations_t...

squarefoot 6y ago
That is bad, I hoped to be able to help in some way. They're underestimating how much their logo and a short description could help to boost the product adoption.
- notriddle 6y ago
  In order for the two-company Foundation/Corporation system to be even remotely legal, they must actually operate as distinct entities. That means the Foundation and the Corporation have separate bank accounts, separate employee rosters, and, as a result, they can legally be taxed differently. If the Foundation started employing Firefox developers, they would have to convince the tax man that those developers were not de-facto employees of the Corporation. This would be very hard, because there would inevitably be chat logs where Corporation employees tell the Foundation employees what to do, because that's how code review works. What would be the point, anyway? The Google Search deal gives the Mozilla Corporation far more money than the Mozilla Foundation gets from donations.
  - sp332 6y ago
    It's not that complicated. The Corporation sends the Foundation a significant chunk of money every year as "royalties" for the use of the name and logo. If the Foundation wants to pay for a few more developers, they can just decrease the "royalty" charges.
    - notriddle 6y ago
      The royalty charges can never be negative. This isn’t currently a problem, since MozCo gets more search money than MoFo gets from donations, but for anyone who dreams of Firefox becoming totally unconnected with Google, it makes this an unsatisfying non-solution.