4 ms·

Why? It's 'their' product and fits within Mozilla's ambitions for the product, namely making the user central to the online privacy debate. If I paid for Firef

Why? It's 'their' product and fits within Mozilla's ambitions for the product, namely making the user central to the online privacy debate. If I paid for Firefox, I'd perhaps be a little irked, but given I've never given Firefox a penny, I'm happy for them to try and get me to spend money on their things (even though as a Euro, I can't yet - I think the VPN's US only?). If anyone from Firefox is reading this - please hurry up and allow me to pay for your product. I'd dearly like to! - ed: typos

chrisseaton 6y ago
> Why? Because people want to use their browser to browse. They don't want to be advertised to while they're trying to work or otherwise get on with their hectic lives. They also don't want to hear about silly TV shows while they're browsing. All things Mozilla needs to learn.
- rakoo 6y ago
  But a VPN is arguably an help for a better browsing, so it's in line with what the user wants already.
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    > But a VPN is arguably an help for a better browsing, so it's in line with what the user wants already. Lol and Coca-Cola is delicious and refreshing so it's arguably in line to put it on the side of a bus when it goes past people who are thirsty. I don't want your product shoved in my face, no matter how awesome you think I should find it.
- detritus 6y ago
  Ok, I've updated to see for myself. The 'advert' is in the start up page we see upon every update. It's as much of an imposition upon my browser experience as a welcome page in any application, and because my hand is already hovering over Ctrl+W, it's gone before I even got a chance to care. I just don't get the irritation here. My web browser is my single-most used application and I've never paid Firefox a bean for it. If they want to promote an extension to their service that they presumably feel is relevant to a percentage of their userbase, then they should go for it - even if the likes of you or I don't really care for it. The Mr. Robot promotion was a screw up, no denying it.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- dblohm7 6y ago
  > They also don't want to hear about silly TV shows while they're browsing. Considering that was nearly 3 years ago, I think they learned.
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    Yet here they are again... pushing more bullshit that interests them as highly-paid tech elites in Silicon Valley and assuming it'll interest me and my grandmother as well. Mozilla: not everyone watches the same TV shows as you... not everyone wants a VPN like you. Is it a diversity problem? Do they need to hire people outside their bubble?
tomcooks 6y ago
> Why? Because ads suck.
TylerE 6y ago
It isn’t their product at all. It’s just a white label service they’re reselling - at significant markup.
- SubiculumCode 6y ago
  I pay $4.99 a month. It works fine, and if that is a significant markup, I'll never notice it. Indeed I am glad to support Firefox.
  - modo_mario 6y ago
    The partner they currently use to do this is actually €5(~$5.91)/mo as someone else mentioned so there's no markup but actually a cut in price if any.
- detritus 6y ago
  Hence my using single quotes around 'their'.
- robotblake 6y ago
  Just to clarify here, the Mozilla VPN is $4.99/mo, whereas Mullvad (the partner it currently uses) is €5(~$5.91)/mo. There is no markup, it's actually about 15% cheaper.
gspr 6y ago
> I'm happy for them to try and get me to spend money on their things (even though as a Euro, I can't yet - I think the VPN's US only?). That's one of the ridiculous parts of this: They're just reselling Swedish VPN provider Mullvad's [1] product. That product (which also supports Wireguard, yay!) is available worldwide for €5/month. You can even pay by "anonymized identifier string and cash in an envelope" if you are so inclined. Come on, Mozilla – just keep on making the world's best browser (and the world's last free browser). Stop paying your CEO millions. Stop making bookmarking services. Stop reselling VPN services. Just act as a shovel for money to go into the pockets of talented browser developers! [1] https://mullvad.net/en/ https://mullvad.net/en/
- detritus 6y ago
  Ah, thanks for making me dig around - apparently Mozilla's offering does cover a few more countries than just the States, as it did prior - mine own included. So, I can finally give Firefox 50p a month! (Or whatever their share of the charge is - not a heck of a lot, I imagine).
- dblohm7 6y ago
  > Stop reselling VPN services. People hate Mozilla for taking money from Google. People also seem to hate Mozilla for trying to earn money from somebody other than Google. How do you recommend they pay for browser+engine development?
  - gspr 6y ago
    > How do you recommend they pay for browser+engine development? Current funding levels would go a lot further if the organization cut everything that isn't a mechanism to support the browser developers. Why does Mozilla need a CEO making millions? Why do they need a bay area HQ? Said differently: I have no problem with how Mozilla raises money (although I do have some doubts about how much they'll make by reselling a €5 VPN service for $5, even taking into account discounts), I have a problem with how Mozilla spends money.
    - fomine3 6y ago

chrisseaton 6y ago

> Why? Because people want to use their browser to browse. They don't want to be advertised to while they're trying to work or otherwise get on with their hectic lives. They also don't want to hear about silly TV shows while they're browsing. All things Mozilla needs to learn.

rakoo 6y ago
But a VPN is arguably an help for a better browsing, so it's in line with what the user wants already.
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  > But a VPN is arguably an help for a better browsing, so it's in line with what the user wants already. Lol and Coca-Cola is delicious and refreshing so it's arguably in line to put it on the side of a bus when it goes past people who are thirsty. I don't want your product shoved in my face, no matter how awesome you think I should find it.
detritus 6y ago
Ok, I've updated to see for myself. The 'advert' is in the start up page we see upon every update. It's as much of an imposition upon my browser experience as a welcome page in any application, and because my hand is already hovering over Ctrl+W, it's gone before I even got a chance to care. I just don't get the irritation here. My web browser is my single-most used application and I've never paid Firefox a bean for it. If they want to promote an extension to their service that they presumably feel is relevant to a percentage of their userbase, then they should go for it - even if the likes of you or I don't really care for it. The Mr. Robot promotion was a screw up, no denying it.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
dblohm7 6y ago
> They also don't want to hear about silly TV shows while they're browsing. Considering that was nearly 3 years ago, I think they learned.
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  Yet here they are again... pushing more bullshit that interests them as highly-paid tech elites in Silicon Valley and assuming it'll interest me and my grandmother as well. Mozilla: not everyone watches the same TV shows as you... not everyone wants a VPN like you. Is it a diversity problem? Do they need to hire people outside their bubble?

tomcooks 6y ago

> Why? Because ads suck.

TylerE 6y ago

It isn’t their product at all. It’s just a white label service they’re reselling - at significant markup.

SubiculumCode 6y ago
I pay $4.99 a month. It works fine, and if that is a significant markup, I'll never notice it. Indeed I am glad to support Firefox.
- modo_mario 6y ago
  The partner they currently use to do this is actually €5(~$5.91)/mo as someone else mentioned so there's no markup but actually a cut in price if any.
detritus 6y ago
Hence my using single quotes around 'their'.
robotblake 6y ago
Just to clarify here, the Mozilla VPN is $4.99/mo, whereas Mullvad (the partner it currently uses) is €5(~$5.91)/mo. There is no markup, it's actually about 15% cheaper.

gspr 6y ago

> I'm happy for them to try and get me to spend money on their things (even though as a Euro, I can't yet - I think the VPN's US only?). That's one of the ridiculous parts of this: They're just reselling Swedish VPN provider Mullvad's [1] product. That product (which also supports Wireguard, yay!) is available worldwide for €5/month. You can even pay by "anonymized identifier string and cash in an envelope" if you are so inclined. Come on, Mozilla – just keep on making the world's best browser (and the world's last free browser). Stop paying your CEO millions. Stop making bookmarking services. Stop reselling VPN services. Just act as a shovel for money to go into the pockets of talented browser developers! [1] https://mullvad.net/en/ https://mullvad.net/en/

detritus 6y ago
Ah, thanks for making me dig around - apparently Mozilla's offering does cover a few more countries than just the States, as it did prior - mine own included. So, I can finally give Firefox 50p a month! (Or whatever their share of the charge is - not a heck of a lot, I imagine).
dblohm7 6y ago
> Stop reselling VPN services. People hate Mozilla for taking money from Google. People also seem to hate Mozilla for trying to earn money from somebody other than Google. How do you recommend they pay for browser+engine development?
- gspr 6y ago
  > How do you recommend they pay for browser+engine development? Current funding levels would go a lot further if the organization cut everything that isn't a mechanism to support the browser developers. Why does Mozilla need a CEO making millions? Why do they need a bay area HQ? Said differently: I have no problem with how Mozilla raises money (although I do have some doubts about how much they'll make by reselling a €5 VPN service for $5, even taking into account discounts), I have a problem with how Mozilla spends money.
  - fomine3 6y ago