4 ms·

> Removing it is "good" for user privacy w.r.t. Google's competitors, and simultaneously good for Google (disadvantaging such competitors). And how does Mozill

by pkaye 6y ago

> Removing it is "good" for user privacy w.r.t. Google's competitors, and simultaneously good for Google (disadvantaging such competitors). And how does Mozilla make money?

wizzwizz4 6y ago
Google paying it. Out of Chrome and Firefox, one is one big level of indirection further away from Google's influence than the other.
- derefr 6y ago
  No. Mozilla Corp is a separate entity from the Mozilla Foundation, and Google pays Mozilla Corp. (The arrangement with Google is exactly why Mozilla Corp is a distinct thing from the Mozilla Foundation: it means profits to Mozilla Corp can't influence the Mozilla Foundation.) Mozilla Foundation is purely a donation-fed nonprofit, and most things you associate with "Mozilla" are made by the Mozilla Foundation. In fact, even Firefox itself — the open source project — is made by the Mozilla Foundation. Mozilla Corp is just a company that employs engineers to work on Firefox. (I.e. their job is to be ordinary FOSS contributors to the project.) Those engineers might have a profit motive to do things Mozilla Corp investors/shareholders like, but that's fine, because those engineers mostly aren't part of the Firefox steering committee. The Firefox steering committee (along with all other Mozilla projects) is composed of people who are employed by the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation; and/or FOSS people external to Mozilla as a whole. (ETA: fixed the names. I originally called Mozilla Corp "Firefox Corp" — and it really basically is, as Mozilla Corp doesn't employ people to work on anything other than Firefox. IMHO "Firefox Corp" would be a strictly-better name for it.)
  - sm4rk0 6y ago
    You're close, but there's no "Firefox Corp". From Wikipedia: "Mozilla [...] is a free software community founded in 1998 by members of Netscape. [...] The community is supported institutionally by the not-for-profit Mozilla Foundation and its tax-paying subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation."
  - stonogo 6y ago
    A distinction without a difference, since the same people lead both organizations.
  - lucideer 6y ago
    This comment misses one glaring point: Mozilla Foundation does not fund Firefox development. There's three entities: - Mozilla Foundation: accepts donations and spends them on web initiatives, does not spend them on Firefox - Mozilla Corporation: is owned by Mozilla Foundation, employs Firefox devs, has search deals with Google - Firefox software: is developed by Mozilla Corporation, is funded by search deals
godelski 6y ago
Through royalties and donations[0]. You say this like something nefarious is going on. But also consider that Mozilla has a net income of 90 million/yr[1]. The income levels between these two companies are extremely different and thus they can operate in different ways and under different conditions and saying "how does x make money" and not taking this into account is just a bad question. Their goal isn't to be Google and to be a trillion dollar company. [0] https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/041315/how-mozilla-firefox-and-google-chrome-make-money.asp https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/041315/how-m... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation
- lucideer 6y ago
  This is technically correct as the commenter asked "How does Mozilla make money?", but I suspect they were really enquiring how Firefox is funded. Many people are a bit shocked to learn Mozilla Foundation does not fund Firefox. Firefox is funded by search deals (mostly by Google); Mozilla spends donations elsewhere.

by pkaye 6y ago

> Removing it is "good" for user privacy w.r.t. Google's competitors, and simultaneously good for Google (disadvantaging such competitors). And how does Mozilla make money?

wizzwizz4 6y ago

Google paying it. Out of Chrome and Firefox, one is one big level of indirection further away from Google's influence than the other.

derefr 6y ago
No. Mozilla Corp is a separate entity from the Mozilla Foundation, and Google pays Mozilla Corp. (The arrangement with Google is exactly why Mozilla Corp is a distinct thing from the Mozilla Foundation: it means profits to Mozilla Corp can't influence the Mozilla Foundation.) Mozilla Foundation is purely a donation-fed nonprofit, and most things you associate with "Mozilla" are made by the Mozilla Foundation. In fact, even Firefox itself — the open source project — is made by the Mozilla Foundation. Mozilla Corp is just a company that employs engineers to work on Firefox. (I.e. their job is to be ordinary FOSS contributors to the project.) Those engineers might have a profit motive to do things Mozilla Corp investors/shareholders like, but that's fine, because those engineers mostly aren't part of the Firefox steering committee. The Firefox steering committee (along with all other Mozilla projects) is composed of people who are employed by the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation; and/or FOSS people external to Mozilla as a whole. (ETA: fixed the names. I originally called Mozilla Corp "Firefox Corp" — and it really basically is, as Mozilla Corp doesn't employ people to work on anything other than Firefox. IMHO "Firefox Corp" would be a strictly-better name for it.)
- sm4rk0 6y ago
  You're close, but there's no "Firefox Corp". From Wikipedia: "Mozilla [...] is a free software community founded in 1998 by members of Netscape. [...] The community is supported institutionally by the not-for-profit Mozilla Foundation and its tax-paying subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation."
- stonogo 6y ago
  A distinction without a difference, since the same people lead both organizations.
- lucideer 6y ago
  This comment misses one glaring point: Mozilla Foundation does not fund Firefox development. There's three entities: - Mozilla Foundation: accepts donations and spends them on web initiatives, does not spend them on Firefox - Mozilla Corporation: is owned by Mozilla Foundation, employs Firefox devs, has search deals with Google - Firefox software: is developed by Mozilla Corporation, is funded by search deals

godelski 6y ago

Through royalties and donations[0]. You say this like something nefarious is going on. But also consider that Mozilla has a net income of 90 million/yr[1]. The income levels between these two companies are extremely different and thus they can operate in different ways and under different conditions and saying "how does x make money" and not taking this into account is just a bad question. Their goal isn't to be Google and to be a trillion dollar company. [0] https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/041315/how-mozilla-firefox-and-google-chrome-make-money.asp https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/041315/how-m... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation

lucideer 6y ago
This is technically correct as the commenter asked "How does Mozilla make money?", but I suspect they were really enquiring how Firefox is funded. Many people are a bit shocked to learn Mozilla Foundation does not fund Firefox. Firefox is funded by search deals (mostly by Google); Mozilla spends donations elsewhere.