6 ms·

Even more reason to help push Mozilla Firefox. Having typed that, I sure hope there are people at Mozilla who would help ensure that Mozilla does no evil :(

WesolyKubeczek 6y ago
Unfortunately, from the look of it it seems like Mozilla overflows with people determined to make Firefox irrelevant.
- m-p-3 6y ago
  They did lose a bit of focus in the past, but I believe they're getting it back with some privacy-oriented side-projects like Firefox Relay. Hopefully they don't go under :(
  - cookiecaper 6y ago
    The layoffs last summer tell us all we need to know about the direction Mozilla's headed. I think they're toast. Brave and -- dare I say it? -- even Edge have brighter prospects.
    - int_19h 6y ago
      Check out Vivaldi while you're at it.
      - WesolyKubeczek 6y ago
        A Chromium fork too. Meh. Albeit a neat skin they put on it, I'll admit.
    - simias 6y ago
      They're all based on chromium though. That gives Google a lot of leverage because every time these projects decide to do something different from upstream it adds to the maintenance burden. If Google decides to make some fundamental changes to their core engine that would make, say, ad blocking a lot more difficult, would the other chromium-based browsers deep-fork the entire codebase to keep ad blockers working while at the same time integrating the new features as fast as possible in order to remain competitive with Chrome? Microsoft has the resources to do it, but they may not care. Brave and Vivaldi would almost certainly care, but they may not have the resources to do it. I could spend all day criticizing Mozilla but I'll use Firefox to the bitter end because of this. In the end there are only three engines in widespread use these days: Chrom(e|ium), WebKit/Safari and Gecko. As far as I know Safari is irrelevant outside of Mac world, so losing Gecko would be terrible for the open web.
      - cookiecaper 6y ago
        Gecko is already effectively lost -- the groups doing cutting-edge work were cut back in August. We're just watching the implosion. I switched from Firefox to Brave in October and suggest others do the same. Personally, I believe Brave would indeed "deep-fork" the Chromium codebase if necessary, and I'd guess there's a significant chance that other Chromium-based browsers would use it in preference to a submarined upstream.
        simias 6y ago
        I'm not willing to write Firefox/Gecko off until I encounter significant issues in the wild, although I agree that the future doesn't look bright.
methodsignature 6y ago
They may have noble intent, but they also have conflict of interest given Google basically signs their paychecks. [I do use Firefox regardless]

WesolyKubeczek 6y ago

Unfortunately, from the look of it it seems like Mozilla overflows with people determined to make Firefox irrelevant.

m-p-3 6y ago
They did lose a bit of focus in the past, but I believe they're getting it back with some privacy-oriented side-projects like Firefox Relay. Hopefully they don't go under :(
- cookiecaper 6y ago
  The layoffs last summer tell us all we need to know about the direction Mozilla's headed. I think they're toast. Brave and -- dare I say it? -- even Edge have brighter prospects.
  - int_19h 6y ago
    Check out Vivaldi while you're at it.
    - WesolyKubeczek 6y ago
      A Chromium fork too. Meh. Albeit a neat skin they put on it, I'll admit.
  - simias 6y ago
    They're all based on chromium though. That gives Google a lot of leverage because every time these projects decide to do something different from upstream it adds to the maintenance burden. If Google decides to make some fundamental changes to their core engine that would make, say, ad blocking a lot more difficult, would the other chromium-based browsers deep-fork the entire codebase to keep ad blockers working while at the same time integrating the new features as fast as possible in order to remain competitive with Chrome? Microsoft has the resources to do it, but they may not care. Brave and Vivaldi would almost certainly care, but they may not have the resources to do it. I could spend all day criticizing Mozilla but I'll use Firefox to the bitter end because of this. In the end there are only three engines in widespread use these days: Chrom(e|ium), WebKit/Safari and Gecko. As far as I know Safari is irrelevant outside of Mac world, so losing Gecko would be terrible for the open web.
    - cookiecaper 6y ago
      Gecko is already effectively lost -- the groups doing cutting-edge work were cut back in August. We're just watching the implosion. I switched from Firefox to Brave in October and suggest others do the same. Personally, I believe Brave would indeed "deep-fork" the Chromium codebase if necessary, and I'd guess there's a significant chance that other Chromium-based browsers would use it in preference to a submarined upstream.
      - simias 6y ago
        I'm not willing to write Firefox/Gecko off until I encounter significant issues in the wild, although I agree that the future doesn't look bright.

methodsignature 6y ago

They may have noble intent, but they also have conflict of interest given Google basically signs their paychecks. [I do use Firefox regardless]