3 ms·
Could someone ELI5 why there is a Mozilla Foundation (a non-profit) and a Mozilla Corporation (a public-benefit but for-profit)? I hear "Refining the company’s
by Communitivity 3y ago
Could someone ELI5 why there is a Mozilla Foundation (a non-profit) and a Mozilla Corporation (a public-benefit but for-profit)?
I hear "Refining the company’s vision and aligning the corporate and product strategy behind it" and I feel like I am back at Booz Allen (not a bad thing necessarily, for an org who's goal is to maximize profit).
I have been using Firefox and its lineage since Mosaic. Only time I don't is when Firefox can't handle a website, or when required to use Chrome by work.
That's even during the times when it was slower than Chrome, or had less features, as I considered using something other than Firefox a moral hazard[1]. That's because I felt I needed to support it's mission of a free open source browser with the goals of an open web, open source software, and user rights.
Cut to today. Firefox is funded mostly by Google fees for search defaults, according to what I read (81% in 2022) [2]. There is a Mozilla Foundation and a Mozilla Corporation. Presumably the Mozilla Corporation hires developers, is everything they write Open Source, or are there some proprietary bits?
I did find that the Mozilla Corporation is a public benefit company, which is something. I also found it is a subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation (no idea how that could work). However, the announcement [3] of the Mozilla Corporation does not mention the rationale for why a corporation is needed in addition to the foundation. I wouldn't think revenue exceeding a certain amount would be it, because it's not profit if it goes right back out in awareness campaigns or developer sponsorship, right?
[1] https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/moralhazard.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/moralhazard.asp
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation#:~:text=its%20parent%20company.-,Finances,default%20search%20engine%20in%20Firefox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation#:~:text=it....
[3] https://www-archive.mozilla.org/press/mozilla-2005-08-03.html?_gl=1*nr1opw*_ga*MTM2MDUzNDAyLjE2OTU4MjU4ODM.*_ga_MQ7767QQQW*MTcwNzQ4NzIyOC4xLjEuMTcwNzQ4NzM1NS4wLjAuMA https://www-archive.mozilla.org/press/mozilla-2005-08-03.htm.....