4 ms·

I can't even recall the names and purpose any of their other side projects other than some janky mobile phone OS and hardware attempt. But clearly they've put a

I can't even recall the names and purpose any of their other side projects other than some janky mobile phone OS and hardware attempt. But clearly they've put a lot of staffing resources and money into some of them.

lenerdenator 3y ago
Firefox OS was actually a not terrible idea. Instead of having applications written in a platform-specific stack, do it with web technologies and make the apps PWAs. Seeing how many people are now criticizing Apple for hobbling PWAs with Safari on iOS, I'd say they were just ahead of their time.
- wilsonnb3 3y ago
  Plus it lives on today as KaiOS, you can buy plenty of phones that run it. It didn’t end up challenging the Apple/Google duopoly like Mozilla wanted but I think they should have stuck with it anyways.
  - lenerdenator 3y ago
    It makes sense that it didn't for technical and business reasons. We weren't where we are now on PWA technologies in 2012. But it would also introduced another layer of data permissions abstraction over the info so many of these applications rely on to be so profitable.
- jwells89 3y ago
  The thing that killed FirefoxOS, in my opinion, was trying to break into the industry with low-end devices. The mission of providing privacy-respecting, user-empowering phones at low prices is a noble one, but starting at the low end with a physical product makes success much less likely. By doing that you have to contend with low-to-nonexistent margins, green unoptimized software struggling to run on weak hardware, and the fact that nobody (users and devs alike) really gets excited or talks about entry level devices. Mozilla might’ve caught some transitory flack for focusing on flagships initially, but it would’ve made for a much more usable product out of the gate and helped to fund R&D to make more affordable models a reality.
bbkane 3y ago
Rust was a Mozilla side project for a while. Then (if I'm remembering the posts right), they laid off most of the team.
- Aeolun 3y ago
  Wasn’t that servo?
  - cptskippy 3y ago
    Servo was a browser rendering engine written entirely in Rust. It was a casualty of COVID and transferred to the Linux Foundation in 2020. Rust was a project started by Mozilla Research employees but not affiliated with Mozilla. Though they did sponsor it in 2009.

lenerdenator 3y ago

Firefox OS was actually a not terrible idea. Instead of having applications written in a platform-specific stack, do it with web technologies and make the apps PWAs. Seeing how many people are now criticizing Apple for hobbling PWAs with Safari on iOS, I'd say they were just ahead of their time.

wilsonnb3 3y ago
Plus it lives on today as KaiOS, you can buy plenty of phones that run it. It didn’t end up challenging the Apple/Google duopoly like Mozilla wanted but I think they should have stuck with it anyways.
- lenerdenator 3y ago
  It makes sense that it didn't for technical and business reasons. We weren't where we are now on PWA technologies in 2012. But it would also introduced another layer of data permissions abstraction over the info so many of these applications rely on to be so profitable.
jwells89 3y ago
The thing that killed FirefoxOS, in my opinion, was trying to break into the industry with low-end devices. The mission of providing privacy-respecting, user-empowering phones at low prices is a noble one, but starting at the low end with a physical product makes success much less likely. By doing that you have to contend with low-to-nonexistent margins, green unoptimized software struggling to run on weak hardware, and the fact that nobody (users and devs alike) really gets excited or talks about entry level devices. Mozilla might’ve caught some transitory flack for focusing on flagships initially, but it would’ve made for a much more usable product out of the gate and helped to fund R&D to make more affordable models a reality.

bbkane 3y ago

Rust was a Mozilla side project for a while. Then (if I'm remembering the posts right), they laid off most of the team.

Aeolun 3y ago
Wasn’t that servo?
- cptskippy 3y ago
  Servo was a browser rendering engine written entirely in Rust. It was a casualty of COVID and transferred to the Linux Foundation in 2020. Rust was a project started by Mozilla Research employees but not affiliated with Mozilla. Though they did sponsor it in 2009.