4 ms·

Lots of movement around Firefox lately. The possibility of the google money going away as a result of the antitrust ruling must be really shaking them to the c

by WD-42 2y ago

Lots of movement around Firefox lately. The possibility of the google money going away as a result of the antitrust ruling must be really shaking them to the core over at Mozilla.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> possibility of the google money going away That Mozilla seems to actually give a shit about something for the first time in decades speaks volumes to how anticompetitive that deal was.
- stavros 2y ago
  I'm out of the loop here, can someone explain?
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - bluGill 2y ago
    All of the funding for Firefox (or nearly all?) comes from Google. There is no way for you as a private person to donate money to firefox development. That of course means that Mozilla needs to keep its large donner happy lest the money go away.
    - nickthegreek 2y ago
      On top of that, the recent google monopoly ruling means that most likely Google cannot continue to donate the massive chunk of change yearly to firefox that they have been. That could mean the death of firefox.
      - stavros 2y ago
        Oh wow, how have I not heard of this? I assume Firefox can still strike some deal for revenue sharing of people who choose to use Google on Firefox, though? Or was the money purely for having Google be the default?
        marcosdumay 2y ago
        The money was for setting the default.
        stavros 2y ago
        Oof, RIP Firefox...
- mozempthrowaway 2y ago
  Without that deal, there wouldn’t be a Firefox. If/when it’s gone, there’s no one capable/willing to fund Mozilla to that amount. Really there’s only 1 other company who can throw that level of money at us and it’s Microsoft. Without Google bidding up the price, doubtful they would pay as much for Bing to be the default search and it’s not like Firefox users would welcome that change. Free software doesn’t work for long without some sort of corporate sponsorship at some point, and it’s not in anyone’s interest to fund it at this point. (And don’t say “the EU should” most Europeans are not clamoring for their governments to spend money on an American browser company with web compatibility issues that no one tests against)
  - godzillabrennus 2y ago
    There is a good book on how non profits are terribly handicapped by the current system: https://www.amazon.com/Uncharitable-Restraints-Nonprofits-Undermine-Potential-ebook/dp/B0BDSN77FV?dplnkId=f8076618-fab5-40b6-9d45-a781b430b5fe&nodl=1 https://www.amazon.com/Uncharitable-Restraints-Nonprofits-Un...
  - jlarocco 2y ago
    The problem with Mozzilla is that they don’t just fund development, they have control of it and they receive almost all funding from a direct competitor with a horrible privacy record. I trust FSF, Debian, Linux Foundation, etc. not to violate my privacy. Clearly the same cannot be said for Mozilla.
  - Rattay 2y ago
    'clamoring' No, they're most certainly not. And I'm more than willing to believe the legal difficulties of the foundation would be a nightmare, but would an EU sponsored fork of some kind be such a terrible idea? A move of headquarters to a suitable city and so on. Remove the tracking, maybe even a few mandates to offer it up in certain settings that receive EU funding already. An interesting idea even if sadly unlikely.
  - dylan604 2y ago
    > Really there’s only 1 other company who can throw that level of money at us and it’s Microsoft. Doesn't Apple have that kind of money in a big vault that Tim Apple gets to do his Scrooge McDuck impersonation into?

by WD-42 2y ago

Lots of movement around Firefox lately. The possibility of the google money going away as a result of the antitrust ruling must be really shaking them to the core over at Mozilla.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago

> possibility of the google money going away That Mozilla seems to actually give a shit about something for the first time in decades speaks volumes to how anticompetitive that deal was.

stavros 2y ago
I'm out of the loop here, can someone explain?
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- bluGill 2y ago
  All of the funding for Firefox (or nearly all?) comes from Google. There is no way for you as a private person to donate money to firefox development. That of course means that Mozilla needs to keep its large donner happy lest the money go away.
  - nickthegreek 2y ago
    On top of that, the recent google monopoly ruling means that most likely Google cannot continue to donate the massive chunk of change yearly to firefox that they have been. That could mean the death of firefox.
    - stavros 2y ago
      Oh wow, how have I not heard of this? I assume Firefox can still strike some deal for revenue sharing of people who choose to use Google on Firefox, though? Or was the money purely for having Google be the default?
      - marcosdumay 2y ago
        The money was for setting the default.
        stavros 2y ago
        Oof, RIP Firefox...
mozempthrowaway 2y ago
Without that deal, there wouldn’t be a Firefox. If/when it’s gone, there’s no one capable/willing to fund Mozilla to that amount. Really there’s only 1 other company who can throw that level of money at us and it’s Microsoft. Without Google bidding up the price, doubtful they would pay as much for Bing to be the default search and it’s not like Firefox users would welcome that change. Free software doesn’t work for long without some sort of corporate sponsorship at some point, and it’s not in anyone’s interest to fund it at this point. (And don’t say “the EU should” most Europeans are not clamoring for their governments to spend money on an American browser company with web compatibility issues that no one tests against)
- godzillabrennus 2y ago
  There is a good book on how non profits are terribly handicapped by the current system: https://www.amazon.com/Uncharitable-Restraints-Nonprofits-Undermine-Potential-ebook/dp/B0BDSN77FV?dplnkId=f8076618-fab5-40b6-9d45-a781b430b5fe&nodl=1 https://www.amazon.com/Uncharitable-Restraints-Nonprofits-Un...
- jlarocco 2y ago
  The problem with Mozzilla is that they don’t just fund development, they have control of it and they receive almost all funding from a direct competitor with a horrible privacy record. I trust FSF, Debian, Linux Foundation, etc. not to violate my privacy. Clearly the same cannot be said for Mozilla.
- Rattay 2y ago
  'clamoring' No, they're most certainly not. And I'm more than willing to believe the legal difficulties of the foundation would be a nightmare, but would an EU sponsored fork of some kind be such a terrible idea? A move of headquarters to a suitable city and so on. Remove the tracking, maybe even a few mandates to offer it up in certain settings that receive EU funding already. An interesting idea even if sadly unlikely.
- dylan604 2y ago
  > Really there’s only 1 other company who can throw that level of money at us and it’s Microsoft. Doesn't Apple have that kind of money in a big vault that Tim Apple gets to do his Scrooge McDuck impersonation into?