5 ms·

Mozilla grants Ente- a private Google Photos alternative- $100k

espoal 2y ago
Isn't Mozilla cash strapped?
- seeknotfind 2y ago
  It's only $100k.
  - mrbluecoat 2y ago
    Send me yours and I'll find a way to dispose of it. +1 for anything that helps the creators of Ente Auth succeed!
    - tredre3 2y ago
      > Send me yours and I'll find a way to dispose of it. I'd send you 100k if I had an income of $593M. If we scale to my actual income, however, it's probably a few pennies. Do you still want it?
  - V__ 2y ago
    100k here, 100k there and pretty soon you are talking about real money.
- homebrewer 2y ago
  I don't think they would have raised CEO pay last year if things were really bad financially. Right? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38795308 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38795308 https://stateof.mozilla.org https://stateof.mozilla.org
  - Certhas 2y ago
    The documents you linked to show that 2022 they have a billion and something in net assets 513 million in cash (up from 378 in 2021). Cash flow from operating activities was 147 million in 2022 and 197 million in 2021. So according to the documents you linked, Mozilla is doing extremely well financially. Also according to your documents, they spend the vast majority of their money on developing Firefox. If they continue to grow alternative revenue streams as they have in the last couple of years, they will be in a position to develop Firefox without Google funding in the intermediate future.
xterminator 2y ago
From a quick look, only the client is open source. The server software is still privative. Why did Mozilla fund this? There is no shortage of libre software of self-hosted image servers in need of funding.
- vishnumohandas 2y ago
  Ente is fully open source[1][2]. [1]: https://github.com/ente-io/ente https://github.com/ente-io/ente [2]: https://ente.io/blog/open-sourcing-our-server https://ente.io/blog/open-sourcing-our-server
  - xterminator 2y ago
    I stand corrected.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
ranger_danger 2y ago
[flagged]
- echelon 2y ago
  Brave is doing pretty well, and they're building their own search engine and ad blocking which will provide a path to revenue.
loa_in_ 2y ago
I don't know how it relates to anything else happening in the world but it seems like a good idea. People use Google photos, people look for alternatives.
thrownawaysz 2y ago
Wish we can donate to the development of Firefox and not projects like this. And yes I did but stopped last year when it became clear they are spending money on projects I don't care about https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/what-we-fund/ https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/what-we-fund/
- PenguinCoder 2y ago
  Why? Competition and alternatives are good for everyone.
  - beanjuiceII 2y ago
    they aren't spending their money on competing
    - PenguinCoder 2y ago
      Firefox existing, is competition against a world of Chromium.
      - cstrahan 2y ago
        How is Mozilla funding a private Google Photos alternative “competition against a world of Chromium”? Maybe you didn’t follow the thread close enough — the complaint isn’t that funding Firefox is counterproductive, but that shoveling dollars to a non-Firefox product does nothing to help Firefox compete against Chrome/Chromium, which is kinda hard to argue against, no?
  - vlovich123 2y ago
    Focus. People donate for the browser but the funds are used for other purposes meaning the browser doesn’t get the attention it should. If you think it’s not a distraction to even distribute funds it is because you have to at least spend time and energy picking between options
    - 2y ago
majorchord 2y ago
Will they be incentivized to develop features that people don't want now?
ein0p 2y ago
The true alternative to Photos is Immich: https://github.com/immich-app/immich https://github.com/immich-app/immich. Anything that someone else hosts is not in any way "private".
- microsoftedging 2y ago
  You can self host ente if you want I'm pretty sure https://help.ente.io/self-hosting/ https://help.ente.io/self-hosting/
  - marcus0x62 2y ago
    You can, and you can use the Ente-published mobile apps with your self-hosted instance. The setup process is a bit rough, but it absolutely works.
- prophesi 2y ago
  They also have quite the disclaimer :/ - The project is under very active development. - Expect bugs and breaking changes. - Do not use the app as the only way to store your photos and videos. - Always follow 3-2-1 backup plan for your precious photos and videos! edit: Though those last two are applicable to any data hosting solution.
  - ein0p 2y ago
    I've been using Immich for over a year. "Maintenance" boils down to weekly docker compose pull and a restart. There's semantic search, deduplication, mapping, face recognition etc etc. I do not miss Google Photos at all, and can recommend Immich without any reservations to anyone with even basic understanding of docker compose.
- windlep 2y ago
  I self-host Immich and its definitely my favorite web photo system. One thing with Ente that aligns more with Mozilla's approach to data however is end-to-end encryption, which Ente has, but Immich doesn't. So I can see why Mozilla funded this option instead. I personally wish that self-hosting was a more reliable and simplified process for the average person such that simpler and more powerful software like Immich was the best choice for all.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
phanimahesh 2y ago
Is there any published guide to self host? There's no mention of it anywhere except an offhanded comment in the Readme.
- vishnumohandas 2y ago
  https://help.ente.io/self-hosting https://help.ente.io/self-hosting
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
snowmanak 2y ago
ENTE failed on iOS with my initial password verification
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
thunkshift1 2y ago
Nice sentiment but 100k isnt much.
Traubenfuchs 2y ago
I wonder how many people actually use Ente. Looks very niche and non-mainstream to me.
XCSme 2y ago
I am pretty happy with self-hosted https://photoprism.app https://photoprism.app

Isn't Mozilla cash strapped?

seeknotfind 2y ago
It's only $100k.
- mrbluecoat 2y ago
  Send me yours and I'll find a way to dispose of it. +1 for anything that helps the creators of Ente Auth succeed!
  - tredre3 2y ago
    > Send me yours and I'll find a way to dispose of it. I'd send you 100k if I had an income of $593M. If we scale to my actual income, however, it's probably a few pennies. Do you still want it?
- V__ 2y ago
  100k here, 100k there and pretty soon you are talking about real money.
homebrewer 2y ago
I don't think they would have raised CEO pay last year if things were really bad financially. Right? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38795308 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38795308 https://stateof.mozilla.org https://stateof.mozilla.org
- Certhas 2y ago
  The documents you linked to show that 2022 they have a billion and something in net assets 513 million in cash (up from 378 in 2021). Cash flow from operating activities was 147 million in 2022 and 197 million in 2021. So according to the documents you linked, Mozilla is doing extremely well financially. Also according to your documents, they spend the vast majority of their money on developing Firefox. If they continue to grow alternative revenue streams as they have in the last couple of years, they will be in a position to develop Firefox without Google funding in the intermediate future.

From a quick look, only the client is open source. The server software is still privative. Why did Mozilla fund this? There is no shortage of libre software of self-hosted image servers in need of funding.

vishnumohandas 2y ago
Ente is fully open source[1][2]. [1]: https://github.com/ente-io/ente https://github.com/ente-io/ente [2]: https://ente.io/blog/open-sourcing-our-server https://ente.io/blog/open-sourcing-our-server
- xterminator 2y ago
  I stand corrected.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

ranger_danger 2y ago

[flagged]

echelon 2y ago
Brave is doing pretty well, and they're building their own search engine and ad blocking which will provide a path to revenue.

loa_in_ 2y ago

I don't know how it relates to anything else happening in the world but it seems like a good idea. People use Google photos, people look for alternatives.

thrownawaysz 2y ago

Wish we can donate to the development of Firefox and not projects like this. And yes I did but stopped last year when it became clear they are spending money on projects I don't care about https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/what-we-fund/ https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/what-we-fund/

PenguinCoder 2y ago
Why? Competition and alternatives are good for everyone.
- beanjuiceII 2y ago
  they aren't spending their money on competing
  - PenguinCoder 2y ago
    Firefox existing, is competition against a world of Chromium.
    - cstrahan 2y ago
      How is Mozilla funding a private Google Photos alternative “competition against a world of Chromium”? Maybe you didn’t follow the thread close enough — the complaint isn’t that funding Firefox is counterproductive, but that shoveling dollars to a non-Firefox product does nothing to help Firefox compete against Chrome/Chromium, which is kinda hard to argue against, no?
- vlovich123 2y ago
  Focus. People donate for the browser but the funds are used for other purposes meaning the browser doesn’t get the attention it should. If you think it’s not a distraction to even distribute funds it is because you have to at least spend time and energy picking between options
  - 2y ago

majorchord 2y ago

Will they be incentivized to develop features that people don't want now?

ein0p 2y ago

The true alternative to Photos is Immich: https://github.com/immich-app/immich https://github.com/immich-app/immich. Anything that someone else hosts is not in any way "private".

microsoftedging 2y ago
You can self host ente if you want I'm pretty sure https://help.ente.io/self-hosting/ https://help.ente.io/self-hosting/
- marcus0x62 2y ago
  You can, and you can use the Ente-published mobile apps with your self-hosted instance. The setup process is a bit rough, but it absolutely works.
prophesi 2y ago
They also have quite the disclaimer :/ - The project is under very active development. - Expect bugs and breaking changes. - Do not use the app as the only way to store your photos and videos. - Always follow 3-2-1 backup plan for your precious photos and videos! edit: Though those last two are applicable to any data hosting solution.
- ein0p 2y ago
  I've been using Immich for over a year. "Maintenance" boils down to weekly docker compose pull and a restart. There's semantic search, deduplication, mapping, face recognition etc etc. I do not miss Google Photos at all, and can recommend Immich without any reservations to anyone with even basic understanding of docker compose.
windlep 2y ago
I self-host Immich and its definitely my favorite web photo system. One thing with Ente that aligns more with Mozilla's approach to data however is end-to-end encryption, which Ente has, but Immich doesn't. So I can see why Mozilla funded this option instead. I personally wish that self-hosting was a more reliable and simplified process for the average person such that simpler and more powerful software like Immich was the best choice for all.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

phanimahesh 2y ago

Is there any published guide to self host? There's no mention of it anywhere except an offhanded comment in the Readme.

vishnumohandas 2y ago
https://help.ente.io/self-hosting https://help.ente.io/self-hosting
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

snowmanak 2y ago

ENTE failed on iOS with my initial password verification

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

thunkshift1 2y ago

Nice sentiment but 100k isnt much.

Traubenfuchs 2y ago

I wonder how many people actually use Ente. Looks very niche and non-mainstream to me.

XCSme 2y ago

I am pretty happy with self-hosted https://photoprism.app https://photoprism.app