3 ms·

In the most chaotic alternate reality possible: Mozilla

by bityard 2y ago

JadoJodo 2y ago
In that same alternate reality: WPEngine is given control of Automattic/WordPress as a result of the lawsuits.
- ipaddr 2y ago
  Firefox is sponsored primary by Google. WPEngine is not. It would be like Automattic giving control to Wordpress foundation.
  - JadoJodo 2y ago
    My intention was to emphasize the irony, not so much the relationship between them. :)
micahdeath 2y ago
na... Oracle.
- Narishma 2y ago
  Broadcom.
JoshTriplett 2y ago
Having it owned by a non-profit foundation would make a huge amount of sense, especially if that foundation was then immediately funded by a variety of companies rather than just one big advertising company. The obvious test for whether the browser is actually independent: what is the response to "let's add an ad-blocker by default".
- behnamoh 2y ago
  > Having it owned by a non-profit foundation would make a huge amount of sense,... OpenAI joined the chat...
  - Wytwwww 2y ago
    There would be few incentives to try and pull off something like that if nobody had any faith in the product every becoming extremely profitable though.
  - PittleyDunkin 2y ago
    Isn't openapi pro-profit? Or at least I thought it was.
- whiplash451 2y ago
  This is wishful thinking. Non-profits that don’t turn into for-profit turn into a shitshow of incompetence instead.
  - niutech 2y ago
    Not necessarily, see The Linux Foundation Europe competently maintains Servo.
    - whiplash451 2y ago
      My comment could rub tech people in the wrong way (for a good reason). I meant incompetence at the company governance level, not technical. There's massive technical competence in non-profits. This brilliance is just wasted by leaders who sacrifice business acumen over the mission.
  - Vilian 2y ago
    You all need to learn about employer owned companies, in Brasil it's called cooperativas not sure in english, and that would fix that
mrandish 2y ago
With Mozilla becoming so hostile to their power users in recent years (or any user who just wants to customize the interface or core functionality), I'm not sure it would make much difference.
- AyyEye 2y ago
  They'll do what their benefactor (Goog) wants whether they own chrome or not.
somethoughts 2y ago
Interestingly if I recall correctly a lot of the original talent for Chrome/Chromium originally worked at Mozilla and were poached by Google. [1] [1] https://www.niallkennedy.com/blog/2008/09/google-chrome.html#team https://www.niallkennedy.com/blog/2008/09/google-chrome.html...
- oars 2y ago
  This is such a valuable article from 2008. I've archived it here: https://archive.is/hVove https://archive.is/hVove
underlipton 2y ago
That's just a different kind of monopoly.

In the most chaotic alternate reality possible: Mozilla

JadoJodo 2y ago

In that same alternate reality: WPEngine is given control of Automattic/WordPress as a result of the lawsuits.

ipaddr 2y ago
Firefox is sponsored primary by Google. WPEngine is not. It would be like Automattic giving control to Wordpress foundation.
- JadoJodo 2y ago
  My intention was to emphasize the irony, not so much the relationship between them. :)

micahdeath 2y ago

na... Oracle.

Narishma 2y ago
Broadcom.

JoshTriplett 2y ago

Having it owned by a non-profit foundation would make a huge amount of sense, especially if that foundation was then immediately funded by a variety of companies rather than just one big advertising company. The obvious test for whether the browser is actually independent: what is the response to "let's add an ad-blocker by default".

behnamoh 2y ago
> Having it owned by a non-profit foundation would make a huge amount of sense,... OpenAI joined the chat...
- Wytwwww 2y ago
  There would be few incentives to try and pull off something like that if nobody had any faith in the product every becoming extremely profitable though.
- PittleyDunkin 2y ago
  Isn't openapi pro-profit? Or at least I thought it was.
whiplash451 2y ago
This is wishful thinking. Non-profits that don’t turn into for-profit turn into a shitshow of incompetence instead.
- niutech 2y ago
  Not necessarily, see The Linux Foundation Europe competently maintains Servo.
  - whiplash451 2y ago
    My comment could rub tech people in the wrong way (for a good reason). I meant incompetence at the company governance level, not technical. There's massive technical competence in non-profits. This brilliance is just wasted by leaders who sacrifice business acumen over the mission.
- Vilian 2y ago
  You all need to learn about employer owned companies, in Brasil it's called cooperativas not sure in english, and that would fix that

mrandish 2y ago

With Mozilla becoming so hostile to their power users in recent years (or any user who just wants to customize the interface or core functionality), I'm not sure it would make much difference.

AyyEye 2y ago
They'll do what their benefactor (Goog) wants whether they own chrome or not.

somethoughts 2y ago

Interestingly if I recall correctly a lot of the original talent for Chrome/Chromium originally worked at Mozilla and were poached by Google. [1] [1] https://www.niallkennedy.com/blog/2008/09/google-chrome.html#team https://www.niallkennedy.com/blog/2008/09/google-chrome.html...

oars 2y ago
This is such a valuable article from 2008. I've archived it here: https://archive.is/hVove https://archive.is/hVove

underlipton 2y ago

That's just a different kind of monopoly.