Firefox Gets More Investment in New Features, Prioritizing People (and Privacy) Over Profit (techcrunch.com)
- Reference: 0175446575
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/11/11/0148222/firefox-gets-more-investment-in-new-features-prioritizing-people-and-privacy-over-profit
- Source link: https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/09/as-firefox-turns-20-mozilla-ponders-how-to-restore-it-to-its-former-glory/
In an interview, Mozilla's interim CEO says one of the first things they did when was to "unlock a bunch of money towards Firefox product development... I've been in enough places where people tend to forget about the core business, and they stop investing in it, because they get distracted by shiny things — and then they regret it."
> "Firefox is incredibly important, and it is our core. We've actually put more investment into it this year and into connecting with our communities, into bringing out and testing features that are positive and creating good experiences for folks. That's been a huge priority for me and for the company this year, and it's showing up in the results."
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> She acknowledged that Mozilla doesn't have the device distribution that benefits many of Firefox's competitors, especially on mobile, but she did note that the [3]Digital Marks Act (DMA) in Europe — which means Apple, for example, has to provide a browser choice screen on iOS — is working. "With the DMA, even though the implementation hasn't been outstanding, we're seeing a real shift. When people have the choice to choose Firefox, they're choosing Firefox," she said...
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> To kick-start some of this growth, Mozilla is looking at reaching new, and younger, users. Chambers noted that Mozilla is running a number of marketing campaigns to make people aware of Firefox, especially those who are only now starting to make their first browser choices. With them, she believes, Mozilla's messaging around privacy lands especially well.
In a future where browsers include AI agents that take actions on behalf of users, there might be more confidence in a browser designed for privacy and transparency, the interim CEO points out — as part of their larger mission. "What I love about Firefox is that it really provides users with an alternative choice of a browser that is just genuinely designed for them.
"We have, from its very inception and throughout, really wanted to create a browser that prioritizes people over profit, prioritizes privacy over anything else, and to have that option, the choice."
[1] https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/11/09/0531257/20-years-ago-today-firefox-browser-takes-on-microsoft
[2] https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/09/as-firefox-turns-20-mozilla-ponders-how-to-restore-it-to-its-former-glory/
[3] https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/07/europes-dma-rules-for-big-tech-explained/
Mozilla are stinking rich thanks to Google (Score:3)
Yet they forget their reason for existing is the BROWSER without which they would not be on Google welfare.
ADBLOCK. (Score:4, Insightful)
The one thing that keeps Firefox users to use FF is Adblock.
DON'T MESS WITH THAT !
Re: (Score:1)
Unironically this. There are quite a few messages now on various forums asking how to migrate from chrome in the wake of manifest v2 being removed.
The options are:
1. Brave, Vivaldi, Supermium etc browsers that use Chromium but keep manifest V2. You will have to add ublock origin manually from a file though as chances are that google won't allow it to exist or be installed from chrome web store for much longer due to compatibility issues. And that requires instructions for average users. There's been talk th
Re: (Score:2)
> The one thing that keeps Firefox users to use FF is Adblock.
> DON'T MESS WITH THAT !
But messing with it may gain the C-suite millions of extra bonus... um... decisions, decisions...
Nobody wants more features (Score:5, Interesting)
Just give us a browser that is light, fast, can display any website and block ads.
Mozilla "leadership" resemble /. "editors" (Score:2)
Quality is irrelevant in either case and market share does not matter.
Re: (Score:3)
Indeed. Almost no browser vendor is good at their core business.
Re: (Score:2)
What is their core business and why is your browser not as light and able to render pages as you think it is?
Are you worried about RAM use or download size? They are explained by a combination of modern web standards (your browser needs to act as its own operating system complete with run time compiler for interpreted languages and WebAssembly execution) and security (you can change the word operating system to multiple operating systems running in a per tab isolated virtual machine).
The internet isn't the
AI (Score:1)
AI in Firefox? I'm sure it will be as good as Pocket.
The AI agent should be named enshitAIfication or similar.
game changing feature: picture-in-picture video (Score:1)
Picture-in-picture video is a very bfd. having the video you watch follow you if you go on a different tab? and then follow you if you go to a different program? and still be on top if you maximize the window of the other program? absolutely positively priceless!
If you use a laptop with a 15" monitor picture-in-picture makes a HUGE difference.
[1]https://support.mozilla.org/en... [mozilla.org]
[1] https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/turn-picture-picture-mode
Money money money.. (Score:2)
I wonder if their CEO is willing to drop their salary too, seeing as they booted out 30% of their staff.
Who am I kidding, they'll just raise it to 10-15M$/y because of "great performance".
Re: (Score:2)
It's a woman.