> "Privacy
Firefox is the only major browser not built by a company that makes money from advertising"
This is BS. Firefox is funded entirely by Google's Ads. Even if you donate to Mozilla, those donations won't be invested in Firefox. At this point, all 3 major browser engines are funded by ads.
You may argue that Mozilla doesn't directly make money from advertising, but that's irrelevant because they'll never do anything to upset their cash cow. And Google can always kill Firefox by avoiding renewing their search deal, without much of a loss, as most Firefox users would switch to Google anyway, much like what users did when they tried switching to Yahoo as the default.
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UPDATE — A good reason to use Firefox is if it's simply better for you. For me, Firefox is better than Chromium-based alternatives because:
+ History sync is full and actually works;
+ DNS-Over-HTTPS works in parallel to corporate DNS (fallback to system);
+ Tree-style-tabs;
+ Bookmarks management;
+ Reader view (Android & desktop);
+ Great Ctrl+Tab;
+ Non-admin upgrades;
+ uBlock Origin;
+ Total Cookie Protection;
+ Android: multiple search engines;
+ Android: Open in app;
+ Android: Dark Reader, uBlock Origin, Cookie AutoDelete, other extensions;
It also has some issues:
- poor battery life on macOS, and I fear that Chromium currently has an edge there, even if both are worse than Safari;
- problems when scrolling on Android, poor performance for certain websites (e.g., Mastodon, Twitter);
- incompatibility with certain apps (e.g., Microsoft Teams), but in fairness, they've been investing in compatibility, see their recent work on Google Meetup;
Firefox on Android has many issues, and the people denying it aren't doing it any favors. For me, the add-ons more than make up for it, it's my main browser, but I'm still uncomfortable recommending it to family.
I hope Firefox continues to evolve and differentiate itself from Chrome because ideology isn't a good enough reason to prefer it over alternatives, not when Chromium is a thriving open-source project with multiple large companies contributing to it.
That's another Lala land of obliviousness. Browser is a complex piece of software that needs effort. Users are not paying for it and those who will pay for itthen will probably require access to those users, for sure.
Firefox is a dwindling piece of software and maybe they themselves should take some responsibility of where it is heading today.
User adoption is merit driven and not mission or ideology driven.
There's no way to do both simultaneously. You can, however, donate to The Mozilla Corporation and help pay their CEO's salary.[0] It won't help Firefox one iota, but you can do it.
You can't. FF is opensource, and in theory you could pay someone not employed by mozilla to work on it and submit patches. But really you're still contributing to money to mozilla in that labor == money.
If you wait a year, you can instead contribute to the next $8.5M+ compensation package. It will be announced at the same time Mozilla announces that they're shutting down the browser and committing to becoming an AI cryptocurrency.
How much does the Mozilla CEO deserve? I know the tech salaries and I believe a comparable role (senior director or VP) in a Faang would at least be 7 figures, can we try to ballpark by how much we are over (or under) paying the CEO?
I have no desire to get into a general discussion over US/tech officer compensation.
However, as I understand it, most of Mozilla's income comes from the Google search deal, not from any product that they make. Whatever argument someone might have for the compensation of the CEO of a corporation that generates revenue by selling a product rather than access to an ever-shrinking set of users, I don't think it applies here.
>User adoption is merit driven and not mission or ideology driven.
Yes, Google telling everyone to install Chrome, and Chrome being the only "other" browser installed on many corporate networks is totally merit driven.
Google pays Apple billions in their search deal, per year ($18 billion in 2021).
Apple may sell devices, but it's safe to say that at this point Google entirely funds Safari. Apple is unwilling to upset that cash cow without risking those tens of billions, even if we are talking about 5% of their revenue. ;-)
And you really think Apple, selling their devices with the privacy label, would leave the browser market to 100% in google's hands? This would incredibly undermine their marketing strategy.
And what makes you think Safari R&D is solely funded by the search provider deal they have with google? Safari is a product that is sold as part of the "Apple universe", there's definitely more value to it than just a place for the google search box.
> And what makes you think Safari R&D is solely funded by the search provider deal they have with google?
Google paying them 20 billion per year is more than enough to fund several browsers and still make a profit, that being Safari's direct revenue stream. You don't need any more than that.
You're also making too many assumptions about Apple's motives and marketing, but can't get around the fact that money talks. In the future, things may change, but right now, Google funds Safari.
This is BS. Firefox is funded entirely by Google's Ads. Even if you donate to Mozilla, those donations won't be invested in Firefox. At this point, all 3 major browser engines are funded by ads.
You may argue that Mozilla doesn't directly make money from advertising, but that's irrelevant because they'll never do anything to upset their cash cow. And Google can always kill Firefox by avoiding renewing their search deal, without much of a loss, as most Firefox users would switch to Google anyway, much like what users did when they tried switching to Yahoo as the default.
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UPDATE — A good reason to use Firefox is if it's simply better for you. For me, Firefox is better than Chromium-based alternatives because:
It also has some issues: Firefox on Android has many issues, and the people denying it aren't doing it any favors. For me, the add-ons more than make up for it, it's my main browser, but I'm still uncomfortable recommending it to family.I hope Firefox continues to evolve and differentiate itself from Chrome because ideology isn't a good enough reason to prefer it over alternatives, not when Chromium is a thriving open-source project with multiple large companies contributing to it.