Conversation

Notices

1. Embed this notice
   Jer Warren (nyquildotorg@fedia.social)'s status on Saturday, 30-Dec-2023 12:47:39 JST Jer Warren

   in reply to

   I think there's only one thing that can make Firefox work: convincing users to pay for its continued development.
   
   You don't need a CEO to make one product profitable. Get rid of the entire c-suite. Lean into the "savior of the internet" angle that they play up while fundraising, to make it the entire fucking mission. Let the hundreds of people who are always in my mentions to tell me I'm wrong about whether or not Firefox can ever be "a viable alternative" put their money where their mouths are.
   
   Start charging actual money, that actually goes toward the development of the browser, and then come up with other revenue sources.
   
   And start the whole thing off by tearing up the next yearly $450 million dollar check from Google and telling users they have to contribute.

   • Embed this notice
     Jer Warren (nyquildotorg@fedia.social)'s status on Saturday, 30-Dec-2023 12:47:41 JST Jer Warren

     An important reminder: Netscape was meant to be a commercial product, paid for by the users of the product. They had to pivot to it staying free forever when Microsoft made their browser free — because they had the money to outspend Netscape forever and knew they would win.
     
     Then VCs decided to stop giving Netscape money, forcing a sale to AOL, who also were unable to make money with it.
     
     Then came Mozilla, a for-profit entity wrapped in a non-profit trenchcoat. But users still don't pay for the one product that matters — the browser — leaving it up to Google to foot those bills (and pretty much all the other ones too.)
     
     Yet the entire pitch for the continued existence of Mozilla is to protect the internet from Google...

     Abhiseck Paira :gnu: :gnuhurd: repeated this.