If you look at the other browser companies there’s only two.
Apple and Google. Most browsers are based on chrome with very minimal UI changes. The actual browser is chrome.
These are two of the biggest tech companies, that work across a broad range of tech domains. If Mozilla is going to be able to stand up against them, then they too need a broad base. This broad base would be multiple revenue streams, large amount of tech patents, technology research, technology standard participation etc. These all help keep Firefox open and competitive. This is important to stop Google dominating and defining web standards, much like internet explorer did in the past.
The big difference is internet explorer was left to stagnant. Chrome will continue to develop but it will develop into a privacy nightmare that corners internet commerce. The only thing standing in it’s way are Firefox and safari.
The issue is that Mozilla’s broadness doesn’t improve its revenue steam, it just spreads money around. They do a ton of outreach programs, research, etc, but none of those result in revenue. Most of its revenue is from Google search, and Google only pays for that to keep Firefox around as a competitor so they don’t get hit with antitrust. Google wants Firefox to exist, but to always be slightly inferior so people prefer Chrome.
I think Mozilla needs reliable revenue streams, for example:
their password management doesn’t work on mobile apps - perhaps integrate with something like Bitwarden and charge for the full experience - I pay for Bitwarden, and would consider using Mozilla cobranded instead if it integrated with Firefox
cobranded secure email like ProtonMail, with features built in to Firefox (would be nice to manage PGP keys for secure SM messages and whatnot)
cobranded payment service, like privacy.com or similar, integrated with Firefox’s credit card remembering system
ad-replacement like Brave, but actually share profits with sites - base suggestions on local browsing history, have users pay with a bucket-like system, and provide sites with statistics; then go hard on privacy-respecting tracker blocking
And so on. Basically, put together a lot of privacy-respecting services and charge for each one. That way users are funding Firefox’s development, not an ad company.
If you look at the other browser companies there’s only two.
Apple and Google. Most browsers are based on chrome with very minimal UI changes. The actual browser is chrome.
These are two of the biggest tech companies, that work across a broad range of tech domains. If Mozilla is going to be able to stand up against them, then they too need a broad base. This broad base would be multiple revenue streams, large amount of tech patents, technology research, technology standard participation etc. These all help keep Firefox open and competitive. This is important to stop Google dominating and defining web standards, much like internet explorer did in the past.
The big difference is internet explorer was left to stagnant. Chrome will continue to develop but it will develop into a privacy nightmare that corners internet commerce. The only thing standing in it’s way are Firefox and safari.
And Opera abandoned their engine.
The issue is that Mozilla’s broadness doesn’t improve its revenue steam, it just spreads money around. They do a ton of outreach programs, research, etc, but none of those result in revenue. Most of its revenue is from Google search, and Google only pays for that to keep Firefox around as a competitor so they don’t get hit with antitrust. Google wants Firefox to exist, but to always be slightly inferior so people prefer Chrome.
I think Mozilla needs reliable revenue streams, for example:
And so on. Basically, put together a lot of privacy-respecting services and charge for each one. That way users are funding Firefox’s development, not an ad company.