I struggle with this, because as much as I despise the entire ad-driven economy, I don't know what else Mozilla does to survive. They already seem dependent on Google hand-outs. Donations don't ever seem to cover the costs of development and infrastructure support. If ads do that, and they actually stuck to keyword-only ads and not "personalized user tracking"...is it the least of the shitifications? 🤔
@jefmes Is the problem that donations don't cover the cost of maintaining Firefox, or is it that potential donors see Mozilla living high on the hog with plenty of Google funding, and direct their donations where they're needed more?
(fwiw, Mozilla's advertising plans are less well thought out than most proposals in this area. The fraud-promoting qualities of what they're working on now tend to create more, not fewer, privacy risks blog.zgp.org/why-turn-off-fire… )
@aral @jefmes Donations don't go to develop the browser anyway. They go to "education and advocacy efforts" which currently looks like AI fandom as far as I can tell. mozillafoundation.org/en/donat…
@aral More power to ya, as long as you're good with a Chromium and Safari dominated world. I'm not going to defend large CEO payouts, that's just ridiculous any way we slice it. But Mozilla is one of the few left that ATTEMPT to "fight for the users" if I can quote my beloved TRON once more, and I think that's worth supporting. There is so, so much bad corporate behavior out there, I will keep clinging to the little old school computing mindset we have left.
Jeff Messer
in reply to Don Marti • • •Don Marti
in reply to Jeff Messer • • •@jefmes Is the problem that donations don't cover the cost of maintaining Firefox, or is it that potential donors see Mozilla living high on the hog with plenty of Google funding, and direct their donations where they're needed more?
(fwiw, Mozilla's advertising plans are less well thought out than most proposals in this area. The fraud-promoting qualities of what they're working on now tend to create more, not fewer, privacy risks blog.zgp.org/why-turn-off-fire… )
why I’m turning off Firefox ad tracking: the PPA paradox
blog.zgp.orgAral Balkan
in reply to Don Marti • • •Aral Balkan
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Don Marti
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Donor Help and FAQ
Mozilla FoundationJeff Messer
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •