Pudgy Penguins

Does this mean Firefox will become an agentic browser?

Actual question!

If so, just... Please, don't! Take a hint from this article. The Mozilla Corporation needs money to pay for its expenses, we all get that, but aren't there any other options? I find that unlikely.

Less unlikely, from what I've been seeing online, is a hard fork. Your user base feels more and more disenfranchised from the project, and this trend-chasing just accentuates the problem.

You want to chase new users at any cost, but you don't have any guarantees of new users. Your user base, however, the ones that have been sticking with you every step of the way, has been showing it's displeasement with the course Mozilla Corp is taking, and they may jump ship.

And I'm not even touching on the fact that, according to the Fediverse post, this may be opt-out and not opt-in. If you argue what opt-in is, it is not opt-in. So much for trustworthiness...

I'm so disappointed with this. But, honestly, it's not like it was unexpected. Remember that removal?

Look, I'm not saying AI is bad. There are use cases for it.

And I'm not saying integrating some sort of AI in Firefox is also a bad thing in itself. A small local model, with a dataset built from data with permissive licenses (e.g., Creative Commons) and also licensed with one, that creates summaries and is opt-in, whether via an add-on or built-in, can be useful to some people. Different people, different needs.

However, given all that's been happening on the corporate side of Mozilla, the users are very much skeptical and with reason.

#Firefox #OpenSource

He says he could begin to block ad blockers in Firefox and estimates that’d bring in another $150 million, but he doesn’t want to do that. It feels off-mission.

It may be just me, but I read this as “I don't want to 😜 😜 but I'll kill AdBlockers in Firefox for buckerinos 😂”. This disappoints and saddens me a lot, and I hope I'm wrong. I've been using Firefox before it was called that. Heck, I even used the Mozilla Application Suite back in the day. It was its commitment to open standards and the open web, and its powerful add-on system, that attracted me to its software.

Honestly, that's what's been keeping me. I think that's also what's been keeping their loyal base of users with the project, the geeks and nerds that care about privacy. It's the same group of people who helped it get very popular at one point.

Killing one of its advantages over the Chromium engine, being able to have a fucking adblocker that's actually useful, and that nowadays is a fucking security feature due to malvertising, will be another nail in the coffin, IMHO. The core community will feel disenfranchised, and this may have negative consequences for the project. You know why? Because these are some of the people that the normies turn to when they want tech advice.

For fuck sake, for-profit side of Mozilla, get a damn grip!

Update, since this is getting traction on Reddit

I'm not against Mozilla making money. Like a regular citizen needs to make money, companies and even nonprofits need it too. That's the world we live in, whether we like it or not.

What bothers me is how the new CEO mentions something that he could do but doesn't want to. If he doesn't want to, why say it? It has the potential to cause bad PR, and it has.

Of course, I know I may not be interpreting this correctly.

Right now, I'm on the fence. His statement leads me to believe that the option is still very much on the table; otherwise, he wouldn't mention it.

#Mozilla #Firefox #AdBlocker #OpenSource #FOSS

I remembered the default installation profile for the Linux distro I set up on his desktop had it, so the program was there; he was just missing the shortcut on KDE's Plasma taskbar. I added the icon to the taskbar, then took the chance to explain to him how he can create and use email templates in Thunderbird for stuff he does regularly, like asking for prescriptions. To be honest, I think the only part he memorized was how to use the one I created for him. 😅 Before going back to my room to rest from a massive headache, I took care of some more stuff, like setting up filtering rules on the server side because he receives a lot of spam that passes Gmail's filters. I suspect this is because he's been using email for a while to contact suppliers to find parts for appliances, machinery, etc, he fixes at home, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of those companies didn't even consider customer information security. We're talking small companies that likely still have a Windows XP or Windows 7 computer connected to the internet somewhere in the office...

As I was setting up the filters, it occurred to me he's been using Thunderbird for 99.999% as long as he has been doing email, i.e., for over a decade, probably a decade and a half. There were times I installed other email clients for him to try; I wanted him to see if he liked any of them, so I could set up one in case any issues arose in Thunderbird. As far as I remember, I at least installed Kmail, Claws Mail, and Geary. He even tried webmail!

I don't mean to diss any of these email clients, but that man only likes Thunderbird! On his desktop, no matter the operating system we put in it, two applications must always be installed: 1) Thunderbird, 2) Firefox. In that order! I'm not overselling it. His computer must always have these two, no exceptions, particularly with Thunderbird! He may try to deal with another web browser, although he loves Firefox because I always set up uBlock Origin, and he rarely sees an ad, even on YouTube. But for email, it's either Thunderbird or Thunderbird. 😁

When I got back to my bedroom, I decided to share this on the Fediverse because I found it funny and sweet. I also tagged the Thunderbird's account because I know, from my time working in customer support and managing the community side of Fosshost's, that it's good to receive, for a change, more than just complaints and entitlement as... let's call it feedback...

Then, I waited for the headache to alleviate.

In the meantime, Thunderbird replied with a kind message. Moments later, someone from the team, Monica Ayhens-Madon, reached out and asked for my father's address so they could send him a few stickers.

I stayed in bed until I had to get up and prepare dinner. By the time I got up, because my head was still hurting, I forgot to check my phone and missed the messages. Close to finishing the cooking, I grabbed it to text the wife and noticed I had notifications on Mastodon. That's when I saw the messages.

Minutes later, my father arrived home from a late afternoon bakery run. I told him about this and translated the messages to him. He was so flabbergasted and even a little blushed! 😊

He asked me to accept the offer and to send his appreciation for the offer and for creating his favourite computer program.

But the smile this left on his face...! Unaware, Thunderbird and Monica made my father's day! He'd been feeling sick and down for a few days, but when I told me about this, he smiled and his face lit up. It was freaking awesome!

Thank you so much to Thunderbird and to Monica! ❤️

#Thunderbird #Community #OpenSource

All this nonsense they've been doing for a few years now is indicative of this type of infestation:

• AI plans;
• buying an Ad company;
• removing info about not selling users' data;
• applying Terms of Service to their distributed Firefox binaries;
• continued Firefox usage decline;
• massive bonuses and/or pay increases for executives;
• all those failed projects, too many to list;
• etc, etc, etc...

It feels like Mozilla is walking back on promises made. What the actual fuck, Mozilla Foundation?

#Mozilla #MozillaFoundation #Firefox #TechBro #FOSS #OpenSource