Mozilla is Flailing When the Internet Needs It the Most


I’ve always been a huge fan of Mozilla (and not just Firefox, but the foundation behind it). This article is very difficult for me to read. It doesn’t offer possible ideas or plans to stop the ongoing decline of Mozilla, it just highlights how bad the current situation is.
Saying “ongoing decline of Mozilla” maybe sounds worse than it is, or maybe I’m just in denial.

Despite the turmoil, the company had a great year financially. It increased revenue from $314 million to $329.5 million and had $266.5 million in assets at year’s end. But none of this says much about how the company is doing as 2015 comes to a close with one major change in particular signaling a more uncertain future.

Given that its shrinking user base can easily change Firefox’s default search engine from Yahoo to Google or the privacy-centric DuckDuckGo anyway, it’s not even clear that Yahoo will benefit from the deal. And at this point, a shakier Yahoo would suggest a shakier Mozilla.

A more practical alternative would be to raise money through companies with a stake in the open web. The Linux Kernel, the heart of all Linux-based operating systems, including Android and Firefox OS, is funded by the Linux Foundation, a coalition of dozens of companies that have stake in the future of Linux, including Intel, Red Hat and even Microsoft.