Remember the new @mozilla CEO whose first action was...

Remember the new @mozilla CEO whose first action was to post a link to her Linkedin profile?

Some said I was harsh that we should let her the benefit of doubt.

So here are the first true actions: firing 60 people working on useless products to focus the company on its true mission.

The useless products?
- Relay (privacy, protection against spam)
- VPN (privacy)
- Mozilla.social (Mastodon)
- Monitor (privacy)

True mission to focus:
- AI (???)

You can’t made that up

https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/13/mozilla-downsizes-as-it-refocuses-on-firefox-and-ai-read-the-memo/

Like 13 February at 22:26 | Open on mamot.fr

94 comments

May Likes Toronto

@ploum @mozilla plus a "focus on Firefox" without talking about what that focus might mean.

Will they ever fix the container UX?

13 February at 22:31 | Open on mstdn.ca

Brendan Jones

@MayInToronto @ploum @mozilla 100% this. Containers are a brilliant concept but they brought them in and then didn’t do too much more. In the meantime Chrome brought out profiles which are way simpler to use. Mozilla have the opportunity to create a killer feature here but instead they’re sitting on it.

They’re still working on Containers but it’s tinkering, not the major UX changes needed to make Containers easy to use: https://github.com/mozilla/multi-account-containers/releases

14 February at 9:42 | Open on fosstodon.org

Aires

@ploum @mozilla "With these changes, it now looks like Mozilla may refocus on Firefox once more, something that will surely make many hardcore Firefox fans quite happy."

Or, they're just going to shift all their focus and resources to whatever the hell "trustworthy AI" is, and use Firefox as platform to distribute it

13 February at 22:34 | Open on tiggi.es

Isaí Moreno

@ploum @mozilla I hope they don't close the Mastodon instance. I have just joined. At least they're downsizing the Hubs thing. But we must accept that the browser will have an AI component slapped in unfortunately. I just hope it is easy to remove that

13 February at 22:36 | Open on mozilla.social

0xC0DEC0DE07E8

@urien2 @ploum @mozilla why must we accept that? I expect it, but I don’t know about being ready to accept it.

14 February at 2:09 | Open on hachyderm.io

OpticalNail

@urien2 @ploum @mozilla
We must accept? I highly doubt it.
They're the ones who have to accept - after all, they're the ones who need users, we have alternatives.

14 February at 6:13 | Open on expressional.social

B O

@ploum @mozilla extremely sad news

13 February at 22:37 | Open on techhub.social

Zekounet

@ploum @mozilla
Encore quelqu'un qui va gérer d'une main de merde.
#ironeme

13 February at 22:38 | Open on pouet.chapril.org

Aedius Filmania ⚙️🎮🖊️

@ploum @mozilla

the new CEO is paid by google to kill firefox, thats the only way.

13 February at 22:49 | Open on lavraievie.social

Delta Wye

@Aedius @ploum @mozilla Ding ding ding

13 February at 22:51 | Open on mstdn.social

Aedius Filmania ⚙️🎮🖊️

@DeltaWye @ploum @mozilla

firefox is the only way between google and google ads on every website.

13 February at 22:52 | Open on lavraievie.social

Delta Wye

@Aedius @ploum @mozilla
“I find 'em **** 'em and flee you know” - Easy-E, NWA

Right now they are currently in the middle step.

13 February at 23:03 | Open on mstdn.social

ploum

@Aedius : no. She has a MBA. That’s enough, no need for conspiracy.

13 February at 22:56 | Open on mamot.fr

Aedius Filmania ⚙️🎮🖊️

@ploum 🤔

that's just another conspiracy

13 February at 22:57 | Open on lavraievie.social

Jens

@Aedius @ploum
She is existing in another plane of reality than the users. For her the economical issues are way more critical than anything else and Firefox, as we know it, is not salvageable in the current market.
That is the brutal calculation - Mozilla and Firefox simply cannot exist in their current state. Either they will have to sell out totally and become profitable in which case they will be abandoned, or they will risk all and dissolve the company.

13 February at 23:27 | Open on social.piewpiew.se

Jens

@Aedius @ploum
So the one big hope is to bring in VC money based on random buzz-words of the day. BUT since Firefox exist squarely in a market space of "not being marketable" that is very very hard.
The tactic thus far seems to have been to hire, through big ass pay checks, connected CEO's. The people who can get some of that VC cash. But its not working, because the more that CEO says, the less the core users trust the product that is in a death spiral allready

13 February at 23:29 | Open on social.piewpiew.se

Jens

@Aedius @ploum
Firefox is like the 2024 world wide elections or climate change - we all know how it will end, but its nice to enjoy this little eye of the storm before what we have is ripped apart.

13 February at 23:31 | Open on social.piewpiew.se

Garrett Latimer

@ohyran @Aedius @ploum
For a moment, there was hope.

14 February at 9:18 | Open on meow.social

Gabriele Svelto

@ohyran @Aedius @ploum Mozilla can't get VC money. It doesn't work like regular tech companies as it's entirely owned by a non-profit, and all the extra profits go into a reserve fund which is huge ATM. Also Mozilla Corporation's CEOs haven't been particularly well connected, the previous one was among Mozilla founders.

14 February at 7:47 | Open on fosstodon.org

Jens

@gabrielesvelto @Aedius @ploum
Sry investment money. Last was written two in the morning.
Their only shown source of profit is Google. As for Mozilla CEO's not even bringing contacts in to play that is shocking news and really doesn't help Mozillas situation.

But that massive reserve fund is interesting - I can't find anything about it. Do you have more info?

14 February at 8:28 | Open on social.piewpiew.se

Gabriele Svelto

@ohyran @Aedius @ploum you can find it in Mozilla's public audited financial statement under Assets (fifth page): https://assets.mozilla.net/annualreport/2022/mozilla-fdn-2022-fs-final-0908.pdf

As you can see from the document those assets increased by ~160 million $ in a year. That's where all the profit goes since it can't be paid off to investors (as Mozilla Corporation has none due to its peculiar nature).

14 February at 8:38 | Open on fosstodon.org

DELETED

@ploum @Aedius a MacBook Air? Damn so she’s not even a Linux user 😃😅

14 February at 3:16 | Open on mastodon.green

Chrisshy Keygen

@Aedius @ploum @mozilla nah, google needs Firefox as antitrust insurance real real bad.

13 February at 23:50 | Open on hackers.town

Grumble

@rgegriff @Aedius @ploum @mozilla But what kind of Firefox?

A full-featured Firefox that drains users from Chrome? Or a shitty Firefox that no one wants except those few stuck on a platform Google doesn't want to waste time on?

14 February at 3:43 | Open on techhub.social

Aedius Filmania ⚙️🎮🖊️

@grumble209 @rgegriff @ploum @mozilla

Just with a usefully addblock ;)

14 February at 6:42 | Open on lavraievie.social

Brendan Jones

@grumble209 @rgegriff @Aedius @ploum @mozilla It’s not draining users from Chrome, that’s the whole problem. Google doesn’t need the Mozilla CEO to kill Firefox, the market is doing it for them.

14 February at 9:33 | Open on fosstodon.org

Aedius Filmania ⚙️🎮🖊️

@Brendanjones @grumble209 @rgegriff @ploum @mozilla

It will, when chrome won't block the ads ^^

14 February at 10:31 | Open on lavraievie.social

O'Schell

@ploum @mozilla EEE but the HR way...

13 February at 22:55 | Open on mastodon.social

Sabogato (they/them)

@ploum @mozilla for fucks sake!

13 February at 23:03 | Open on sunbeam.city

Maxi 10x 💉

@s_hentzschel ?

13 February at 23:04 | Open on chaos.social

Sören Hentzschel

@frumble Die Darstellung von ploum ist falsch. Weder wurden diese Produkte als nutzlos bezeichnet oder eingestellt noch geht es ausschließlich um KI, sondern vor allem um mehr Fokus auf Firefox (was KI-Integrationen einschließt), es geht darüber hinaus aber auch ausdrücklich um mehr Fokus auf Firefox Mobile. Siehe https://www.soeren-hentzschel.at/mozilla/mozilla-strukturiert-um-hubs-wird-eingestellt/

Natürlich kann man, wie es bei strategischen Kurswechseln immer ist, die neue Ausrichtung gut oder schlecht finden. Das muss jeder selbst beurteilen.

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13 February at 23:11 | Open on mozilla.social

Sören Hentzschel

@frumble Und ja, wenn Mitarbeiter gehen müssen, ist das immer blöd für die Betroffenen, das ist überhaupt keine Frage. Leider erlebt das gerade ja praktisch die gesamte Branche.

13 February at 23:13 | Open on mozilla.social

Maxi 10x 💉

@s_hentzschel Typischer Fall gerade auch wieder von Kommunikationsversagen zu ihrer Zielgruppe: Hier sprießen gerade die Threads mit dutzenden Kommentaren dazu, dass der "Fokus auf AI" schrecklich sei. Es kommt niemandem in den Sinn, dass es sich dabei um lokale KI handeln könnte. Aber #Mozilla hat das auch selbst verschuldet, weil sie nicht in die Community hinein fühlen.

14 February at 0:18 | Open on chaos.social

Joshix

@frumble nur weil KI lokal ist, macht das die nicht gut. Firefox hat so viele andere Probleme, auf die die sich fokussieren sollten. Unnötige Ki-Features bringen mir nix

14 February at 6:28 | Open on fosspri.de

The Mad Hatter

@joshix @frumble die Übersetzungfunktion ist nicht unnötig.

14 February at 7:05 | Open on chaos.social

Joshix

@lgehr @frumble hab die bis jetzt noch nicht genutzt.
Aber ja das ist ein Feature, was gut und nützlich sein kann (TTS auch)

Beide müssen aber nicht unbedingt in einem Browser sein. Beide sind auch außerhalb nützlich

14 February at 7:25 | Open on fosspri.de

Sören Hentzschel

@frumble Ich weiß nicht, was „in die Community hinein fühlen“ bedeuten soll, aber ich würde wetten, dass ein stärkerer Fokus auf Firefox - was im Übrigen bereits beim CEO-Wechsel angekündigt wurde - im Interesse nicht weniger aus der „Community“ sein dürfte. Und was die aktuelle Meldung betrifft: Die Berichterstattung basiert auf dem Leak eines internen Memos, es gab zu dem Zeitpunkt noch keine offizielle Kommunikation nach außen.

14 February at 9:02 | Open on mozilla.social

Pixel

@ploum @mozilla I'm not inherently anti-ai, local ai like their local translation that doesn't phone home to google is good. but as someone that pays for their VPN and appreciates the hell out of relay, this is such a discouraging move and shows yet again how out of touch mozilla is. Disappointing.

13 February at 23:22 | Open on urusai.social

DELETED

@ploum @mozilla

All Tech bros are stupid

All of them

13 February at 23:31 | Open on mastodon.social

Alain Dellepiane :eit: :pm:

@ploum @mozilla

What's really worrying: it jeopardizes a truly independent Linux future.
Browsers are increasingly the heart of any operating system. If Firefox falters, we will all be at the mercy of Google, no matter what we use...

13 February at 23:57 | Open on localization.cafe

DeepBlue V7.X

@ploum@mamot.fr @mozilla@mozilla.social Wtf, why do they need to always fire people for the stuff I use!

13 February at 23:59 | Open on nheko.io

Nicolas Dufour

@ploum @mozilla I guess it's time to look at ungoogled-chromium ... sigh ...

13 February at 23:59 | Open on gardenstate.social

rubenwardy

@ploum @mozilla

I despise the term "right-sizing", it's so cold and heartless

14 February at 0:09 | Open on fosstodon.org

Oblomov

@rubenwardy @ploum @mozilla OTOH, it fits. Left-sizing would be making efforts to keep everyone on payroll through good and troubled times.

14 February at 9:21 | Open on sociale.network

Escaping Galt's Gorean Gulch

@ploum @mozilla Mozilla's leadership can't help it. They are like Democratic Party strategists thinking that if they keep supporting Republican talking points, people will vote for them.

14 February at 0:16 | Open on orbital.horse

Siren 🌑

@ploum @mozilla guess I gotta hope someone makes a replacement for Firefox...

14 February at 0:20 | Open on spore.social

Escaping Galt's Gorean Gulch

@ploum to be honest, I don't think Mozilla was in a position to run a mastodon instance, especially since trying to get codes of conduct in place for contributors was a huge lift (and nearly everyone who helped get that into place is now gone.)

And they were talking about "AI" moderation which would mean the only people on there would be indistinguishable from a suburban home owner.

14 February at 0:30 | Open on orbital.horse

McWabbit

@ploum @mozilla Just by the end of 2023 as people including me were promoting to use Firefox as an alternative to Chromium browsers, we get shit like this. Can't we just have nice things like a safe, private and stable browser that is not enshitefied by clueless upper management and shareholders? 😩

14 February at 0:34 | Open on mastodon.social

Hypx

@ploum @mozilla It's time to admit that Firefox is dead or will be soon. It's also important to remember than Google basically bankrolls Mozilla, likely just to push back against monopoly accusations.

14 February at 0:48 | Open on mastodon.social

Paul Wermer

@ploum @mozilla yes, that list does suggest the CEO is trend, not quality/needs focused.

14 February at 0:49 | Open on sfba.social

Olle Gladsø

@ploum @mozilla So, it looks like I may have to abandon Firefox after all these years. I can't imagine them screwing the pooch the way they did. What browser should I choose instead. I am a dyed in the wool GNU/Linux user.

14 February at 1:05 | Open on mastodon.social

Will

@Gladso @ploum @mozilla Long time Linux user here. I use Firefox (have to change the script to make it better, however), Librewolf (which is a more privacy-hardened version of Firefox) and (in a pinch) Brave (you have to turn off its nonsense after downloading it, but it's a better version of, cough, cough, Chrome).

14 February at 1:33 | Open on mastodon.social

joriki

@WillA763 @Gladso @ploum @mozilla

Vivaldi > Brave

14 February at 5:38 | Open on infosec.exchange

Sir David Nielsen

@ploum @mozilla @lisamelton and they’ve only just announced Monitor, this insane.

14 February at 1:25 | Open on mastodon.social

Will

@ploum @mozilla This is exactly why Mozilla needs to give up Firefox and leave it to a community of maintainers who actually care about the browser, instead of sucking at the teat of Google to subsidize a bunch of ventures (AI) that have nothing to do with or why anyone would even care about you. Terrible.

14 February at 1:29 | Open on mastodon.social

Derek

@ploum @mozilla Ah damn. I love relay.

14 February at 1:32 | Open on mstdn.ca

OddOpinions5

@ploum @mozilla

Given that only about 3% users are on FF, seems like focusing on something else is a smart move

not sure AI is the right way to go tho

I mean face reality: FireFox is a dead parrot

14 February at 2:06 | Open on mas.to

KaizarNike

@ploum @mozilla man i gotta jump offa firefox? i already jumped offa to join chrome and then google stopped being good.

14 February at 2:11 | Open on mastodon.gamedev.place

AlgoCompSynth by znmeb

@ploum Tell me your new CEO doesn't understand market strategy without telling me that your CEO doesn't understand market strategy.

14 February at 2:38 | Open on ravenation.club

faraiwe

@ploum @mozilla it's past time to reclaim #mozilla back to #foss, really foss, not linkedin oral breather managed corporation.
I've used mozilla since its inception. Never were so many heads up their respective assholes at a body making decisions regarding mozilla as these past few days.
WTF.

14 February at 2:46 | Open on mastodon.social

🌼 Dagnabbit, Pascaline! 🌼

@ploum @mozilla
Firefox down the drain 😭 I have been using it since it first came out. This is so bad.

14 February at 3:06 | Open on mastodon.nl

Iced_Eagle

@ploum @mozilla Refocus on Firefox? Yes please. But I hope that's not a monkey paw and they are focusing all their efforts on shoving AI into it.

I did just sign up for Monitor, so I am sad they are immediately pulling back from that. Hopefully they maintain the service at the very least.

14 February at 3:10 | Open on mastodon.gamedev.place

🍜

@ploum @mozilla I uninstalled Firefox so quickly.

14 February at 3:18 | Open on mastodon.social

Boris

@ploum I don't know her but I know how companies work and I have no doubt the roadmap was already defined by the board and the layoffs planned way before this new CEO was nominated. Yet, we don't know how many potential CEOs refused to take the job because of this, before this one accepted.

14 February at 5:13 | Open on framapiaf.org

LukefromDC

@ploum @mozilla I always strip Pocket and the other crapware out of Firefox. I never let anyone's browser connect to the Internet without stripping out monetized shit, and I don't run Chrome at all.
No Pocket, no sponsored links, none of that. All telemetry turned off, and all the Google shit removed. All taken out before first connection to a network, plus the UI rolled back to mate MATE with a real menu bar etc. First site to visit with Firefox is always about:config

There are multiple firefox forks now because of shit like this, unfortunately the arms race between browsers and exploits make any delays in security updates dangerous. Best defense is probably to limit what sites are permitted to run JS and never, ever allow ads as they are a known vector of malware.

We need a fully community maintained desktop browser with up to date security, a minimal feature set to reduce attack surface, antitracking and antifingerprinting code like Firefox uses, first party isolation of cookies, and the functionality of NoScript or Ublock Origin by default. There should be no parties involved whose reason for being there is financial.

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14 February at 5:16 | Open on kolektiva.social

Lawler Hix :verified:

@ploum @mozilla Give it a few years for when the (current) AI craze dries up.

We'll see what the grift crowd moves to next.

14 February at 5:32 | Open on vt.social

ティージェーグレェ

@ploum I'm even more annoyed that I got rejected from applying for the mozilla.social opening a while ago now.

Not only have I been online longer than Netscape has existed, and been on the FediVerse longer than mozilla.social, but getting fired with their presumably obscene pay and presumably getting a severance package would have been nice!

If I wasn't going to be effectual at accomplishing anything anyway, might as well be nice to get paid for it.

*sigh*

Maybe one day I will learn how to grift like the CxOs.

@mozilla

@ploum I'm even more annoyed that I got rejected from applying for the mozilla.social opening a while ago now.

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14 February at 5:36 | Open on rap.social

Marquise de What :unverified:

@ploum @mozilla Et tu, Mozilla.

14 February at 5:36 | Open on ohai.social

joriki

@ploum @trendytoots @mozilla

I don't see where Monitor is on the chopping block, the only mention in the story is a correction about it being launched.

14 February at 5:40 | Open on infosec.exchange

DELETED

@ploum @mozilla
The sooner folks realize, most CEO's are morons, the better for us all.

14 February at 5:47 | Open on phpc.social

PublicLewdness

@ploum

@mozilla @ramin_hal9001

I'm still a fan of forks of Firefox such as Abrowser but i've never been willing to directly support Mozilla.

14 February at 5:48 | Open on gameliberty.club

Luna Lactea

@ploum @mozilla what the fuck

14 February at 5:58 | Open on furry.engineer

Gerbrand van Dieyen

@ploum @mozilla also shutting down hubs, https://hubs.mozilla.com/ a mozilla product that sounds Intriguing but I never heard of until now.

14 February at 6:14 | Open on fosstodon.org

butterflyoffire ⏚ꝃ⌁⁂

@ploum → @mozilla forgot to shutdown Pontoon and replace the translation COMMUNITY with EyeAie !

14 February at 6:35 | Open on mstdn.fr

TheCoolest

@ploum
I'm still willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on some of this.

Relay is redundant, because SimpleLogin, AnonAddy, and Duck.com are all privacy respecting products already taking up that same space.

Mozilla VPN launched as nothing more than Mullvad with a rebrand. That speaks to its redundancy. Proton, Mullvad, Windscribe, etc., already exist in that space.

Mozilla.social is Mastodon but corporate.

Monitor started as a rebranded HIBP. HIBP is already fine.

@ploum
I'm still willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on some of this.

Relay is redundant, because SimpleLogin, AnonAddy, and Duck.com are all privacy respecting products already taking up that same space.

Mozilla VPN launched as nothing more than Mullvad with a rebrand. That speaks to its redundancy. Proton, Mullvad, Windscribe, etc., already exist in that space.

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14 February at 6:42 | Open on dftba.club

Brendan Jones

@TheCoolest @ploum Relay isn’t redundant, because it’s a great product that integrates well with Firefox. If it’s not making money then I grudgingly accept if they have to kill it, but just having competitors isn’t a reason to do so.

14 February at 9:13 | Open on fosstodon.org

Bobby

@ploum @mozilla is it April 1st?

14 February at 6:43 | Open on framapiaf.org

OpticalNail

@ploum @mozilla
Haven't used default Firefox in a long time. @librewolf will hopefully keep the necessary features without any #AI, although it's not very easy to do so..
A separate build at least would be lovely :)

#enshittification

14 February at 7:14 | Open on expressional.social

Mark

@ploum @mozilla A lot of that sounds smart. Like everyone is offering a VPN these days, and why are they ploughing money into a mastodon instance as opposed to just having one?

14 February at 7:20 | Open on waterford.international

mcSlibinas

@ploum @mozilla who hires CEO's for Mozilla? Google? 🤔

14 February at 7:25 | Open on river.group.lt

squalouJenkins

@ploum @mozilla

collision de fil mastodon : la pub pour Monitor (Plus)

un post de "Mozilla francophone" présentant leur produit "Monitor Plus" avec un liens vers l'article sur MacGeneration.

14 February at 7:38 | Open on fosstodon.org

Dragon-sided D

@ploum @mozilla How about we do the boring but really hard engineering job of making a fast secure privacy-respecting open-source standards-based browser?

I give money every month because I want *that*

Thank you

14 February at 7:46 | Open on sciencemastodon.com

Matija Šuklje

@ploum @mozilla ,

Out of curiosity I asked the interwebs whether rightsizing ever led to more employment.

The answer was ”no”. (it’s just an euphemism of an euphemism for layoffs)

query in Kagi search:
“list all examples where rightsizing led to more employment”

quick answer:
“After reviewing the search results, there do not appear to be any examples where rightsizing directly led to more employment. Rightsizing generally refers to reducing the size of a workforce, often through layoffs or attrition, in order to better align the number of employees with business needs.[1] While rightsizing may help a company remain viable in difficult economic times, it does not seem to create new jobs based on the information provided. The search results frame rightsizing as a means of cost-cutting or reducing excess staff, not a strategy that increases hiring.”

14 February at 7:49 | Open on toot.si

Victor Morel - Ummon

@ploum @mozilla @f00wl @eole666

14 February at 7:53 | Open on framapiaf.org

Dmitry Borodaenko

@ploum And what a profile: 2.5 years at McKinsey, 12 years at PayPal/eBay.

14 February at 8:12 | Open on mastodon.social

Francesco P Lovergine

@ploum @mozilla

Maybe it's me, but why should a non-profit organization be interested in making money and need an ordinary CEO with an MBA to focus on that? I'm a f*cking passed idealist, probably.

🤔

14 February at 8:49 | Open on floss.social

Brendan Jones

@ploum @Herman @mozilla This makes me sad. I’m a happy, paying customer of Relay and VPN, they’re both great.

I hope if they’re laying off workers then the CEO also took a pay cut?

Does anybody have recommendations for Relay replacements, in case they actually shut it down?

I was hoping Proton might have such an email-forwarding service because I’ve been meaning to move my email over there anyway (time to de-Google!), but it doesn’t look like it. Pity!

14 February at 9:25 | Open on fosstodon.org

Brendan Jones

@ploum @Herman @mozilla And they’re focusing on Pocket?! Argh! The one product of theirs I’ve never found useful and regard as bloatware.

It better be making them loads of money, in which case I understand keeping it, even if I don’t like them pushing it in Firefox.

And AI? I *really* hope that means more useful, on-device services like their translation (which is great), and not some LLM chatbot integration or something equally stupid and costly.

14 February at 9:29 | Open on fosstodon.org