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your auntifa liza šŸ‡µšŸ‡· šŸ¦› šŸ¦¦

it's time to fork #Firefox and turn it into a cooperative-owned project.

arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/0

cooperative membership is the element missing from FLOSS.

fuck the non-profit's faux neutrality when in truth it's just a broke doppelganger of the top-down structure of the corporatist kleptocracy.

make the project a cooperative where members --users and developers-- get to vote on the future of the project with their paid memberships and contributed labor.

84 comments
Bernie the Wordsmith

@blogdiva Is this what happened with OpenOffice and KeePass? I recall there was something similar...

your auntifa liza šŸ‡µšŸ‡· šŸ¦› šŸ¦¦

@berniethewordsmith not exactly. OO was forked into LibreOffice but as far i can tell it is not a cooperative. same with Keepass and KeepassXL (or whichever is the fork am using, LOL)

Maxi 10x šŸ’‰

@blogdiva @berniethewordsmith LibreOffice is just a normal FLOSS project, they donā€™t have a 'company' behind it.

Maxi 10x šŸ’‰

@blogdiva @berniethewordsmith Okay, LibreOffice has "The Document Foundation", but this isnā€™t any more corporate than letā€™s say KDEā€™s noprofit.

jake
@blogdiva @frumble @berniethewordsmith Sorta? So OpenOffice was ditched off to Apache after Sun was bought bought by Oracle. LibreOffice was a fork started at Novell and maybe Redhat?? due to the fact that OpenOffice has been neglected since Sun started it. That was then made into a foundation (Document Foundation) similar to Mozilla. That foundation runs both LibreOffice and the ODT.
(I was somehow tangent to all of this as I was helping support the Mac ports all those years ago)
@blogdiva @frumble @berniethewordsmith Sorta? So OpenOffice was ditched off to Apache after Sun was bought bought by Oracle. LibreOffice was a fork started at Novell and maybe Redhat?? due to the fact that OpenOffice has been neglected since Sun started it. That was then made into a foundation (Document Foundation) similar to Mozilla. That foundation runs both LibreOffice and the ODT.
Maxi 10x šŸ’‰

@VulpineAmethyst @blogdiva @berniethewordsmith Contributing ā‰  the project is mainly developed in corporate structures

Katja ļ½¢Amethystļ½£

@frumble @blogdiva @berniethewordsmith

I am not sure I would reduce their involvement to just 'collaboration', given they have blocked features found in their productised LO. šŸ¤·šŸ»

your auntifa liza šŸ‡µšŸ‡· šŸ¦› šŸ¦¦

@gutocarvalho we would need to fork them cuz they don't want to deal with any governing body/structure that takes money for the project. that's not sustainable... and i say that as i type from my Librewolf browser for Linux.

/home/gutocarvalho :bolha:

@blogdiva I like the idea of a strong open core for browsers, an open engine, an open standard, independent, focused, it could be a project handled by Linux Foundation or even W3C.

And another iniative using this core like LibreWolf or Watefox.

We need to focus on the engine first, and a primary implementation of the engine user/community centric.

Funes

@blogdiva are there any examples of software owned/maintained by a cooperative? Would love to look into some as case studies.

Zack Weinberg

@funes @ltlnx @blogdiva I would not recommend using Debian as a model; their decision making processes historically have led to endless flamewars and the rule of the loudest. (Their *development* process has historically worked very well at shielding users from the screaming on the mailing lists ā€” until fairly recently I would have recommended Debian over all other Linux distros, for any use ā€” but this is no longer true, and I think it mainly worked as long as it did because most of the time, most individual DDs could ignore each other and the screaming. That's not gonna work for a monolith like a web browser.)

@funes @ltlnx @blogdiva I would not recommend using Debian as a model; their decision making processes historically have led to endless flamewars and the rule of the loudest. (Their *development* process has historically worked very well at shielding users from the screaming on the mailing lists ā€” until fairly recently I would have recommended Debian over all other Linux distros, for any use ā€” but this is no longer true, and I think it mainly worked as long as it did because most of the time, most...

trystimuli

@funes @blogdiva thereā€™s loomio - source code on github. most tech worker cooperatives seem to do consulting.

another model might be a multi-stakeholder cooperative, which would also include people who use the software as owners/members, but i donā€™t have any ready examples of that model.

justforfun

@funes @blogdiva
Funny you should ask, I just learned about @Codeberg today and I hope they can weigh in on their structure in more detail it does more closely resemble a co-operative than a non-profit. I also like that they are transparent in how much funds they have to continue operations (12 years) and that all seems to be member supported. I often find that folks are critical when opens source projects have fees instead of relying 100% volunteer effort; I donā€™t think thatā€™s sustainable.

left-wing math nerd

@justforfun @funes @blogdiva @Codeberg they donā€™t charge for use of their service.

They take donations and have a ā‚¬24/year membership fee to become a voting member docs.codeberg.org/getting-star

Boud

@blogdiva
Realism or a pipedream?

"The turnover of the largest three hundred cooperatives in the world reached $2.2 trillion." [1]

"Cooperative businesses are typically more productive and economically resilient than many other forms of enterprise, with twice the number of co-operatives (80%) surviving their first five years compared with other business ownership models (44%) according to data from UK." [1]

"Mondragon ... has [been running] since 1956." [1]

[1] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperat

@blogdiva
Realism or a pipedream?

"The turnover of the largest three hundred cooperatives in the world reached $2.2 trillion." [1]

"Cooperative businesses are typically more productive and economically resilient than many other forms of enterprise, with twice the number of co-operatives (80%) surviving their first five years compared with other business ownership models (44%) according to data from UK." [1]

Murilo Trigo

@blogdiva 100%

Direct worker control of the products of their labour or bust

What browser do we use now?

EthicalTaxProfessor

@blogdiva

I've used Firefox and Netscape for well over 20 years, yet the threat of including AI in Firefox is moving me to consider the alternatives.

your auntifa liza šŸ‡µšŸ‡· šŸ¦› šŸ¦¦

@DrGeof been using Librewolf for a couple of years now. i'd like to see the fork follow Librewolf's changes.

EthicalTaxProfessor

@blogdiva

I use Librewolf as well. Librewolf for work, Firefox for personal.

'Tis a great browser.

Jesse Cail

@DrGeof @blogdiva I may give Librewolf another spin. It was a bit too restrictive for me. Admittedly, I didn't invest a ton of effort into it. I use Firefox with Privacy Badger from EFF, Firefox Focus, and sometimes TOR.

Oliver šŸ‘”

@jesse_cail Still the same. Edit the LibreWolf cfg instead of the users cfg because otherwise LibreWolf resets whatever you decide with every restart and every update.

Bill Marshall

@blogdiva @DrGeof Been a Firefox user since it first appeared but now I dread every update in case they've screwed with the layout again. Does Librewolf allow you to have tabs where you want them that look like tabs?

Chookbot

@blogdiva Very disappointed to read about what they're doing. Been a loyal user for many years. Now what?

AnthonyJK-Admin

@blogdiva

Gotta remember:

FOSS capitalism is still capitalism.

Just because it's "free" doesn't mean there's not a cost.

And, ultimately, just like the #Pornocalypse, the Rapture of Enshittification comes for everyone.

#WarKeyCracks

jlo

@blogdiva Librewolf is an option. Arkenfox. Mullvad Browser (Tor without Tor).

Some options luckily.

P J Evans

@blogdiva
I don't need AI in my browser. Or in search engines. In fact, I can't see a use for it for most purposes.

Baloo Uriza

@blogdiva I hate how much this feels like forking Mozilla to create the Mozilla Foundation all over again.

Rich Felker

@blogdiva Obvious name: Fenix. Both a throwback to the original name, and pun on Fennec.

Rich Felker

@blogdiva Could even make that Fennix or Fennex if it's more unique.

M.S. Bellows, Jr.

@dalias @blogdiva Fenix was a great Twitter app. Better consult @mttvll before snaking the name.

FoolishOwl

@blogdiva One of the big problems with Mozilla is that almost all its funding comes from Google. The speculation was that Google pays for Firefox so they can deny that they have a monopoly with Chrome. There's no way that's not going to collapse anyway. Mozilla is obviously doomed.

The Doctor

@foolishowl @blogdiva The best way to beat the opposition is to create it yourself.

The Doctor

@foolishowl @blogdiva Not actually created; Mozilla predates Google considerably.

But it is highly unlikely the Firefox effort would have gotten anywhere without Google paying for it. The Mozilla Foundation certainly so.

Thomas šŸ”­šŸ•¹ļø

@adminkirsty @blogdiva @jwz that looks pretty sweet, I really need profile sync tho (looks like theyā€™re working on it)

your auntifa liza šŸ‡µšŸ‡· šŸ¦› šŸ¦¦

@thomasfuchs @adminkirsty @jwz i've tried both but settled on Librewolf. i'd love to see the fork take on LW's changes. the project won't be able to *be* the cooperative fork because the developers do not want to it to be a legal entity nor take money for it. so it would have to be a fork of a fork.

A Rose By Any Other

@adminkirsty @thomasfuchs @blogdiva @jwz It looks like they're serving ads? Using Firefox, I see no ads on cricinfo.com (for example), but with Waterfox I see ads. I am running pihole on my LAN. Their FAQ makes no mention of ads, just that they make money from "search partnerships" (waterfox.net/docs/faq/#1-what-)

Sibshops

@blogdiva As long as it's open source AI, I'm okay with it.

your auntifa liza šŸ‡µšŸ‡· šŸ¦› šŸ¦¦

@jessienab Librewolf would be the de facto model to follow. it's degoogled AND stripped most of Mozilla's commercialized garbage.

SmashedRatOnPress

@hyc @blogdiva I loved Seamonkey for decades, until it fell so far behind that many very common sites wouldn't work with it any more. I abandoned it. I'd love to see it back up and running well again.

Howard Chu @ Symas

@smashedratonpress @blogdiva I still use it as my main desktop browser. It lags a bit on supporting sites like github but that usually catches up again. And integrated email and calendar are still killer features.

DELETED

@blogdiva

I just made the switch to Librewolf, got all my stuff moved over with no fuss. Sad days.

Juho MƤntysalo

@blogdiva

I'm a bit surprised how many times that article calls Mozilla "company" and compares it to Google and Apple.

True, the subsidiary of Mozilla Foundation that develops Firefox is a corporation, but the word "company" (and I just checked few dictionaries) refers to organisations that try to create money, not just stay afloat.

The-end-result is that the writer misses the Foundation's goal for healthy internet as a creator of useful tools, and instead assigns more capitalist motives.

š•øš”žš”©š”¦š”«

@blogdiva Google funds Firefox. But you'd like to raise that money by charging for a FOSS browser so people can vote on the issues of a git page? Am I reading this right?

Deus

@blogdiva "Mozilla is just a Foundation and operates like an NGO funded by Google", they said. They tried convincing me I could trust an NGO that's backed up by Google.

Michael Vilain

@blogdiva I've already dumped Firefox for Floorp.

gz

@blogdiva
Bad move Mozilla. Being an AI-free browser would be a great selling point.

ziri

@blogdiva noooooooo not my man firefox šŸ˜­šŸ˜­šŸ˜­šŸ˜­šŸ˜­šŸ˜­šŸ˜­šŸ˜­šŸ˜­

Wayne

@blogdiva Had anyone tried the duckduckgo browser now that is no longer under Microsoft's finger? I know they don't have extensions yet. But at least it's something you can have across your devices.

Aleca

@blogdiva the layoffs affected VPN, Relay, Monitor, and Social. Nothing happened to Firefox, on the contrary there are new open roles for desktop developers in the Firefox team that were just created.
The layoffs are terrible and the strategy focusing on AI is indeed questionable, but Firefox is owned by the Mozilla Foundation which is a non profit and community oriented organization

linuxretrobore

@blogdiva dear god something needs to be done with it. the company and the foundation have been at sea for years

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