Microsoft Edge market share grew 13x in the past 12 months, overtaking Firefox

You call it ironic. Others might call it principled.

    The only thing keeping the lights on at Mozilla 
    right now is their default search engine deal 
    with Google.

I'm perhaps splitting hairs and I apologize accordingly, but you're saying "right now" as if it was a new situation. While decidedly non-ideal, their default search engine deals are the only things that have ever kept the lights on there, right?

That's a smart and rational decision of google to support a competing browser so that they don't have a monopoly (that may be natural) and don't get suit for abusing this monopoly.

My naive guess is that this is why they continue to fund it.

Google funds Mozilla because of this (keeping them around as puppet competition) and also because of their market share.

However, with browsers like Brave, Edge, and Vivaldi rising and Firefox's market share falling, Google doesn't need Firefox as its puppet much longer to avoid antitrust scrutiny, and Firefox's dwindling share reduces the value of it's userbase and thus the default search engine contract, so I would not be surprised if Google eventually cuts the funding.

They laid off most of the engineering team at Firefox already. With that move, and the fact that they are losing market share to their Chromium-based competitors (Edge, Vivaldi, etc.), that put's Google's default search engine deal in question, which is like 90% of Mozilla's funding. Should they lose enough market share that Google decides they don't need them anymore, Firefox is dead overnight.

The really frustrating thing is that the gap hasn't only been growing. Firefox was far slower than Chrome for a long time, and over the past couple of years pulled off a pretty impressive catch-up, which is why I and others finally went back. Now Mozilla's laid off most of the team that executed that very catch-up with Servo. Either my anecdotal experience of the speed bringing people back is an overestimation, or Mozilla's management really are as inept as everyone seems to think.

Even as Firefox continues losing market share, which put's Google's default search engine contract (which is like 90% of Firefox's funding) into jeopardy. Excellent management at Mozilla there.

They love cancelling people. [1]

1) https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2021/01/08/we-need-more-than-d...

> They've also had plenty of spare energy to participate in trying to cancel rms in recent weeks.

How hard is writing a letter? I won't restart this argument again, but surely you have to be being deliberately obtuse if you can't at very least appreciate why people want rms gone?

Exactly. They were dead to me around 2016.

It's really self-defeating. They think that talking politics makes a difference (even though how many people listen to Mozilla on politics? Anyone?), while neglecting the core product which allows them to have a platform in the first place.

one could reasonably fairly argue that Microsoft and Google are also involved in US politics and that Mozilla is no different in this regard. (obviously both of those corporations are much, much larger than Mozilla.) but still, I liked Mozilla much better when they were the independent browser company with no views on social justice outside of their own walls.

whenever corporations or previously non-political non-profits start becoming overtly political, I don't want anything to do with them if at all possible. which is increasingly difficult these days as everyone seems 100% willing to pretend like corporations are people and as such can have views on opinions about politics and social justice and such. there is no shortage of outspoken activism on the Internet, attaching your company's (and product's) cart to any sort of political horse is just stupid, and makes me respect said company and product much, much less.

when was the last time someone said to themselves, "man, I just can't bring myself to give a single shit about #BlackLivesMatter (or whatever other current political issue)... oh wait! what's this? my favorite browser/code editor/etc. is posting tweets about it? well, now, that changes everything! sure, all these other major corporations are talking about these things, absolutely inundating my social feeds with it, but... my favorite browser/code editor/etc.? jeez! I guess I'd better pay attention!"

really getting sick of this—entirely independent of what I think about any of these social/political issues. I can form my own opinions based upon my consumption of the vast amounts of political takes that I see every day on the Internet, without the input of your company/product, thank you very much. also, all of these other takes I consume are from people, individuals instead of corporations-pretending-to-be-individuals-for-political-purposes. it's not like you're not trying to increase your market share or bottom line or anything by grifting off of these causes.

man, it sucks though... I was that weird kid who frequently wore a Firefox t-shirt to high school in the mid 00s. I used to be such a fan.

I will admit that on the surface it seems so, and ultimately, you are probably correct. But I view it as the lesser of two evils at this point in time.

Google is tied, quite literally, to nearly every website out there (essentially) through their analytics and ads. Using Chrome causes a perceptible difference in the way ads and even some content is presented to me. I have not noticed the same issue when using Edge. I'm sure it is there, and I'm sure Microsoft can probably go even lower into the OS. But I just don't pervasively feel MS tracking like I do Google's. And frankly, it isn't even close.

Not that I have any strong belief in Microsoft's purity, but Microsoft isn't primarily an advertising company, so...there's that.

That is absolutely not what is happening here. Microsoft hasn't convinced anyone to switch from legacy edge to chromium edge. They end of lifed legacy edge and internet explorer. It cannot be a measure of preference. You cannot even use admin tools to revert or uninstall.

What on earth do you mean why would I want to remove it? It's code that I don't want to run on MY computer. Maybe you need it to download another browser, but I am happily free of that necessity.

You can change browsers, just not browser engines. This might bother me if any other browser engines seemed to give a damn about battery life, but since they don't, it's justifiable for the reason of preventing people from "mysteriously" having terrible battery life because ads on Google properties convinced them to install Chrome, at least.

What makes you say IOS does not allow a choice? I’m writing this from Firefox on an IPhone?

They could have fired fewer people. It's a bad look to be firing people for lack of money while raising exec salary.

Or could have paid the ceo $1M and kept 10 out of 250 at $200k. Do you think 10 would have stayed for $200k/year.

The point, I think, is that the Mozilla CEO is sucking, as measured by failing product lines and poor resource management resulting in firing 250 people, and got a raise.