The poll is over, and the result is clear:

#FireFox users have very little interest for Chatbot integration into their browser.

I am very much aware that the people, who voted in this poll are hardly a representative sample, but more than 2.4K people is a better size than many “professional” opinion polls.

@mozilla & @firefox should take people, who actually care about their #browser choice, seriously.

I still seriously believe that #Mozilla’s fate matters,

https://berlin.social/@mina/113102817500429735

1/3

  • AntEater@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    28·
    2 months ago

    I wish Mozilla would just strip all the extraneous junk from Firefox aside from what is truly necessary for web browsing. No crypto, no Pocket, no chatbot integration, nothing AI related, etc. Any and all additional features should be implemented via optional plugins. They could rename the project something like Phoenix or Firebird or something like that.

    • Facebones@reddthat.com
      141·
      2 months ago

      I bet they wouldn’t be so dependent on that google money if they stopped trying to chase every tech trend that pops up regardless of interest or popularity.

      My perception of Firefox users is that most of us use Firefox for a reason, and thats usually some variation of moving away from big tech bullshit. I COULD be wrong but I certainly dont think so lol.

      • Ferk@lemmy.ml
        3·
        2 months ago

        Where would the money come from then? donations? Or do you mean they should shrink, fire people and downscale.

        I think it’s too late for them to switch direction, not without a lot of people getting laid off. Though maybe that will ultimately happen if they finally end up bankrupt.

        • Facebones@reddthat.com
          2·
          2 months ago

          Or do you mean they should shrink, fire people, and downscale

          I reckon I do. Google is like 80% of their funding or some shit, which hinders other search products while affecting user experience in other ways as well due to their influence. If they reined in the scope of their product, they could work on a lower budget which might allow them to work towards breaking free of that oversight. As I mentioned, I don’t think most Firefox users want half this crap they’re working on anyway, but they’re caught in the tech “infinite growth” loop where they ““have”” to crank out bs features or else be considered irrelevant.

          Just make a solid browser, work in solid mod support so I can make it my own, and maintain it. I have my own tools to use instead of pocket and whatever else, I don’t need Mozilla to do that.

          In terms of workers being let go, if they scale back they can at least let people go in a respectful manner instead of them just showing up to a sign on the door lol.

          • Ferk@lemmy.ml
            1·
            2 months ago

            My worry is that the other 20% might actually come from other forms of partnerships and integrations not unlike what they probably had in mind with this, and that dropping Google might actually make them more dependent on seeking this kind of initiatives, not less.

            I don’t know how many people you actually need to maintain a browser. But if it’s actually possible to do it without any kind of money from any of those sources in a way that can be sustained, then it would make more sense to make a fork (or alternative, like Ladybird) and just use that.

            Like I said, I think it’s too late for Mozilla to shift course, I don’t expect they’ll ever do that. At least not until they are forced by a competing project if it happens to become successful (or a similar huge wake up call that leaves them no alternative).