Mozilla lays off 250 employees while it refocuses on commercial products

Re:Mozilla lays off 250 employees while it refocuses on comm... by shock on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @10:38AM (#24120702)

I wonder how many more people would donate if they knew the donation would be spent on making Firefox better and not on political activism.

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Re:Mozilla lays off 250 employees while it refocuses on comm... by pbhjpbhj on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @01:28PM (#24123008)

I'm not sure why anyone would donate to a company paying an exec a $2.5M salary. They're exploiting donors.

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Re:Mozilla lays off 250 employees while it refocuses on comm... by gnusty_gnurc on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @01:46PM (#24123326)

I don't particularly care for the CEO, seems like an activist weirdo if I'm being honest(embodies idealism in an unproductive way).

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Re:Mozilla lays off 250 employees while it refocuses on comm... by foobiekr on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @01:17PM (#24122847)

I hate to say it, but this is one of the reasons I stopped donating. Mozilla was getting a bit like EFF-lite and I've had enough of the EFF's non-mission nonsense as well.

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Re:Mozilla lays off 250 employees while it refocuses on comm... by input_sh on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @10:41AM (#24120734)

That doesn't work with their current structure. Foundation can receive donations, Corporation (itself a subsidiary of the foundation) can sell products (like Mozilla VPN).

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Re:Mozilla lays off 250 employees while it refocuses on comm... by detaro on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @03:16PM (#24124656)

AFAIK non-profits can receive donations bound to a specific purpose - they just don't like the accounting headache?

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Re:Mozilla lays off 250 employees while it refocuses on comm... by shock on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @10:58AM (#24120950)

I wonder why the current structure is set up like that. I mean I don't think it's by accident – if it were set up like that by accident, surely, it could have been set up so people could direct donations directly at Firefox, if the CEO wanted that.

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Re:Mozilla lays off 250 employees while it refocuses on comm... by staktrace on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @11:39AM (#24121508)

The structure is set up that because it reflects the goals of Mozilla. Firefox the browser is not the end goal, it's a means to making the internet a better place. And that's what the Foundation is about. The corporation also pays dividends to the Foundation in order to help fund their efforts, because it's the Foundation's work that matters more (in the long term) than Firefox.

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Re:Mozilla lays off 250 employees while it refocuses on comm... by input_sh on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @11:43AM (#24121561)

It was established precisely so that the Corporation could pursue commercial operations that the Foundation legally couldn't before that, like business partnerships.

Also Mozilla Foundation didn't qualify as a public charity since it received less than 1/3rd of its revenue via donations, though I don't know if it can be considered as one now (15 years after the split).

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