Re:Mozilla Lifeboat
by RJIb8RBYxzAMX9u on Wednesday August 12, 2020 @05:34PM
(#24137259)
They are not, but they are perhaps the most consumer visible (because web is eating everything). For less "sexy" non-porfits, there's Apache Software Foundation ("where software goes to die"), and of course Free Software Foundation (gcc, nano, etc.).
It perpetuates misunderstandings to have them repeated so often, or repeated in a way that's sure to lead to misunderstanding. Mozilla Foundation is technically a "non-profit", but the company that develops Firefox is not. The non-profit does not fund any of the software development. Corporate revenue from the commercial business partnerships is what funds that, and it's able to cover 100% of it and then some.
It seems to be a for-profit commercial company that is fully owned by the non-profit. IANAL, so I don't know the complexities involved with the setup.
It's more complicated than trying to say that the "Mozilla that people think of" is not a non-profit. The Mozilla that I think of seems to be a combination of both.
There's Linux Foundation isn't there? Seems to be growing strong.
And - sorry for the spicy take - I'm bummed to see Facebook and Amazon on this list. It would be nice to see other nonprofits on the list, but it's doubly disappointing to not see any and to also see the worst of tech's forprofits here. To go from Mozilla to Facebook would be quite the swing. (Of course, if people need jobs and Facebook/Amazon are what are most immediately available to them, I can't blame them. But I certainly hope that many that are looking for a new job are in a position to be picky.)