Re:Firefox’s adoption of closed-source DRM breaks my heart (...
by lazyjones on Sunday February 08, 2015 @09:08PM
(#9019439)
> Firefox must be the best browser there is, in order to fulfill its mission.
Does caving in to commercial pressure and adding unpopular (for its core audience) features like DRM advance it in that direction, or in the opposite direction? I believe "more of the same" isn't going to help it pull ahead, it needs distinctive features such as more privacy, fewer ads, or even a strong anti-DRM stance.
As a (former) large-ish website owner I have to disagree with your assessment. Even browsers with 5% market share (Firefox has 15-20%) have the power to influence design decisions and thus counter browser-based DRM adoption, except strong de facto monopolies (like Google, youtube) that can make or break browsers by supporting or excluding them (youtube has even more influence than Google search currently because of its unique content). It's true that Firefox was simply too bad to use for a couple of years (cue conspiracy theories about Google being their main source of income and desperately trying to push Chrome), but it still had power due to its large user base.
Does caving in to commercial pressure and adding unpopular (for its core audience) features like DRM advance it in that direction, or in the opposite direction? I believe "more of the same" isn't going to help it pull ahead, it needs distinctive features such as more privacy, fewer ads, or even a strong anti-DRM stance.
As a (former) large-ish website owner I have to disagree with your assessment. Even browsers with 5% market share (Firefox has 15-20%) have the power to influence design decisions and thus counter browser-based DRM adoption, except strong de facto monopolies (like Google, youtube) that can make or break browsers by supporting or excluding them (youtube has even more influence than Google search currently because of its unique content). It's true that Firefox was simply too bad to use for a couple of years (cue conspiracy theories about Google being their main source of income and desperately trying to push Chrome), but it still had power due to its large user base.