https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/manifesto/details/
I'm going to get voted down by those who don't like dissent or opinions that they fear are "offensive" (and certainly they probably won't participate in the discussion or even attempt to answer the issues I raise!), but here is why I asked the question:
Basically, I just don't see that Mozilla is actually doing anything terribly innovative any more. Certainly anything that seems to support their manifesto is dumped when it seems to get a bit hard. I'm specifically looking at the following:
1. Persona: Persona specifically fits into "build and enable open-source technologies and communities that support the Manifesto’s principles" and also "promote models for creating economic value for the public benefit".
They just didn't support it very well, or for long enough to make an impact. An identity service needs Facebook-like periods to make it work - Facebook took a LONG time to get to where it was an complete persistence of vision against pretty much overwhelming odds.
Ultimately, that Personna failed was because Mozilla didn't have courage and weren't willing to run with something they truly believe in. IMO, the heads of Mozilla have no real grit and only go for short to medium term goals.
2. Allowing EME to be implemented in Firefox. EME should only ever have been an extension, and not baked into the core Firefox platform. EME does not fit into point 2 of their manifesto:
2. The Internet is a global public resource that must remain open and accessible.
* Rust - this is important and long-term. But it handles the underlying development of their browser, and as important as it is, it only goes so far in really making a big impact on promoting an open web
* Personna - abandoned, but this would have been a key way of opening the web. A secure, cross-browser website authentication mechanism which allows a user to use a single username and password (or other authentication method) to log in to multiple sites - I just can't think of a more important initiative.
That this was abandoned shows the sort of short term mentality of those leading Mozilla.
* Mozilla Location Service - interesting idea, but there are privacy concerns - they sell the underlying data to Combain AB, and Combain allow you to search on all sorts of things. I don't see how this helps Mozilla's underlying foundational principles!
* The MDN - now this is truly great, and does satisfy all the points of the manifesto. I hope that Mozilla keep this up!
* Firefox OS - now abandoned, but this was truly something that was needed in a market that is more and more proprietary. Evidently Mozilla have no stomach for keeping a project going for more than 2-3 years; there is no medium or long-term commitment.
So, given that Mozilla largely don't seem to want to do anything that they will commit to in the medium to long term (with a few exceptions, though these are already established) I have to ask: what is the point of Mozilla?
All the things Mozilla now promote (like the ad-blocker in iOS, which their own browser can't even use) seem like things that aren't very ambitious; certainly they won't change the world!