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0 pointscosmodisk6y ago0 comments

Even though Google is 250 times or so bigger, the point is still valid. Where the hell money gets spent? That kind of revenues are huge for any software company, especially for a one that is just making a browser.

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klingonopera6y ago

Just making a browser? It's the piece of software I'd least be willing to touch. Even Microsoft gave up and switched their core to Chromium.

Considering that, it's quite amazing that Mozilla is capable of not just making a browser, but also an email client, with a budget of 500 million.

mcbits6y ago

The most recent financial statement I could see is from 2017: https://assets.mozilla.net/annualreport/2017/mozilla-fdn-201...

They spent $253 million (45% of revenue) on software development, presumably the bulk going to Firefox. Other major expenses were $66 million for marketing (yay Moz://a!), $72 million for the dubious "general and administrative" category, a few million here and there for other things, and the rest went into the $500 million nest egg.

So they could certainly spend a lot more on Firefox if needed, but it's not evident to me that Firefox's weaknesses are money related.

brianpgordon6y ago

> They spent $253 million (45% of revenue) on software development, presumably the bulk going to Firefox.

I'm curious if anyone can locate information on how much of that was spent specifically on Firefox, the browser. It seems like Mozilla was working on a bunch of peripheral stuff during that 2016-2017 period.

* Work on Firefox OS was still ongoing through 1H 2016. (https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/mozilla.dev.fxos/FoAwi...)

* They were building a free subscription service to check HIBP for your info. (https://monitor.firefox.com/)

* They were building a file-sharing service (https://github.com/mozilla/send/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md)

* They were building a new VR-first browser and content aggregator (https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2018/09/18/firefox-reality-now...)

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jcranberry6y ago

>General and administrative expenses pertain to operation expenses rather than to expenses that can be directly related to the production of any goods or services, including rent, utilities, insurance, and managerial salaries....Examples of general and administrative expenses include building rent, consultant fees, depreciation on office equipment, insurance, supplies, subscriptions, and utilities. Salary and benefits attributable to corporate management, as well as any legal staff, are also classified as general and administrative expenses.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/general-and-administrat...

Doesn't sound 'dubious' to me.

blub6y ago

MS didn't give up, their new strategy is similar to Google's, so they teamed up with Google to make Chrome an even better spying machine. They just have to change the telemetry URL in the source and replace the Google log in with their own.

brianpgordon6y ago

Microsoft still makes a browser; they just don't make their own rendering engine anymore. Which makes sense because it's hard and Blink works just fine. I wouldn't mind if Mozilla did the same thing. The Vivaldi folks are using that strategy and managing to make the best web browser out there with what I assume must be a microscopic fraction of $500 million/yr.

And I don't share your opinion of how far a $500 million budget goes. They're not rewriting the entire thing every year.

AsyncAwait6y ago

> I wouldn't mind if Mozilla did the same thing.

Then there would literally be no point to Firefox existing as a counterbalance to Google deciding the web's future.

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mda6y ago

Chromium based Edge is definitely much more than the rendering engine. Do they use their own networking, process management, Javascript engine, extension system? It is probably still 80-90% chromium.

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klingonopera6y ago

Just making a browser? It's the piece of software I'd least be willing to touch. Even Microsoft gave up and switched their core to Chromium.

Considering that, it's quite amazing that Mozilla is capable of not just making a browser, but also an email client, with a budget of 500 million.

mcbits6y ago

The most recent financial statement I could see is from 2017: https://assets.mozilla.net/annualreport/2017/mozilla-fdn-201...

So they could certainly spend a lot more on Firefox if needed, but it's not evident to me that Firefox's weaknesses are money related.

brianpgordon6y ago

> They spent $253 million (45% of revenue) on software development, presumably the bulk going to Firefox.

* Work on Firefox OS was still ongoing through 1H 2016. (https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/mozilla.dev.fxos/FoAwi...)

* They were building a free subscription service to check HIBP for your info. (https://monitor.firefox.com/)

* They were building a file-sharing service (https://github.com/mozilla/send/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md)

* They were building a new VR-first browser and content aggregator (https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2018/09/18/firefox-reality-now...)

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jcranberry6y ago

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/general-and-administrat...

Doesn't sound 'dubious' to me.

blub6y ago

brianpgordon6y ago

And I don't share your opinion of how far a $500 million budget goes. They're not rewriting the entire thing every year.

AsyncAwait6y ago

> I wouldn't mind if Mozilla did the same thing.

Then there would literally be no point to Firefox existing as a counterbalance to Google deciding the web's future.

1 more reply

mda6y ago

Chromium based Edge is definitely much more than the rendering engine. Do they use their own networking, process management, Javascript engine, extension system? It is probably still 80-90% chromium.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse