I've been a Mozilla's Firefox browser fan since it was a beta. Starting in 2004, it was my favorite web browser. That wasn't just because it was open-source, but because it was so much better and more secure than Internet Explorer. Things have changed. The browser itself is still good, but fewer and fewer people use it. And The Mozilla Foundation appears to be getting in deeper financial trouble
True, Mozilla and Firefox had been still producing important work. You need to look no further than the JavaScript, Rust, and WebAssembly languages. They were also champions of security and privacy. Projects such as DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) and overall security improvements were great, but in 2020 Mozilla laid off numerous developers.
First, Mozilla laid off some of its most senior staffers. These weren't office drones. They were top developers, such as Liz Henry, then the Firefox release manager, and today Twitch's, the live streaming platform for gamers, senior release manager.
That was bad. Then, in August, Mozilla laid off almost a quarter of its staff. The Rust team was particularly hard hit.
Mitchell Baker, Mozilla Corporation CEO and Mozilla Foundation Chairwoman, blamed this latest round on the coronavirus pandemic. Baker added "that the old model where everything was free has consequences, means we must explore a range of different business opportunities and alternate value exchanges."
Only days after the layoffs, however, news leaked that Mozilla and Google have extended their current search deal for another three years. This new deal will ensure Google remains the default search engine provider inside the Firefox browser until 2023 for an estimated $400 million to $450 million per year.
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