● 10.28.11
●● Mozilla Foundation Harder to Trust After Microsoft Endorsement
Posted in Free/Libre Software, Microsoft at 11:30 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Mozilla’s former CEO, who was focused on important issues, Photo by Joi Ito
Summary: Why the Firefox-Microsoft arrangement is bad news which can injure Mozilla as a whole
FIREFOX does not have much to do with this Web site. Posts are edited in Kate (KDE) and due to time constraints I write most posts while away from home on my Palm PDA (Palm OS with external keyboard) and the posts are later edited and published in Konqueror, which I use alongside Rekonq and more rarely — until yesterday — with a bit of Firefox for more stubborn Web sites.
“It’s not a credible bluff because going through with it would destroy Mozilla completely.” –iophkWhat happened yesterday (news here for the uninitiated) changes how we view Mozilla. The “Microsoft Firefox” parody is not so amusing anymore. The financial dependence on Microsoft makes it harder to trust the Mozilla Foundation, whose new management was also tactless enough to receive money in exchange for an endorsement of a company that actively attacks FOSS and GNU/Linux. It’s not a new concern.
The subject discussed in length in the IRC channels yesterday. It is even being discussed at the time of this post. Here are some quotes from a quarter of an hour ago.
“The more I think about it,” writes Ryan, “the more I’m certain Firefox With Bing is just a bluff… their contract with Google expires next month and they probably just want to be in a position to demand more money.”
“It’s not a credible bluff because going through with it would destroy Mozilla completely,” responds iophk. This deal also fuels Microsoft propaganda not just because Microsoft will claim to be a “friend” or “partner” of FOSS but also because Bing is doctoring results to suit Microsoft’s business objectives. What are other people’s thoughts? █
Share in other sites/networks: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
Permalink Send this to a friend
----------
➮ Sharing is caring. Content is available under CC-BY-SA.