IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

Is Mozilla trying hard to kill itself?

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

1. Mozilla's Google Dependency as Existential Threat

Users highlight Mozilla's ~75% revenue from Google as compromising independence.
"Google pay Mozilla hundreds of millions of dollars each year to place Google as the default browser. It's by far their biggest income stream. In 2023 it was reported as 75% of their revenue." - bluehatbrit
"Their Google dependency is their existential problem. They're limited by what they can do with 'making Firefox better' while effectively being a client state." - austhrow743

2. Excessive CEO Pay and Mission Drift from Non-Profit Roots

High compensation (e.g., $7M) and side projects criticized as MBA-driven betrayal.
"Mozilla's CEO compensation for example. It was 7 million USD in 2022. Seven. Million. For ruining a bastion of the open internet. The problem is the MBAs." - 4gotunameagain
"It still seems obscene to me that anyone at a non-profit, that begs for donations and volunteers, makes 7 figures." - RobotToaster

3. Fierce Opposition to Weakening Adblockers or Adding AI Bloat

Ad-free browsing via uBlock Origin is Firefox's key strength; changes would cause exodus to forks.
"They're still the best browser to use for an ad free internet experience." - csin
"A fully functional uBlock Origin is the only remaining reason why I'm still sticking with Firefox despite everything." - shantara

🚀 Project Ideas

Firefox "Core" (The Clean Split)

Summary

  • A subscription-based browser service built as a direct fork of Firefox, stripped of all Mozilla Corporation "bloat" (AI integration, Pocket, VPN upsells, and telemetry).
  • Solves the frustration of a "dying/zombie company" and "corporate mind virus" by providing a lean, user-advocate browser with guaranteed long-term support for legacy features like Manifest V2.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Power users, privacy advocates, and HN "graybeards"
Core Feature Native vertical tabs, guaranteed uBlock Origin compatibility, and zero telemetry
Tech Stack Gecko/C++, Rust (based on Firefox ESR)
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: $5–$10/mo subscription

Notes

  • HN users frequently expressed a willingness to pay: "I'd pay $10 a month for a browser... I spend more time in a browser [than music/TV]" (@NothingAboutAny).
  • It addresses the "mission creep" complaint: "Focus on core business... leaving off donations" (@rvba).

SyncProtocol (Self-Hosted Browser Backbone)

Summary

  • A simplified, commercial-grade implementation of the Firefox Sync and Accounts server that works across all Firefox forks (LibreWolf, Waterfox, Zen).
  • Solves the "locking" problem where users want to leave the main Firefox browser but are tethered to its sync ecosystem for history, passwords, and open tabs.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Self-hosters and users of Firefox forks (Zen, LibreWolf)
Core Feature One-click deployment of a private SyncStorage/Accounts server
Tech Stack Rust (Syncstorage-rs), Docker, SQLite/PostgreSQL
Difficulty Low
Monetization Revenue-ready: $3/mo hosted version or license for enterprise/pro

Notes

  • Directly addresses the fragmentation of forks: "Do any of these forks have the ability to sync... or are they all just basically reskins?" (@theasisa).
  • Leverages existing but complex open-source protocols: "I'd actually be happy to pay a couple of bucks a month for a good syncing solution based on an open source protocol" (@falcor84).

WebShield (Browser-Level Security SaaS)

Summary

  • Repackaging the browser as a "Web Security Product" rather than a "browser."
  • It acts as an aggressive barrier against surveillance capitalism, using a "block everything by default" approach with a crowdsourced database of "functional JS only" rules.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Journalists, high-privacy individuals, and non-techie family members
Core Feature Rule-based JS firewall that permits only the "bare minimum" for site rendering
Tech Stack WebExtensions API, Python (for rule processing), ML for anomaly detection
Difficulty High
Monetization Revenue-ready: $50/year Security-as-a-Service

Notes

  • Responds to the need for a simplified NoScript: "I wish there was a noscript-like extension that used a public database... to allow what's needed and block everything else" (@mghackerlady).
  • Exploits the gap left by corporate browsers: "Fork Firefox... and sell it as a consumer web security product (that's not complete shit)" (@tjpnz).

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