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130 votes
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I am a Mozilla employee, AMAA
Hi everybody, happy Friday! I am Aaron Klotz, a Staff Software Engineer on the GeckoView team at Mozilla Corporation. I have worked at Mozilla since the fall of 2012 and have worked on three...
Hi everybody, happy Friday! I am Aaron Klotz, a Staff Software Engineer on the GeckoView team at Mozilla Corporation.
I have worked at Mozilla since the fall of 2012 and have worked on three different teams across that time: Performance, Platform Integration & Security Hardening, and finally GeckoView.
Given the recent news about layoffs, I thought it might be cathartic to do an AMA to share my experiences at Mozilla and try to set the record straight the best that I can. I would not dare try this in other forums, but since the Tildes community is capable of civil discussion, I'll do it here! I provided some proof a long time ago when I first joined Tildes, and I'd like to think that many people in this community are willing to vouch for me at this point, but if you want more, I can add it.
Obviously I cannot discuss issues that are covered by my NDA (but fortunately most issues are not covered), and some details I might want to avoid out of sensitivity for people who were laid off. AMAA!
EDIT 1: Also to make clear (if it wasn't obvious): These opinions are mine and mine alone, do not reflect the opinion of any Mozilla entity, etc. etc.
EDIT 2: I'm logging off for the night, but I'll try to follow up throughout the weekend if I have time. Thanks for all the questions! Hopefully I've cleared up some things for you!
EDIT 3: Okay, I think I've gone through the other questions asked over the weekend, but I'm going to stop now! Thanks for your interest! Now, I've got a mobile browser to help build!
98 votes -
Down and to the right: Firefox got faster for real users in 2023
80 votes -
By summer 2019, the Firefox browser will also block, by default, all cross-site third-party trackers
@jensimmons: By summer 2019, the Firefox browser will also block, by default, all cross-site third-party trackers, strengthening privacy without your having to do a thing." https://t.co/cqpQbSe9Ko
69 votes -
Mozilla CEO: Paid, premium features for Firefox coming this fall
66 votes -
Firefox bug: All extensions disabled due to expiration of intermediate signing cert
64 votes -
uBlock Origin Lite now available on Firefox
54 votes -
Mozilla’s Annual Consumer Creep-O-Meter
52 votes -
Prepare your Firefox desktop extension for the upcoming Android release
52 votes -
Former Mozilla exec: Google has sabotaged Firefox for years
50 votes -
France’s browser-based website blocking proposal will set a disastrous precedent for the open internet
49 votes -
Firefox’s fight for the future of the web: With Google’s Chrome dominating the market, not-for-profit rival Mozilla is staking a comeback on its dedication to privacy
49 votes -
Firefox 66 to block automatically playing audible video and audio
49 votes -
CEO of data privacy company Onerep.com (used by the Mozilla Monitor service), founded dozens of people-search firms
44 votes -
Firefox 62.0 release notes
43 votes -
Reinventing Firefox for Android: a Preview
40 votes -
Firefox 70 has been released
39 votes -
Today’s Firefox release aims to reduce your online annoyances
38 votes -
New extensions you’ll love now available on Firefox for Android
37 votes -
Introducing Mozilla Monitor Plus, a new tool to automatically remove your personal information from data broker sites
35 votes -
UK ISP group names Mozilla 'Internet Villain' for supporting 'DNS-over-HTTPS'
34 votes -
Mozilla: Changing our approach to anti-tracking
34 votes -
Firefox has started enabling DNS-over-HTTPS by default for all US-based users
33 votes -
Firefox 68 released
32 votes -
Firefox 64 release notes
For general users: https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/64.0/releasenotes/ For web developers: https://hacks.mozilla.org/2018/12/firefox-64-released/
31 votes -
Firefox 87 released
30 votes -
Firefox usage is down 85% despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up 400%
30 votes -
Mozilla: The greatest tech company left behind
30 votes -
Firefox Private Network
30 votes -
Getting tired of Firefox
Am I the only one? They've made some serious improvements and I generally enjoy using Firefox but I occasionally run into issues that just shows complete disregard for end users. Assuming, of...
Am I the only one?
They've made some serious improvements and I generally enjoy using Firefox but I occasionally run into issues that just shows complete disregard for end users. Assuming, of course, my issues are not isolated.
Every month or so, when Firefox updates, it completely resets itself. This doesn't happen with every update, but Mozilla pushes an update that breaks the functionality of my browser. My browser settings, my userChrome profile, my extensions and their settings, and my bookmarks are all gone. Everything.
I do have sync but that doesn't work properly either. It only syncs some of my settings (which actually makes it harder for me to figure out what's enabled/disabled) and while I do get my bookmarks (none of which have their favicons), the extensions that manage to sync (meaning the ones that were installed from the store) don't sync their settings unless they have cloud support.
I do not understand this. Why do I, as an end user who care about Mozilla's mission, have to deal with this? I'd overlooked many of Firefox's shortcomings in the past, but when the browser works, it works well. I have some issues, but browsers are complicated and running into issues are to be expected. I understand that, but I simply cannot understand how eager they are to break the end user's workflow. Isn't it supposed to be a cardinal sin for every software company, especially the ones trying to survive, to not do this?
I just spent roughly half an hour of my day to get my browser back to its previous state. Adding the times I had had to deal with this issue before, I've spent hours on dealing with Firefox that I shouldn't have. I don't think I have another half an hour to spare for it and I don't want to anymore, but is there even an alternative for Windows that suck less?
(Apologies for the rant, but I needed to vent and perhaps get a discussion going about the current state of browsers.)
29 votes -
Firefox 61.0.0 released
29 votes -
Is there a Google-free future for Firefox?
27 votes -
Mozilla lays off seventy as it waits for new products to generate revenue
27 votes -
Give Firefox a chance for a faster, calmer and distraction-free internet
27 votes -
Mozilla takes action to protect users in Kazakhstan
26 votes -
Cracking down on Big Tech works. Brave, Firefox, Vivaldi surge on iOS.
25 votes -
Mozilla to explore healthy social media alternative
25 votes -
Is Firefox okay?
25 votes -
Firefox 65 release notes
24 votes -
Introducing Firefox Monitor, helping people take control after a data breach
24 votes -
Add-on support was just merged into Firefox Preview
@aissn: Add-on support was just merged into Firefox Preview. Thanks @gabrielluong https://t.co/cXOCB00tKk
23 votes -
Firefox 67 released - Updates focused on performance and privacy
23 votes -
Mozilla places chatbots inline in MDN documentation
22 votes -
Their Tube - Experience how the YouTube home page would look for six different personas
22 votes -
Firefox to hide notification popups by default starting next year
22 votes -
Firefox 69.0 released
22 votes -
Mozilla VPN desktop client now available on Linux
21 votes -
Firefox 71.0 has been released
21 votes -
Firefox Send's free encrypted file transfers are now available to all
21 votes -
Firefox just installed two addons into my browser without consent... again
Here is what just happened to me: Firefox installed two addons - fxmonitor@mozilla.org.xpi and telemetry-coverage-bug1487578@mozilla.org into my browser silently, even though I've explicitly...
Here is what just happened to me:
Firefox installed two addons - fxmonitor@mozilla.org.xpi and telemetry-coverage-bug1487578@mozilla.org into my browser silently, even though I've explicitly turned all the telemetry off.
This have happened before, and Mozilla apologized for it, however it seems that they learned nothing and are willing to do so again.
There goes the last scrap of my trust into Firefox. I suggest you check your browsers too.21 votes