Mozilla Foundation lays off 30% staff, drops advocacy division
by Zack Whittaker, November 5, 2024
- https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/05/mozilla-foundation-lays-off-30-staff-drops-advocacy-division/

"The Mozilla Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Firefox browser
maker Mozilla, has laid off 30% of its employees as the
organization says it faces a "relentless onslaught of change."
When reached by TechCrunch, Mozilla Foundation's communications
chief Brandon Borrman confirmed the layoffs in an email.
"The Mozilla Foundation is reorganizing teams to increase agility
and impact as we accelerate our work to ensure a more open and
equitable technical future for us all. That unfortunately means
ending some of the work we have historically pursued and
eliminating associated roles to bring more focus going forward,"
read the statement shared with TechCrunch.
According to its annual tax filings, the Mozilla Foundation
reported having 60 employees during the 2022 tax year. The number
of employees at the time of the layoffs was closer to 120 people,
according to a person with knowledge. When asked by TechCrunch,
Mozilla's spokesperson did not dispute the figure.
This is the second layoff at Mozilla this year, the first affecting
dozens of employees who work on the side of the organization that
builds the popular Firefox browser.
Mozilla is made up of several organizations, one of which is the
Mozilla Corporation, which develops Firefox and other technologies,
and another is its nonprofit and tax-exempt Foundation, which
oversees Mozilla's corporate governance structure and sets the
browser maker's policies." ...

Seen at OSnews:
https://www.osnews.com/story/141100/mozilla-foundation-lays-off-30-of-its-employees-ends-advocacy-for-open-web-privacy-and-more/

"This means Mozilla will no longer be advocating for an open web,
privacy, and related ideals, which fits right in with the
organisation's steady decline into an ad-driven effort that also
happens to be making a web browser used by, I'm sorry to say,
effectively nobody. I just don't know how many more signs people
need to see before realising that the future of Firefox is very
much at stake, and that we're probably only a few years away from
losing the only non-big tech browser out there. This should be a
much bigger concern than it seems to be to especially the Linux and
BSD world, who rely heavily on Firefox, without a valid alternative
to shift to once the browser's no longer compatible with the
various open source requirements enforced by Linux distributions
and the BSDs." ...

--
__ __
#_ < |\| |< _#

On 09.11.2024 um 09:13 Uhr Computer Nerd Kev wrote:

> "The Mozilla Foundation is reorganizing teams to increase agility
> and impact as we accelerate our work to ensure a more open and
> equitable technical future for us all.

Maybe they should drop all the agile stuff.

--
kind regards
Marco

Send spam to 1731140029muell@cartoonies.org

Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:

> On 09.11.2024 um 09:13 Uhr Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
>
>> "The Mozilla Foundation is reorganizing teams to increase agility
>> and impact as we accelerate our work to ensure a more open and
>> equitable technical future for us all.
>
> Maybe they should drop all the agile stuff.

Lol---you are a non-believer! What's wrong with the agile stuff?

On Sat, 9 Nov 2024, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:

> Mozilla Foundation lays off 30% staff, drops advocacy division
> by Zack Whittaker, November 5, 2024
> - https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/05/mozilla-foundation-lays-off-30-staff-drops-advocacy-division/
>
> "The Mozilla Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Firefox browser
> maker Mozilla, has laid off 30% of its employees as the
> organization says it faces a "relentless onslaught of change."
>
> When reached by TechCrunch, Mozilla Foundation's communications
> chief Brandon Borrman confirmed the layoffs in an email.
>
> "The Mozilla Foundation is reorganizing teams to increase agility
> and impact as we accelerate our work to ensure a more open and
> equitable technical future for us all. That unfortunately means
> ending some of the work we have historically pursued and
> eliminating associated roles to bring more focus going forward,"
> read the statement shared with TechCrunch.
>
> According to its annual tax filings, the Mozilla Foundation
> reported having 60 employees during the 2022 tax year. The number
> of employees at the time of the layoffs was closer to 120 people,
> according to a person with knowledge. When asked by TechCrunch,
> Mozilla's spokesperson did not dispute the figure.
>
> This is the second layoff at Mozilla this year, the first affecting
> dozens of employees who work on the side of the organization that
> builds the popular Firefox browser.
>
> Mozilla is made up of several organizations, one of which is the
> Mozilla Corporation, which develops Firefox and other technologies,
> and another is its nonprofit and tax-exempt Foundation, which
> oversees Mozilla's corporate governance structure and sets the
> browser maker's policies." ...
>
> Seen at OSnews:
> https://www.osnews.com/story/141100/mozilla-foundation-lays-off-30-of-its-employees-ends-advocacy-for-open-web-privacy-and-more/
>
> "This means Mozilla will no longer be advocating for an open web,
> privacy, and related ideals, which fits right in with the
> organisation's steady decline into an ad-driven effort that also
> happens to be making a web browser used by, I'm sorry to say,
> effectively nobody. I just don't know how many more signs people
> need to see before realising that the future of Firefox is very
> much at stake, and that we're probably only a few years away from
> losing the only non-big tech browser out there. This should be a
> much bigger concern than it seems to be to especially the Linux and
> BSD world, who rely heavily on Firefox, without a valid alternative
> to shift to once the browser's no longer compatible with the
> various open source requirements enforced by Linux distributions
> and the BSDs." ...
>
>

I assume the various woke and leftist outreach programs will continue
though? If not, they sure wouldn't be mozilla any longer. ;)

On Sat, 9 Nov 2024, Marco Moock wrote:

> On 09.11.2024 um 09:13 Uhr Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
>
>> "The Mozilla Foundation is reorganizing teams to increase agility
>> and impact as we accelerate our work to ensure a more open and
>> equitable technical future for us all.
>
> Maybe they should drop all the agile stuff.
>
>

Shush! Though shalt not question the agile religion! If agile doesn't
work, it's because you're not agile.

On 09.11.2024 um 09:50 Uhr Wolfgang Agnes wrote:

> Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:
>
> > On 09.11.2024 um 09:13 Uhr Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
> >
> >> "The Mozilla Foundation is reorganizing teams to increase agility
> >> and impact as we accelerate our work to ensure a more open and
> >> equitable technical future for us all.
> >
> > Maybe they should drop all the agile stuff.
>
> Lol---you are a non-believer! What's wrong with the agile stuff?

It is mostly management BS and buzzwords, I haven't seen a real outcome
of such ideas yet.

--
kind regards
Marco

Send spam to 1731142257muell@cartoonies.org

Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:

> On 09.11.2024 um 09:50 Uhr Wolfgang Agnes wrote:
>
>> Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:
>>
>> > On 09.11.2024 um 09:13 Uhr Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
>> >
>> >> "The Mozilla Foundation is reorganizing teams to increase agility
>> >> and impact as we accelerate our work to ensure a more open and
>> >> equitable technical future for us all.
>> >
>> > Maybe they should drop all the agile stuff.
>>
>> Lol---you are a non-believer! What's wrong with the agile stuff?
>
> It is mostly management BS and buzzwords, I haven't seen a real outcome
> of such ideas yet.

Same here. I view the situation as a major sign of failure. It seems
the whole world is on the same boat, though. I don't know of any
company that has not bought into all this nonsense---they may exist (and
I hope they do), but surely I don't know the routine of every company
out there. ``Software engineering'' in the universities are also going
in the same direction. In fact, one thing I observe in the universities
is that the academics in ``software engineering'' are actually the
manager-types who are not (at the same time) programmers, which is a
terrible sign. I hope I'm not offending anyone, but it's really how I
think.

If something is very difficult and people find it hard to accept that it
is difficult, then they make these programs of management and education
thinking that they can make progress little by little. It's a certain
Religion of Progress or something like that.

But not everything can be made right---little by little---simply because
one wants it. To advance things, sometimes you really need to have the
right insight. There are hard things to do in this life.

We also live a certain overconfidence in science. There are very few
scientists doing relevant work, but there's a widespread belief that
science (and technology) will always solve everything---it's always just
a matter of time; someone will figure it out. Ask people and you will
see---almost nobody understands anything about quantum computing or
artificial intelligence, but nearly everyone thinks that it's a matter
of a short time and all the quantum computing will be here for the next
revolution. And I need say nothing about artificial intelligence
because everyone is well-aware about the all the hype.

On the other hand, though, I totally understand the fears: academics are
fearful of not having anything to say and managers either invent
something whatever or they have a nervous breakdown out of fear of
losing their jobs. And some really do. They have a deep sense of
incapacity: it seems they never find a way to put their lives to good
use. It's a very sorry situation.

On Sat, 09 Nov 2024 17:18:53 -0300, Wolfgang Agnes <wagnes@jemoni.to> wrote:
>Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:
>> On 09.11.2024 um 09:50 Uhr Wolfgang Agnes wrote:
>>> Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:
>>> > On 09.11.2024 um 09:13 Uhr Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
>>> >> "The Mozilla Foundation is reorganizing teams to increase agility
>>> >> and impact as we accelerate our work to ensure a more open and
>>> >> equitable technical future for us all.
>>> >
>>> > Maybe they should drop all the agile stuff.
>>>
>>> Lol---you are a non-believer! What's wrong with the agile stuff?
>>
>> It is mostly management BS and buzzwords, I haven't seen a real outcome
>> of such ideas yet.
>
>Same here. I view the situation as a major sign of failure. It seems
>the whole world is on the same boat, though. I don't know of any
>company that has not bought into all this nonsense---they may exist (and
>I hope they do), but surely I don't know the routine of every company
>out there. ``Software engineering'' in the universities are also going
>in the same direction. In fact, one thing I observe in the universities
>is that the academics in ``software engineering'' are actually the
>manager-types who are not (at the same time) programmers, which is a
>terrible sign. I hope I'm not offending anyone, but it's really how I
>think.
>If something is very difficult and people find it hard to accept that it
>is difficult, then they make these programs of management and education
>thinking that they can make progress little by little. It's a certain
>Religion of Progress or something like that.
>But not everything can be made right---little by little---simply because
>one wants it. To advance things, sometimes you really need to have the
>right insight. There are hard things to do in this life.
>We also live a certain overconfidence in science. There are very few
>scientists doing relevant work, but there's a widespread belief that
>science (and technology) will always solve everything---it's always just
>a matter of time; someone will figure it out. Ask people and you will
>see---almost nobody understands anything about quantum computing or
>artificial intelligence, but nearly everyone thinks that it's a matter
>of a short time and all the quantum computing will be here for the next
>revolution. And I need say nothing about artificial intelligence
>because everyone is well-aware about the all the hype.
>On the other hand, though, I totally understand the fears: academics are
>fearful of not having anything to say and managers either invent
>something whatever or they have a nervous breakdown out of fear of
>losing their jobs. And some really do. They have a deep sense of
>incapacity: it seems they never find a way to put their lives to good
>use. It's a very sorry situation.

if academia were one big happy family always in agreement with everything,
then science cannot fail but to always improve everyone's lives and after-
life in passing from this earthly domain...so it's a win-win for everyone;
everyone should be agile and fit into the program...join the winning team!

Wolfgang Agnes <wagnes@jemoni.to> wrote:
> Same here. I view the situation as a major sign of failure. It seems
> the whole world is on the same boat, though. I don't know of any
> company that has not bought into all this nonsense---they may exist (and
> I hope they do), but surely I don't know the routine of every company
> out there. ``Software engineering'' in the universities are also going
> in the same direction. In fact, one thing I observe in the universities
> is that the academics in ``software engineering'' are actually the
> manager-types who are not (at the same time) programmers, which is a
> terrible sign. I hope I'm not offending anyone, but it's really how I
> think.

Academics (as in the people called 'Professor') are actually doing day to
day management of X number of students/postdocs/etc, as well as writing
grants, writing papers, teaching, admin, etc. Which doesn't leave a lot of
time for programming. It's the students/postdocs/etc who are actually doing
the programming, so the professor is at best at one remove. They may have
been programmers in the recent/distant past, but eventually all that extra
stuff crowds out the programming.

> We also live a certain overconfidence in science. There are very few
> scientists doing relevant work, but there's a widespread belief that
> science (and technology) will always solve everything---it's always just
> a matter of time; someone will figure it out. Ask people and you will
> see---almost nobody understands anything about quantum computing or
> artificial intelligence, but nearly everyone thinks that it's a matter
> of a short time and all the quantum computing will be here for the next
> revolution. And I need say nothing about artificial intelligence
> because everyone is well-aware about the all the hype.

I think that's 'tech', not 'science'. 'Science' is the study of the world -
I don't think we're overconfident about gravity, but techbros may be
overconfident about quantum computing. They certainly are about AI.

> On the other hand, though, I totally understand the fears: academics are
> fearful of not having anything to say and managers either invent
> something whatever or they have a nervous breakdown out of fear of
> losing their jobs. And some really do. They have a deep sense of
> incapacity: it seems they never find a way to put their lives to good
> use. It's a very sorry situation.

I think it's the problem a lot of organisations have that once you get
into the higher tiers you get further away from actually doing stuff, and
perhaps lose touch with how it is done.

Theo

Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> wrote:
>On 09.11.2024 um 09:50 Uhr Wolfgang Agnes wrote:
>
>> Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:
>>
>> > On 09.11.2024 um 09:13 Uhr Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
>> >
>> >> "The Mozilla Foundation is reorganizing teams to increase agility
>> >> and impact as we accelerate our work to ensure a more open and
>> >> equitable technical future for us all.
>> >
>> > Maybe they should drop all the agile stuff.
>>
>> Lol---you are a non-believer! What's wrong with the agile stuff?
>
>It is mostly management BS and buzzwords, I haven't seen a real outcome
>of such ideas yet.

I find that in the end, planning usually turns out to be a good idea.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> writes:

> Wolfgang Agnes <wagnes@jemoni.to> wrote:
>> Same here. I view the situation as a major sign of failure. It seems
>> the whole world is on the same boat, though. I don't know of any
>> company that has not bought into all this nonsense---they may exist (and
>> I hope they do), but surely I don't know the routine of every company
>> out there. ``Software engineering'' in the universities are also going
>> in the same direction. In fact, one thing I observe in the universities
>> is that the academics in ``software engineering'' are actually the
>> manager-types who are not (at the same time) programmers, which is a
>> terrible sign. I hope I'm not offending anyone, but it's really how I
>> think.
>
> Academics (as in the people called 'Professor') are actually doing day to
> day management of X number of students/postdocs/etc, as well as writing
> grants, writing papers, teaching, admin, etc. Which doesn't leave a lot of
> time for programming. It's the students/postdocs/etc who are actually doing
> the programming, so the professor is at best at one remove. They may have
> been programmers in the recent/distant past, but eventually all that extra
> stuff crowds out the programming.

They don't really like to do the programming. If they did, they
wouldn't leave it all up to students.

[T]he impact of this new approach on my own style has been
profound, and my excitement has continued unabated for more than two
years. I enjoy the new methodology so much that it is hard for me
to refrain from going back to every program that I've ever written
and recasting it in `literate' form. I find myself unable to resist
working on programming tasks that I would ordinarily have assigned
to student research assistants; and why? Because it seems to me
that at last I'm able to write programs as they should be written.
My programs are not only explained better than ever before; they
also are better programs, because the new methodology encourages me
to do a better job.

--- Donald Knuth, ``Literate programming.''
The Computer Journal 27.2, 1984: páginas 97--111.

>> We also live a certain overconfidence in science. There are very few
>> scientists doing relevant work, but there's a widespread belief that
>> science (and technology) will always solve everything---it's always just
>> a matter of time; someone will figure it out. Ask people and you will
>> see---almost nobody understands anything about quantum computing or
>> artificial intelligence, but nearly everyone thinks that it's a matter
>> of a short time and all the quantum computing will be here for the next
>> revolution. And I need say nothing about artificial intelligence
>> because everyone is well-aware about the all the hype.
>
> I think that's 'tech', not 'science'. 'Science' is the study of the world -
> I don't think we're overconfident about gravity, but techbros may be
> overconfident about quantum computing. They certainly are about AI.

Precisely.

>> On the other hand, though, I totally understand the fears: academics are
>> fearful of not having anything to say and managers either invent
>> something whatever or they have a nervous breakdown out of fear of
>> losing their jobs. And some really do. They have a deep sense of
>> incapacity: it seems they never find a way to put their lives to good
>> use. It's a very sorry situation.
>
> I think it's the problem a lot of organisations have that once you get
> into the higher tiers you get further away from actually doing stuff, and
> perhaps lose touch with how it is done.

That's one way to look at it. What I really see is that people get
tired. They lose health---feel tired---, blame it on the age---``we're
getting old''---and so on. Programming is a heavy activity. If we
don't stay healthy, we'll lose the energy necessary to tackle it.

On Wed, 13 Nov 2024 10:10:49 -0300, Wolfgang Agnes wrote:

> [T]he impact of this new approach on my own style has been profound,
> and my excitement has continued unabated for more than two years. I
> enjoy the new methodology so much that it is hard for me to refrain
> from going back to every program that I've ever written and recasting
> it in `literate' form. I find myself unable to resist working on
> programming tasks that I would ordinarily have assigned to student
> research assistants; and why? Because it seems to me that at last I'm
> able to write programs as they should be written. My programs are not
> only explained better than ever before; they also are better programs,
> because the new methodology encourages me to do a better job.
>
> --- Donald Knuth, ``Literate programming.''
> The Computer Journal 27.2, 1984: páginas 97--111.

“Literate” programming, as I understand it, is purely about presentation
of the program code, interleaved with narrative documentation. It’s not
interactive. The next step beyond “literate” programming would have to be
something that lets you actually interact with the code, see how it
behaves, and what the effects of certain changes might be.

In other words, it would be like a Jupyter notebook.