Tidbits from when I was still heavily involved as what the post described as Mozilla community.
Even during B2G and Firefox OS Mozilla still believe Google were their Friends. And will somehow continue to fund them, because Google is a search company, not a Chrome / Android company.
B2G announced in 2011, but I remember some idea / hints of it started floating around before then. Probably somewhere along the way of developing PDF.js if I remember correctly.
Dont bet against Javascript. Anything could be done in Javascript should be done in Javascript. Practically speaking that means apart from Kernel and drivers all things should be javascript. Even when it is easier for it to be done in C++.
Hardware is cheap. Software is expensive. Moore's Law meant hardware cost will half every 2 years and eventually so cheap it will be subsidised by software. That is why by aiming at low cost smartphone they meant $35 dollar smartphones. I think this thought disease was actually started by Bill Gate. That was the time I learned Silicon Valley have absolutely no idea about anything supply chain and hardware. Apple being an absolute outliner and exception.
Firefox was slow the day Chrome was born. Because everything is comparative. And e10s ( Electrolysis ) took 7 years before it was shipped on Desktop. It was originally targeted for Firefox 4. And took another 1 - 2 years for additional tuning and ironing out rough edges. As the article suggested. Everything at the time was mobile and B2G. It took a while before they realise Desktop Firefox, their cash cow wasn't competing and need some attention. ( It was too late )
I dont remember if Memshrink was started because of B2G. But Firefox at the time definitely have memory issues. Memshrink is ultimately is what leads to Firefox being the best browser to handle thousands of tabs. And About:memory was born out of it.
B2G as an idea wasn't wrong per se. But it was wrong timing and execution. Mozilla as a company was way too idealistic. From technological, marketing, strategy to execution. Ultimately as the article suggest, it was a management issue.
And if Mozilla have taken those lessons and learned from it in 2016. I believe they could still have had Firefox OS windows of opportunity in 2021. When somehow both Google and Apple became evil. Instead they wasted money on AI and many other initiatives.
I believe the downfall of Mozilla was when they won the war against IE. And that perhaps planted the seed they could really achieve everything. To this day I am not sure if they realised they won because of the Mozilla community being their evangelist ( Not being a negative thing at the time of 00s ) and perhaps more importantly. Microsoft IE wasn't even competing.
I still remember the New York Times Ads. Good Old Days.
Even during B2G and Firefox OS Mozilla still believe Google were their Friends. And will somehow continue to fund them, because Google is a search company, not a Chrome / Android company.
B2G announced in 2011, but I remember some idea / hints of it started floating around before then. Probably somewhere along the way of developing PDF.js if I remember correctly.
Dont bet against Javascript. Anything could be done in Javascript should be done in Javascript. Practically speaking that means apart from Kernel and drivers all things should be javascript. Even when it is easier for it to be done in C++.
Hardware is cheap. Software is expensive. Moore's Law meant hardware cost will half every 2 years and eventually so cheap it will be subsidised by software. That is why by aiming at low cost smartphone they meant $35 dollar smartphones. I think this thought disease was actually started by Bill Gate. That was the time I learned Silicon Valley have absolutely no idea about anything supply chain and hardware. Apple being an absolute outliner and exception.
Firefox was slow the day Chrome was born. Because everything is comparative. And e10s ( Electrolysis ) took 7 years before it was shipped on Desktop. It was originally targeted for Firefox 4. And took another 1 - 2 years for additional tuning and ironing out rough edges. As the article suggested. Everything at the time was mobile and B2G. It took a while before they realise Desktop Firefox, their cash cow wasn't competing and need some attention. ( It was too late )
I dont remember if Memshrink was started because of B2G. But Firefox at the time definitely have memory issues. Memshrink is ultimately is what leads to Firefox being the best browser to handle thousands of tabs. And About:memory was born out of it.
B2G as an idea wasn't wrong per se. But it was wrong timing and execution. Mozilla as a company was way too idealistic. From technological, marketing, strategy to execution. Ultimately as the article suggest, it was a management issue.
And if Mozilla have taken those lessons and learned from it in 2016. I believe they could still have had Firefox OS windows of opportunity in 2021. When somehow both Google and Apple became evil. Instead they wasted money on AI and many other initiatives.
I believe the downfall of Mozilla was when they won the war against IE. And that perhaps planted the seed they could really achieve everything. To this day I am not sure if they realised they won because of the Mozilla community being their evangelist ( Not being a negative thing at the time of 00s ) and perhaps more importantly. Microsoft IE wasn't even competing.
I still remember the New York Times Ads. Good Old Days.