I like that Firefox is (through @jaffathecake) communicating.

[tante@tldr.nettime.org]

RE: https://mastodon.social/@firefoxwebdevs/115740500373677782

I like that Firefox is (through @jaffathecake) communicating. But the point is not really if you can disable the features TBH.

I think the problem is how Firefox/Mozilla is perceived: Putting a whole lot of resources into AI gambles (that the community does not seem to be too thrilled about to say the least) while seemingly losing all focus on the Open Web as something to work on, strengthen and defend. Especially with Google/Chrome's dominance.

The new CEO coming in and just hammering "AI" while never talking about how exactly those systems can only exist by harming the open web is a bad sign.

It's not so much about distrust of the engineers working on Firefox and them adding a switch or not. It's about a communicated vision that seemingly pushes aside all the things people want Firefox to exist for.

[firefoxwebdevs@mastodon.social]

@tante I hope that the regular content here shows that folks are still working hard on web platform features. In some cases shipping sooner than browsers backed by the world's richest companies.

[tante@tldr.nettime.org]

@firefoxwebdevs I think criticism towards Firefox is rarely (or should rarely be) aimed at the people doing the actual work. It's about leadership's decisions, resource allocation and vision.

[dotstdy@mastodon.social]

@tante @jaffathecake I mean there's some aspect as well which is just that if you ship this stuff without going through an opt-in flow - that's just tremendously user hostile for absolutely no reason. If people wanted that kind of hostile relationship with their browser they could already use chrome. If you behave like a big tech giant who just ships stuff to pump the hype cycle, then it should be expected that you're criticized like a tech giant.