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Google & Firefox's Relationship

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the you-may-kiss-the-browser dept.

sebFlyte writes "More news from FOSDEM, this time about the depth of support for Firefox from Google. According to this article on ZDNet, Firefox' growth and Mozilla's staffing costs have been underpinned by the Foundation's tie-ins with Google, but they promise not to go the same way as Netscape by selling 'every bookmark and link'... and don't forget that the lead programmer (among others) is directly in Google's employ."

15 of 392 comments (clear)

  1. I'd be by Digital+Warfare · · Score: 4, Insightful

    .. very happy if Google funded me. A very respected company that just works and keeps it that way. Keep the relationship Mozilla :)

    --
    "Sweet llamas of the Bahamas !"
    1. Re:I'd be by Daytona955i · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I would have to agree. At one point Red Hat was a favorite of the open source community. Now with their subscriptions service an all, they are no longer favored.

      I don't know if Microsoft was ever really thought of as a respected company. But I think they definately represent what Google has the potential to become, only more so. I mean think of all the data that passes through Google every day. I for one hope they remain moral and ethical and don't decide to sell out.

      Also on the integration, I think it can be a good thing. I love my google toolbar in the upper right corner and I love most of the extra services that google is providing besides searching. It will be interesting to see if they integrate them in a non-obtrusive manner.

    2. Re:I'd be by Dan+Ost · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I don't believe this. It is not the responsibility of a public company to
      maximize profits. It is, instead, the responsibility of a public company to
      maximize the value of the company (which, in the long run, is better for
      shareholders than simply maximizing profits). Good will, happy
      customers, and a reputation for practicing enlightened ethics all add value
      to a company that management can point to if they ever need to defend their
      actions against a shareholder lawsuit.

      Such things may not prevent shareholder lawsuits, but they do provide a solid
      defense them.

      --

      *sigh* back to work...
  2. Competition is GOOD! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Hopefully the relationship between Google and Firefox will continue to put pressure on Microsoft to build a better browser.

    1. Re:Competition is GOOD! by 0x461FAB0BD7D2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Microsoft doesn't have to build a better browser. It just has to build one that's good enough. It already has the lion's share of the market.

      If they build one that's good enough, and whose security model is comparable to Firefox's or Opera's, Alternate browsers will be marginalized again, W3C standards or no W3C standards.

  3. Don't break a sweat by PoprocksCk · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't think the Foundation should even break a sweat worrying about the fact that Google has an undeniable tie to Firefox. So many users already use Google anyway, and I'm sure those that do not are aware of how to change their browser settings to use a different home page/search engine by default.

    But I'm sure many people keep it as Google, just because it is a great start page, and loads really quickly.

    From TFA, they mentioned how localized builds are a problem... If Google were to host the Start Page in different languages, would the Foundation not be able to set a different language version of the page in their localized builds?

  4. Firefox = thin client by spectrokid · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When Google will port Picasa to a web-interface, followed by a small word processor, and offer their customers 1 GB to store their data, they will need to have their fingers in at least one big browser. Not to pump it full with ads, but to make sure it is a good enough thin client for their purposes.

    --

    10 ?"Hello World" life was simple then

  5. Re:Google + Firefox by n0dalus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Every big company turns evil sooner or later.. it is only matter of time.
    What about IBM? They used to be evil. Now they are helping the open source community and fighting off scum like SCO. They still have their own agenda, but they're not evil like it used to be.

  6. Re:gBrowser on the way by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I would personally think if they took a fork and created the gBrowser line, then it would negate all the good hard work that has gone into Firefox.

    Brand recognition is key, and Firefox is certainly better known than gBrowser.

    Look at the blank expression on peoples faces when you say "do you have gmail?"

    Most regular users have to be told "its googles email service, yes its like hotmail, only better..."

    Firefox is firefox in my eyes :)

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
  7. Re:If google support FF... by hey! · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Is it more important to have an extension for your browser that is officially supported by your search engine, or a an extension for your search engine that is officially supported by your browser?

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  8. Re:Google + Firefox by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I can't believe that this sort of talk continues on Slashdot. I thought people here were intellegent. You probably work for a corporation. Your computer was made by big corporations. You can't go shopping without some of your money going to corporations. If you have a problem with this "evil" in the world, move to the country and become a subsistance farmer.

    If you think the corporate focus on the bottom line is a problem for society, let's talk about that. (And don't think for a second that when IBM and Google support OSS that they don't have the bottom line in mind. They're hedging their bets against other corps like MS.) Until we address the issue of "more money equals better", we can't complain that corporations behave like corporations.

    Maybe when we focus our mental energy on redefining what businesses' responsibilities to the world are, and the evil you speak of can be held in check.

  9. Why worry? by nautical9 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This can only be a good thing. Mozilla/Firefox is open source. Should Google suddenly turn "evil" as a lot of people are speculating, we can always fork a new one from the last untainted version and start from there. Until that day, if it comes, Firefox gains financial support and another big backer. So what's the problem?

  10. Re:javascript by splanky · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Note to Website developers: Stop sitting there with your arms crossed and insisting on making sites that aren't in compliance with public standards. Instead support the idea that if we -all- agree on standards it removes the power from proprietary software --- and that the mindset of "well it's just one cool non-standard feature" is exactly the mindset that got us in this mess!

  11. You were saying... by jaaron · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm not saying Google will do this, but I can't think of a single, not-for-profit tech company that hasn't done some morally or ethically reprehensible thing at one point in its history. Can you?

    I'm not saying you'll do this, but I can't think of a single, self-aware human being that hasn't done some morally or ethically reprehensible thing at one point in his or her history. Can you?

    --
    Who said Freedom was Fair?
  12. Re:Google + Firefox by karakal · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Oh. This is soooo sweet! How many /.ers are here and rant about evil cooperations and so on. And how many of them are using a PC with IBM/Intel/AMD-CPU, from Dell/Apple/Sony/whatsoever and so on... This is sooo typical: On the one hand ranting about evil cooperations and on the other hand trying to feed from their hands....