It's time to fork Firefox
replies(2):
The software behind Firefox can still continue without Mozilla. It may have fewer developers due to reduced funding but I'd rather see slower development if it was moving in the right direction.
What makes you think it'd happen if full-time employees at Firefox cant do it? We can poop on the leadership over at Mozilla, but there are FTEs getting paid to work on Firefox.
You cant just replace with few people running passion project on weekends, and even get the remote success Firefox has.
Browser is extremely complex. HN is underestimating how much work goes into making a browser.
The full-time engineers are given work to do by incompetent Mozilla management. It's the management that are driving Mozilla into the ground and setting baffling goals. Remove the management and have work based on features that users want, then you can see Firefox develop in the right direction.
As an example of how to organise this, you could have a bounty system for feature requests. Users define a feature they want to see and in negotiation with developers set acceptance criteria for when it's delivered. Users can then assign money as an incentive to complete the feature request. In this way, users can ensure they support developers to deliver the features they want to see.
> Browser is extremely complex. HN is underestimating how much work goes into making a browser.
Nobody is underestimating this. Firefox is already a mature product that can serve a wide range of user needs. What it lacks is effective leadership. I could live with slower development if the development it had was based around features that users most wanted. I don't need Firefox to support every web feature under the sun, the features it already supports is good enough for the vast majority of websites. Letting the users call the shots about it's future direction will help to guard against irrelevancy.
Could you actually provide any examples of large-scale software projects working this way, and not the usual way with coordination being done by special people or w/o any (e.g., by the devs)