Comment by godelski
15 hours ago
> If they had listened to their users
It seems to me like they are. A lot of people actually use those AI features. Particularly translate. The other I like is semantic search. Those are genuinely useful things.
When people are complaining about AI it seems vague and like they're complaining about something else not related to Firefox. What is it, the optional chatbot side window? I agree that's annoying, but it's pretty easy to go about your life not knowing it even exists. The new preview thing is annoying, but the complaints all happened when it was only translate and the chat box.
It seems like people are just complaining about AI but directing that to Mozilla. For translate I can say that they were much more ethical than most companies. They used volunteer work and have an open dataset. They don't seem to be out here stealing artists' work or scrapping the entire internet left and right, they seem to be using AI as directed useful features. Small and local models, not chatbots.
I'm not going to say Mozilla doesn't have lots of problems, it certainly does. But the outrage over this doesn't seem to be about those things. If those are the problems, any Geko browser is miles ahead of any chromium browser. Even if you use a degoogled chromium you're still giving Google control over the internet. If you have problems with Mozilla, then just be direct. If you have problems with AI, just be direct about it (it's not like there aren't a million problems there too!). But if we conflate the two we don't even give Mozilla the chance to respond to users because the feedback is meaningless. And if you expect them to "just know", well... how would they? They're not Google, they aren't monitoring every single little thing you do.
The reason people are pushing back against the Mozilla hate is because we're just tired of chrome winning. That's all that this hate has done. And if you're that passionate about AI, just go to a fork. There are plenty and you've already established yourself as a power user, so I know you know how to google. Fwiw, I like Zen, but it's not completely anti AI either.
Thank you for engaging politely and reasonably in discussing this. My complaint wasn't about AI ... it is about force-bundling whatever this-will-make-us-money-feature or we-think-its-a-great-feature idea into the browser without giving the user any real choice (or control) in the matter.
I am not against Firefox management exploring alternate revenue streams or even "innovative" feature ideas. In fact, mostly everyone here supports Firefox diversifying its revenue stream from Google, in an ethical manner. Personally, all my criticism (and increasing mistrust) stem from the way they have gone about and done it when there are better alternative ways to present these ideas to the user and respectfully persuade them to accept it without outraging them. (Especially the "power" users, because that's who are the most irritated by these shenanigans and are the loudest with their criticism). And in my previous comment, I've already outlined one way to do it - ensure the core browser (the actual product that you offer) is independent and separate. Everything that isn't a "core browser" feature or has a privacy implications or has a monetising component in it should only be offered as extensions or plugins that the user (not Mozilla or Firefox) fully controls (which means no more bundling these kind of features as "system" add-ons - https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/toolkit/mozapps/exte... ).
Do you agree with me that this approach is better, as it would not only increase trust in Firefox but also reduce complaints?
I agree with you.
The extensions and plugins should be separated from the rest of the program, like any other extensions, and can be configured and disabled by the end user.
Some of the extensions might come with the distribution, but if so, there should also be another package available which is the same program but without any of the extensions included with it (and should be just as easy to find and use, rather than making it difficult), and also the possibility that if you downloaded it with the extensions it can be disabled, and that if you downloaded it without the extensions then you can still install them like any other extension if wanted.
People who do want the AI features can have them, but not as a core part of the browser (the extension mechanism can be enhanced if it is found to be insufficient, which would help with many other things as well; however, the end users should still be able to control the security features of extensions regardless of who wrote them or where they come from), and possible to get it without those and other potentially unwanted extensions.
Even many official features of WWW may be potentially unwanted; in some cases, these might be made as extensions, and in some cases, they might be made as options which can be configured and disabled. Either way, they should be documented; it is good to have good documentation for any software (and should not require an internet connection to use, even for a web browser).