Well this is, shall we say, not surprising, but nevertheless disappointing.
Do note that is not for the foundation which runs and develops Firefox, but for the company. Still shit, but separate from the browser.
What methods are being used to measure browser market share? Are those methods inclusive of Firefox users utilizing privacy-forward tools and ad blockers? If not, then Firefox market share may not necessarily be dwindling.
Then again, if Mozilla’s revenue stream is aligned with the world of advertising, Firefox users who strive to make themselves invisible to advertisers are being written-off outright by Mozilla. The population of browser market share is only counting those who advertisers can influence - nobody else matters.
I’m not an expert, but I was curious so I did 15 minutes of digging and this is what I found. Take it in context.
Wikipedia’s Usage share of web browsers page references two sources for stats: StatCounter and NetMarketShare.
StatCounter is an analytics tool for web site operators. They cover their methodology here: https://gs.statcounter.com/faq#methodology . To quote:
Our tracking code is installed on more than 1.5 million sites globally.
Their installation guide explains that they use a small JavaScript snippet embedded into the site’s HTML.
Firefox blocks this if enhanced tracking protection is set to strict. Discussion on Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34502986 . Some commenters there also said that uBlock origin blocks it. I have not confirmed.
NetMarketShare also refers to collecting data from user browsers and requiring JavaScript. https://netmarketshare.com/methodology
I would be interested to see server-side statistics based on HTTP user-agent from major global sites like Wikipedia, but I was not able to find that. I imagine spoofing user-agents is less common than ad blocking and tracker blocking
Edit: Found Wikimedia’s browser stats:
Linked from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Statistics#Analytics
Fuck noted racist Bryan Lunduke.
I’m so out of the loop here. Never heard of him before. A quick web search yielded little. But his seemingly-abandoned Twitter profile is…something. https://nitter.net/bryanlunduke
I used to say controversial things that I don’t really believe to try and get attention. Now I’ve changed. Black Lives Matter. He / Him
🤷
What’s his deal?
Oh he’s very active: conservativenerds.locals.com
He was one of the founding members of Jupiter Broadcasting. Was heavily involved in openSUSE for a long time (maybe even on the board?) and did a lot of Linux journalism. If you’ve ever seen the annual tongue in cheek “Linux sucks” video, that is him.
It’s a huge shame. He’s very charismatic and likeable otherwise, I just wish he also wasn’t carrying around awful opinions about so many other people.
Oh no, he’s conservative. Being a conservative itself is not a bad thing.
noted racist
How is he a racist? If he’s a noted racist. That must mean there’s a ton of proof you can link to, right.
He announced to be against BLM. He claimed that protesting police brutality against black people equates to racism against whites. There’s tons of that on the internet, you can google for it yourself. Your lack of basic web search skills is not my problem.
He announced to be against BLM.
Will…https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/black-lives-matter-activists-accuse-executive-stealing-10-million-dono-rcna46481 & https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-67272603.
You’re making the claim. So it’s up you to have the proof and to prove you’re not BSing.
I’m also against BLM, but I agree with BLM that policing needs a lot of reforms. My solutions are just really different from what they propose, such as:
- end qualified immunity - cops that commit crimes should be treated like any other criminal
- increase funding for police - the current pay structure and expectations attract power-hungry people, we should adjust both
- end civil asset forfeiture
- legalize marijuana and decriminalize victimless crimes like drug possession - if there’s no victim, there’s no crime (and you can’t victimize yourself)
- split police into armed and unarmed groups - armed police should not be on the regular police beat, only as backup
And so on.
BLM wants to strip the police of their teeth, I want to put a leash on the police and remove the feral officers.
Maybe that’s different from what Lunduke means, IDK, I don’t follow the guy. But just saying “doesn’t support BLM” is not the same as “is racist.” Some of my best friends are POC (including my wife), so it’s entirely possible to want what’s best for them while disagreeing with BLM.
I stopped at Lunduke. No thanks.
I think I recognize the name from distant past, but not up to date. He’s problematic?
Seems to be a Qanon guy. Or he was for a time. I’ve not paid attention to him in years.
He also always came off as a grifter in search of a con, so the Qanon shit might have been part of that, but who can ever tell with those people.
Isn’t Firefox that browser that insists on rolling their own UI instead of using native controls on each platform?