Post #3992855

2026-07-21 18:10 UTC

If the independent, non-slop web has any future at all, then now must be the time for every firefox fork to commit to working together to maintain a hardfork isolated from Mozilla. It's a project that is too large to be handled by any small project alone (and maybe even all of them combined), but one that is too important to left under the guidance of an organization like Mozilla. Without such bold co-operation I fear we have already lost.

Replies (7)

@sarahjamielewis@mastodon.social 2026-07-21 18:21

Mozilla and, by extension, Firefox have laid out the direction they want to go - and have consistently moved in that direction. There is no redemption arc there, they are not going to turn the ship around - and every week and month that goes by, Firefox gains more slop and drifts further from the visions that founded it. Projects like Tor Browser and Waterfox are painstakingly disabling / patching out the worst - but every release becomes more expensive, and things do slip through.

Open ##3992854
@zer0unplanned@friendica.rogueproject.org 2026-07-22 11:25

@sarahjamielewis@mastodon.social The independent web remains fragmented because no single Firefox fork has the resources to maintain a fully isolated Gecko engine. While Mullvad Browser offers a secure, AI-free alternative, it relies entirely on Mozilla's upstream code and does not represent a unified coalition of projects like LibreWolf, Waterfox, or IronFox. True independence requires these separate teams to merge their efforts into a single entity capable of sustaining the browser engine without Mozilla, a structural shift that has not yet happened.

Open ##4010713
@ainmosni@social.ainmosni.eu 2026-07-22 19:46

@sarahjamielewis@mastodon.social Our industry is so devoid of solidarity that it doesn't seem likely.

Open ##4017687
@grahamperrin@mastodon.bsd.cafe 2026-07-21 18:16

@sarahjamielewis@mastodon.social lost what?

Open ##4038750
@brillenfux@mastodon.social 2026-07-21 18:53

@sarahjamielewis@mastodon.social Instead of continuing the train wreck that is the former Netscape Navigator, I would appreciate a functional formally verified implementation. I'm very certain that maintenance of an implementation in dependent types (while requiring categorical knowledge) would turn out to be much, much less of a burden in the end.

Open ##4038753
@Kroc@oldbytes.space 2026-07-21 19:00

@sarahjamielewis@mastodon.social Fully agree: https://oldbytes.space/@Kroc/115777803369498952

Open ##4297413
@BoloMKXXVIII@mastodon.social 2026-07-21 19:21

@sarahjamielewis@mastodon.social https://dillo.org/ 😜

Open ##4297414