this post was submitted on 19 Jul 2023
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Technology

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

The Mozilla Corporation is for profit, but they reinvest all of their profits. They are also wholly owned by the Foundation. You can't donate to Firefox.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, and they've made some profit-driven decisions, such as pocket integration, but never on the level of what google does.

That's why I've said they are far from perfect (but the best we have).

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And dropping Thunderbird :(

Although it seems to be doing well now under its own, newish commercial corporation.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

It's coming along nicely. I donate and am a fan.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

That's what non-profit means. You reinvest the profit back into the project rather than pocket the money. It doesn't literally mean "no profit".

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Cool. They also have rules about how you make money and where that money goes. The Mozilla Corporation is not a non-profit. It is a commercial company created to make profit to support development.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

So, a non-profit that skirts the rules, basically. Good to know.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It is a non-profit.

The Mozilla Corporation was established on August 3, 2005, to handle the revenue-related operations of the Mozilla Foundation. As a non-profit, the Mozilla Foundation is limited in terms of the types and amounts of revenue it can have. The Mozilla Corporation, as a taxable organization (essentially, a commercial operation), does not have to comply with such strict rules. Upon its creation, the Mozilla Corporation took over several areas from the Mozilla Foundation, including coordination and integration of the development of Firefox and Thunderbird (by the global free software community) and the management of relationships with businesses.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Did you read that? Because it says it isn’t.

The Foundation is a non-profit. The Corporation is not. The Corporation is taxable. It can generate revenue in ways a non-profit cannot.