the science isn’t out (on this question about a sociological and not scientific phenomenon). unanswerable (actually easily answerable but in a way that’s inconvenient to the tq platform). locked (stop dissenting).
It’s funny how clearly uninformed a lot of criticism of Mozilla and its browser Firefox is. Like people say “it’s just another corporation, out to make profit, just like Google.” And that ordinary users promoting Firefox are just giving them free advertising.
It’s in basically any post criticizing Mozilla, including on this site. Like using tumblr search I quickly found a post that was largely positive, but argued that Mozilla operates “under capitalist incentives” And outside tumblr I found a blog post out on the interwebs that criticized Mozilla and outright wondered “I don’t know if Mozilla’s business model ever made sense, it makes a lot more sense if it’s something closer to a nonprofit rather than a commercial entity.”
Well, let’s research the Mozilla Corporation, see what that business model actually is. Let’s begin that research by going to the wikipedia article, and read the two introductory paragraphs. And it turns out that it’s “a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation”, which is a non-profit.
“The Mozilla Foundation will ultimately control the activities of the Mozilla Corporation and will retain its 100 percent ownership of the new subsidiary. Any profits made by the Mozilla Corporation will be invested back into the Mozilla project. There will be no shareholders, no stock options will be issued and no dividends will be paid. The Mozilla Corporation will not be floating on the stock market and it will be impossible for any company to take over or buy a stake in the subsidiary.”
Turns out that it is not just “closer to a non-profit”, it is literally a non-profit. Turns out you only needed two paragraphs on wikipedia to learn that, the most basic online research possible, which basically every post I found criticizing Mozilla failed to do.
This is entirely different from any other entity calling itself corporation, which is all about creating profit or money for its shareholders, the “capitalist incentives” spoken about earlier.
If you read further into that article, you will learn that the Mozilla corporation literally only exists separate from the foundation for tax and legal purposes, but it’s still a non-profit operation.
This makes it reasonably immune from the enshittification process I’ve written about before. there is no incentive to fuck over the experience for end users for the sake of shareholder profits, like what tumblr is doing right now.
It means that Firefox is an exemption to the rule that “if something is free, you are the product”, because there is no product to produce profits for shareholders, it’s a charitable endeavour for a free and open internet, as laid out in the Mozilla manifesto.
This doesn’t mean non-profits make corruption impossible, there is plenty of corruption in non-profit foundations. But unlike actual capitalist corporations, it doesn’t have the greed and corruption built in. And if you are going to criticize Mozilla and Firefox, which it does sometimes deserve, you should have your basic facts straight before doing so, if you expect me to take you seriously.
normalize calling viagra and menopausal hormone treatments gender affirming care
the absolute terror people have about transgender hrt is diminished when you point out that actually, my mom does the same thing and so does yours probably 🤷♀️ pretty banal in reality
If it’s not derailing, let’s start calling laser and electrolysis treatments gender affirming care when cis women get it, not just when trans women do it!
and also plastic surgery, and boob jobs, and botox, and hair plugs, and when gym bros take t.
My butch and I are both lesbians. We are, neither of us, men.
But I call him my boyfriend. I call him my boytoy, my boy, sir, Mr., guy. Cause this language makes him happy. It supports his gender and expression, and it makes him happy.
Butches of all flavors and types have been using he/him pronouns and masculine language forever. Butches have been called boy, guy, boyfriend. Butches have used “traditionally masculine” names like Mitch, Ed, Mac, Joe.
Cause guess what?
Language is fake! It’s all made up! If it makes you happy, use it! Wanna call yourself “boy,” even if you’re not a man? Do it! Wanna be called “boyfriend,” even if you’re not a guy? Go for it!
