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"What Is Your Dream for Mozilla" - Mozilla is doing a survey, and it could be a good opportunity to share some of the feedback that usually gets commented here :) (mozillafoundation.tfaforms.net)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

99 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I got a copy of the text from the email, and added it below, with personal information and link trackers removed.

Hello [receiver's name],

I’ve long dreamed about working for Mozilla. I learned how to send encrypted e-mail using Mozilla Thunderbird, and I’ve been a Firefox user since almost as long as I can remember. In more recent years, I’ve been an avid follower of Mozilla’s advocacy work, and was lucky enough to partner with Mozilla on investigative journalism in my last job.

In many ways, Mozilla was the dream – and now, as the leader of the Foundation, my job is to make my dreams for Mozilla come true. What that means, though, is making your dreams come true – for a trustworthy and open future of technology; for tech that is a tool for liberation, not limitation; and for tech that values people over profit.

So I’m reaching out to technologists, activists, researchers, engineers, policy experts, and, most importantly, to you – the people who make up the Mozilla community – to ask a simple question.

[receiver's name]. What is your dream for Mozilla? I invite you to take a moment to share your thoughts by completing this brief survey.

Let’s start with this question:

Question 1: What is most important to you right now about technology and the internet?

Protecting my privacy online

Avoiding scams

Choosing products, apps, technology, and services that I can trust

Keeping children safe online

Responsible use of AI

Keeping the internet is open and free

Knowing how to spot misinformation

Other (please specify)

Take the survey now →

With your help, together we can imagine and create the Internet we want. Thank you for being a part of this.

Always yours,

Nabiha Syed Executive Director Mozilla Foundation

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

There's nothing wrong with using an LLM for offline private language translation. It literally preserves privacy by not simply sending all that data to a Google translation server.

There's nothing wrong with using offline image recognition to aid in helping blind people know what's on their screen.

As for their "advertising" - you should look up what they actually did. It completely preserves privacy while at the same time not completely destroying the economic model that content creators rely on. It's a good thing. With any luck, regulators will enforce it.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

My question is, who asked?

I have many opinions about machine learning and its current position in technology, but expressed none of it in the comment. In case you missed it, the point I was trying to make is that this is a bullshit survey with obviously loaded questions and foregone conclusions, uninterested in gathering impartial feedback or addressing concerns.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

What do you mean who asked? People were complaining about lack of proper translation in Firefox for a long time. People were definitely asking. Google translate was (and still is) one of the most downloaded Firefox extensions.

And if you've ever used or seen someone use a screen reader on websites, you'll know it's awful. So Mozilla are right to focus on making the web better for blind people.

Yes, I'm aware most people aren't blind, but that doesn't mean those people should receive zero accomodation. Part of Mozilla's mission statement is making the web accessible. That's in their 'mandate', if you will. If people don't want an accessible web, I'm sure there are browsers out there that make zero accomodations for the disabled.

And the survey is not written in a way to direct you towards answers that Mozilla wants. Did you even look? They give plenty of room to criticise.