Mozilla has pissed away its market share, its community, its goodwill and its influence in the world because of a series of bad decisions over the last 5 years:

* breaking add-ons due to rapid updates [Everybody Hates Firefox Updates (evilbrainjono.net) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4209384]

* switching to Australis [Australis is landing in Firefox Nightly (mozilla.org) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6755650]

* removing options to customize the browser ["Disable Javascript" option removed in Firefox 23 (mozilla.org) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5968237]

* getting rid of the Status bar and breaking add-ons that depend on it [Removing Firefox’s Status Bar and Rehousing Add-on Icons http://www.donotlick.com/2010/04/29/removing-firefoxs-status... http://www.donotlick.com/2010/06/07/removing-firefoxs-status... https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/what-happened-status-ba...]

* long review queues for add-on approval [Writing Extensions for Firefox Is Barely Worth the Trouble (omniref.com) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8285744]

* displaying ads in the browser [Firefox will show ads on the new tab page based on browsing history (geeksnack.com) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9587362]

* banning unsigned add-ons and annoucing a new add-on development API that breaks existing add-ons [Firefox 42 will not allow unsigned extensions (mozilla.org) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10038999]

* forcing Pocket and Hello icons to appear on the toolbar with every update [Firefox Bugzilla: Remove Pocket Integration (mozilla.org) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9667809]

* denying vehemently for months that there is no financial arrangement with Pocket [Mozilla to stop Sponsored Tiles in Firefox (mozilla.org) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10679519] and then casually admitting it in a Wired interview on other topics [http://www.wired.com/2015/12/mozilla-is-flailing-when-the-we...]

* spinning off Thunderbird as a "community project" [Mozilla Wants To Split Off Its Thunderbird Email/Chat Client (techcrunch.com) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10654861]

* neglecting browser performance, multi-process architecture and browser security. This year, the Pwn2Own contest refused to consider Firefox security hacks because the organizers "wanted to focus on the browsers that have made serious security improvements in the last year." http://it.slashdot.org/story/16/02/12/034206/pwn2own-2016-wo...

All these changes were dropped on the community without any prior warning, discussion or input. Firefox add-on developers responded to many of these changes by developing workarounds like Pale Moon, Classic Theme Restorer, The Addon Bar (Restored), etc. but by now many of them have burnt out. The burden of fixing Mozilla's mistakes is just too heavy. [The likely end of DownThemAll (downthemall.net) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10099240]

Many of these decisions came out of "Google envy":

* the drive to mimic Chrome instead of doubling down on what makes Firefox unique

* the transformation in compny culture from a scrappy open source project to a bloated corporate hierarchy that enforces a fear-based workplace

* empire building via a massive hiring spree (or, as Steve Jobs so memorably put it, a "bozo explosion")

* the adoption of whiteboard-style interviews to hire employees off the street instead of considering long-time community members

* the leasing of expensive offices in hipster locations like San Francisco instead of encouraging remote work which is ingrained in the company culture

* chasing the latest buzzwords like mobile operating systems and IoT projects and spinning off core products like Thunderbird and Firefox OS as "community projects". (What's next? Autonomous cars?)

Firefox markets share is already 8% and falling. Once Yahoo vaporizes, it will take Mozilla down with it. I'm looking forward to once again seeing a lean organization with a laser focus on making the best browser, period.