Pocket Source Code

Mozillians
#1

I invite all others reading to contribute your questions, answers, comments, anything to get this more attention.

Hello all,

The last time this was posted, when Pocket was acquired by Mozilla, there was very little information that anyone could give regarding whether Pocket source code would be published and on what timeline that might transpire. I’d like to re-open the conversation around it as I want to use Pocket, but will not considering that there is a sufficient alternative in Wallabag.

So I will pose some questions here:

  1. Will the Pocket server’s source code be published?
    1a. Will it be self-hostable like Firefox Sync?
  2. Will the Pocket clients’ source be published?
  3. What kind of timeline can we expect for these?
  4. Why has Mozilla been extremely quiet since the purchase regarding this matter?
  5. What roadblocks keep Mozilla from publishing such source code, if the plans are to release the source code at some point?
#2

I just have to say that is not a new question on the forum and there aren’t updates yet.
I know only they released some components of the infrastructure and website on github.

#3

I saw some of that too but it seems that they released those things only because they interface with the Firefox web browser. Perhaps that’s a good reason to do those “first” but what about the clients, the server?

If they’re not going to take care of it then why not just say “we’re not publishing the source code for X thing” in public.

#4

Why not to say that source code will not be released? Just because noone really cares for community…

#5

I’m dismayed by the lack of commentary from the relevant teams, but I’m still holding out for an answer.

Time after time, Mozilla is proving to its user base that they don’t actually stand for the things they say they do. When it comes to control and freedom over the way that users browse the internet, Pocket can help enable that.

However, with almost the entire ecosystem of application and server being programmed behind closed doors, it’s easy to assume that Mozilla doesn’t really care about helping the end-user but rather helping themselves by lining their pockets.

Pocket was doing just fine before Mozilla bought them, and they’re doing pretty well right now, too. Not that not happy for the success that they’ve brought each other, but when you’re a company that champions freedom, it’s not a good look when one of your revenue streams is almost entirely based on proprietary software.

I hope that none of this is close to the reality of the situation, but I have a hard time continuing to believe in Mozilla’s efforts.

A previous version of this comment left little room, after the fact, for Mozilla to comment. I’ve removed/changed those sections.

#6

Please, have some patience until the relevant people who can comment on this topic see it, we have been in typical vacation season and most people have or are still off.

Thanks.

#7

Thank you for the update, I hadn’t taken that into account. I’ll update my comment accordingly.