[bobsoap]

That may be, but mozilla.org isn't exactly a brand like google.com. Most people have never heard of it.

If you're trying to get non-technical people to try an underdog browser, simplicity helps. A single, straightforward brand name is better.

[joshmanders]

Literally everyone I know who isn't technical calls Firefox "mozilla". Including older people.

[jacobgkau]

It includes older people because Mozilla had previous work before Firefox, so they heard that name first. I've never heard anyone my age (27) or younger call it that, including non-technical people who somehow still have a nostalgic and/or ideological affinity for Firefox.

[Timwi]

When the Mozilla foundation took over the Netscape codebase, it was initially called Mozilla, or Mozilla Browser. There was also a Mozilla email client that came from Netscape Communicator.

Then they made a trimmed-down version of the browser with only essential features. That was initially called Phoenix, then Firebird, then Firefox. They did the same with the email client and called it Thunderbird. These existed alongside Mozilla Browser for a while until it was discontinued.

[latexr]

> I've never heard anyone my age (27) or younger call it that

Anecdotally, I’ve heard both people older and younger than you calling it Mozilla. And not tech-illiterate people, either.

[jacobgkau]

> And not tech-illiterate people, either.

Yeah, again, probably because tech-literate (not tech-illiterate) people are more likely to know the history of the organization beyond when they started using the software. My point was pretty much that the know-nothing user learning about the software today/recently knows it's called Firefox and might never have heard of Mozilla. The branding is clear about Firefox and the Mozilla name is essentially background knowledge.

[itintheory]

I prefer "Mozzarella Foxfire".

[hatthew]

anecdotally, I have never heard anybody call the browser software "mozilla" alone

[jraph]

I once heard Mozzarella.

Can you imagine the cheesy user-agent strings we'd have?

[latexr]

And Acrobat “Adobe”. I wonder if those mistakes are less prevalent in cultures where the family name comes first.

[pix128]

Acrobat Reader was called "Adobe Reader" for a good number of years.

[1718627440]

It's in the window title in desktop shortcuts and gets appended to every tab in the task bar: -- Mozilla Firefox