Apparently people are excited about funding independent browser efforts this week. I have little interest in funding yet another browser built in C++ in 2024 but Servo is still alive. Since Mozilla refuse to let us directly fund Firefox I shall set up a recurring donation to Servo.
The next question is how much is a web browser worth to me? Based on minutes spent using a browser, quite a lot!
Once upon a time you could pay for Netscape. It seems that in 1996 Netscape 3.0 cost US$49. Adjusting for inflation that’s US$97 in 2024. Let’s round that up to an even US$100. At the time of writing Numbat tells me that’s AU$150 or AU$12.50 per month, which seems reasonable.
Some other services for comparison (I don’t actually have an active YouTube Premium subscription):
- Netflix: AU$18.99/m
- YouTube Premium: AU$16.99/m
- JetBrains Rust Rover: US$129/y (AU$194, AU$16/m)
A browser is a least as useful as these, almost certainly more. So, I’ve set up a US$15/m (AU$22.50) recurring sponsorship on GitHub. I encourage you to do the same.