"they completely ignored Apple and made Firefox Sync which just syncs bookmarks etc."
There was plenty of sounds from them at the time when they wanted to release a Firefox for iOS, but that was a few years ago by now and it didn't get picked up in the media like the Windows-complaints.
Honestly, we are just as upset about Apple's restrictions on iOS, but we the Windows 8 case may prove different because of Microsoft past agreements with the US DOJ. If the courts decide that agreement should apply to Windows desktop on ARM then that provides very different leverage than anyone has against Apple.
You're comparing a reply made to a Quora question by a Mozilla developer(sounds more like personal opinion) to a blog post about Windows RT on Mozilla's official site penned by their General Counsel? I don't see how they're remotely comparable.
Note: I am that Mozilla developer, which is why I remembered that press coverage in particular. For a less personal example, see comments to the press in 2009 by John Lilly (then CEO of Mozilla Corporation):
"Given the choice, would we work on a platform where the sole company controlling it makes us unwelcome, or would we work on a platform, like Linux, where we are welcome? The answer is going to be easy for us." ... The danger of a gatekeeper like Apple on the iPhone is that innovation is stifled, Lilly argued. "These vertical silos don't enable innovation," he said. [1]
Our general counsel gets involved where there is a legal case to be made or legal questions to be answered. There's no current legal case against Apple; I'm not a lawyer so I have no idea if a legal complaint would make sense. But in the meantime, we have no real ability to change Apple's actions.
I think we would complain more loudly or frequently in the press if we thought it would get picked up and have some positive outcome. My personal experience is that, after four years with no change in the situation, people either agree with us already or they think we're just whining. And Apple itself has never really cared when third parties complain about this policy. I'll add that there's not total agreement within Mozilla about this. Some people think we should stay aggressive in these political battles regardless of outcome; others think it's better not to "go negative" and that we should focus more energy and attention on the platforms where we are able to carry out our mission.
(That story was mainly about Mozilla/EFF testimony in 2009 in favor of the DMCA jailbreaking exemption, which Apple lobbied against. These exemptions must be renewed every 3 years, so Mozilla mobile developer Brad Lassey just presented at the Library of Congress last month in favor of renewal -- but the press did not even report on this year's hearings, which perhaps shows how people lose interest once something is "old news.")
I'm not one to be late on admitting I was wrong, and it seems I was here. After having searched for some, I realize that I must have mixed up criticism from Android-people with official Mozilla statements over the years. This is the closest I found:
It's possible some of the blog entries/twitter posts I seem to remember have been lost over time, though. Excuse me, and feel free to downvote my original post. I should have done some searching myself before posting it.
I have not heard them use the monopoly complaints against Apple. I'm sure Mozilla is worried about Apple, but is using a different strategy since an argument that Apple is abusing monopoly is weak or underdeveloped.
Mozilla might believe that Apple is a better actor in the open web space than Microsoft.
>We are working to bring as much of your Firefox experience as possible to Firefox Home. People have asked about adding more browser-like features to Firefox Home, but there are technical and logistical restrictions that make it difficult, if not impossible, to build the full Firefox browser for the iPhone. We are focused on building Firefox Home as a rich, cloud-based application and making it a valuable product that people will continue to love and use.
See the difference? Mozilla didn't even make a call for browser choice officially on the iPad before resigning itself to making just Firefox Home and Sync. Also, if you notice, Mozilla hasn't mentioned Apple or the iPad/iPhone even once in their long blog post. My guess is that is because it undermines the point they're trying to make.
>I'm sure Mozilla is worried about Apple, but is using a different strategy since an argument that Apple is abusing monopoly is weak or underdeveloped.
Yet, we keep hearing things like "There is no tablet market, there is only an iPad market" and then Mozilla tries to go after the platform that has 0% share leaving the 800lb gorilla alone, maybe because that generates the most PR?
I agree that Mozilla could be choosing to battle Microsoft here instead of Apple battle for the positive reputation and press.
Mozilla could be wary of a long-term Microsoft gambit. When does Windows and Windows RT just become Windows?
Apple gets to do things that Microsoft as a proven monopoly and past abuser of that monopoly. I'm as worried about the future Apple as I'm about the current Microsoft. As long as Apple continues to clearly differentiate its more open software ecosystem MacOS from its less open software ecosystem iOS, perhaps it's not as much of a worry?
There was plenty of sounds from them at the time when they wanted to release a Firefox for iOS, but that was a few years ago by now and it didn't get picked up in the media like the Windows-complaints.