I see a lot of opinions, info, and rants. This thread's more reading than LOTR. That said, I can offer my 2 cents, too:
-- I use Debian, so I can trust FF builds. This is one of the core reasons I use Debian: their package builds are quite sterile.
-- If you want privacy, use TOR Browser Bundle for private stuff, BUT NOT BANKING or important accounts. FYI, TORBB uses a modified FF base. Using TORBB lets you keep you other browsers/services running outside the TOR network plus there's zero conf and auto updates.
-- Use Youtube-dl or MPV's YT feature to watch YT videos. It makes life harder to track.
-- Use multiple browsers for each thing: Chromium is for Whatsapp only (I know there's a Flatpak app but the day I install FP is the day I eat anything from McD's). FF is for general browsing. I use NoScript and don't get why people moan, it's easy to use, you just need to know what you're doing. A mate shared a quick 'n dirty start-up wrapper script he did to start FF in a randomly-sized window every session (helps fight tracking). I use Falkon for my accounts because it works and is fast. I do also have another user (share xsession) that I use for social media on a vanilla FF appimage. I use TOR BB to visit more unsavoury sites or when I'm looking for legal grey area stuff. It's not as complex as it sounds and lends itself to good security, little cost to convenience, and tons of entropy to whatever Google profiles me as. since my custom adds offer me ladies' shoes one minute, anime-related goods, business solutions, and VPNs the next. Some tinfoil hats do work. Finally, I only use Google for necessities. I never have issues with Duck, so I think a lot is down to how you use it (like NoScript). I use GMX and Proton Mail for various accounts. Maybe I should do a Linux privacy tutorial.
-- Off-topic: And yes, I use Links a lot because I logout my xsession when I'm not using GUIs: Text mode at 1920x1080 is glorious and MPV runs nicely as a text-mode music player and is easy to control through a FIFO.
-- Off-topic: I'm surprised, I am, that someone besides myself uses /opt instead of /usr/local/bin. Well, I put builds in opt/name-of-provider/ (old-fashioned) and a softlink in /usr/local/bin IF I want it to be invoke-able by name instead of full path.
Ultimately, I know FF, I've used it ever since breaking away from IE, even before I was a Linux user. I'm used to it. I feel secure with my setup as-is. I have no speed complaints because to me, Chromium is just as slow, but that may be my internet bottlenecking them since I'm using LTE (router with SIM slot + data package, lol) since I cannot afford cable. Up side: dynamic IP address. I know FF is facing hard times, but it lost its popularity before when Chrome came out and it bounced back. Chances are it will again. It's too much hassle to change browsers. Besides, what are my other options? They all suck in their own way.
-- I use Debian, so I can trust FF builds. This is one of the core reasons I use Debian: their package builds are quite sterile.
-- If you want privacy, use TOR Browser Bundle for private stuff, BUT NOT BANKING or important accounts. FYI, TORBB uses a modified FF base. Using TORBB lets you keep you other browsers/services running outside the TOR network plus there's zero conf and auto updates.
-- Use Youtube-dl or MPV's YT feature to watch YT videos. It makes life harder to track.
-- Use multiple browsers for each thing: Chromium is for Whatsapp only (I know there's a Flatpak app but the day I install FP is the day I eat anything from McD's). FF is for general browsing. I use NoScript and don't get why people moan, it's easy to use, you just need to know what you're doing. A mate shared a quick 'n dirty start-up wrapper script he did to start FF in a randomly-sized window every session (helps fight tracking). I use Falkon for my accounts because it works and is fast. I do also have another user (share xsession) that I use for social media on a vanilla FF appimage. I use TOR BB to visit more unsavoury sites or when I'm looking for legal grey area stuff. It's not as complex as it sounds and lends itself to good security, little cost to convenience, and tons of entropy to whatever Google profiles me as. since my custom adds offer me ladies' shoes one minute, anime-related goods, business solutions, and VPNs the next. Some tinfoil hats do work. Finally, I only use Google for necessities. I never have issues with Duck, so I think a lot is down to how you use it (like NoScript). I use GMX and Proton Mail for various accounts. Maybe I should do a Linux privacy tutorial.
-- Off-topic: And yes, I use Links a lot because I logout my xsession when I'm not using GUIs: Text mode at 1920x1080 is glorious and MPV runs nicely as a text-mode music player and is easy to control through a FIFO.
-- Off-topic: I'm surprised, I am, that someone besides myself uses /opt instead of /usr/local/bin. Well, I put builds in opt/name-of-provider/ (old-fashioned) and a softlink in /usr/local/bin IF I want it to be invoke-able by name instead of full path.
Ultimately, I know FF, I've used it ever since breaking away from IE, even before I was a Linux user. I'm used to it. I feel secure with my setup as-is. I have no speed complaints because to me, Chromium is just as slow, but that may be my internet bottlenecking them since I'm using LTE (router with SIM slot + data package, lol) since I cannot afford cable. Up side: dynamic IP address. I know FF is facing hard times, but it lost its popularity before when Chrome came out and it bounced back. Chances are it will again. It's too much hassle to change browsers. Besides, what are my other options? They all suck in their own way.