If firefox has a “backdoor like xz” then certainly icecat does too since their codebases are virtually the same (icecat = firefox LTS + scripts to remove branding - non-Free addons). I’ve never tried netsurf.
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It’s not “the antichrist bible”, it’s “The Book of Mozilla” which is not a real book. The Book of Mozilla - Wikipedia . And “the beast” comes from the fact that the logo for early was a dragon mascot named mozilla and was, apparently, known internally as “the beast”.
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Privacy2 and irvinewade,
did you noticed that the internet with Browsers died in 2016?
Yes we are still here talk about Browsers and URLs… but. Just ask a Kid in School what is a Browser and a URL… it’s kind of devastating.
But do not get me wrong, i think it is more important than ever… to have a good Browser, understand Information Networks Computers and Advertise Networks and Ad- or Script Blockers. Just do not waste to much time for that kind of discussions. Focus on a good Browser and or Apps for Linux on Mobile.
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Current kids/teenagers they do not NOT know what it is a File or Folder, URIs because this peoples lack of GNU OS Knowledge. However my 3 SONs have grown up with GNU OS by Me however at school they learned about the evil chrome os from google opensource or foss.
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Or most anyone in any business outside of IT. The majority of people do not know, nor care to know, nor need to know. There’s a reason for references in the 90’s about opening “the internet” not a browser… Computers are tools to accomplish tasks for most people. Does that mean they can be exploited by those that do know? Yes. Is that different than any other field? No, not really.
This is not new.
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Sorry for not reading the rest of the posts in this topic, but I just wanted to respond to this by saying that I actually just clone the branch itself when working on it. You should be able to do the same with the following:
git clone --branch fenix https://codeberg.org/user0/mobile-config-firefox.git
Also the real reason to respond was to selfishly thank you for the “her” in that post. It means a lot; it really does. Also, I’m Emma. 
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Perhaps the only reason why Firefox must live (and we should accept some compromission here) has not yet been mentioned in this discussion: FF ESR is the codebase for the Tor Browser!
If Mozilla’s funding dries up and they don’t have enough money to continue the development of the browser, this will simply be the death of Tor Browser. And there really is nothing here yet to replace it: all other “privacy-oriented” or “privacy-defending” browsers are just subpar.
I am willing to put up with those little arrangements between Google and Mozilla if it means keeping the Tor browser dev alive.
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I already mention about Firefox ESR and its forks in “my stance” earlier in this thread.
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Yes, I can see that now. Sorry, I didn’t follow the URL to that other thread - I usually don’t “jump-thread” when the one I’m reading is very long and prefer to concentrate fully on it.
Anyway: you mention Icecat (FSF fork), which I really liked and used - but unfortunately, the development has stopped at FF60 or something, a very long time ago. Very unsafe to use now!
You also mention Mullvad, which I have heard of: what do you think of it? Any good? Could it really be an alternative to Tor as of now?
Have you used FF with the user.js config file (GitHub - arkenfox/user.js: Firefox privacy, security and anti-tracking: a comprehensive user.js template for configuration and hardening) for hardening the basic browser without having to mess with about:config and the hundreds of prefs to change or toggle?
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I do not have a use case for it. Currently, I have my own Outline VPN deployment and contribute to the Tor network as a Snowflake relay operator, among other related tasks, so there is no value for me to consider Mullvad. Also, it cannot be an alternative to the Tor Browser because Mullvad VPN is a paid service, whereas Tor is gratis, among multiple other reasons that are best explained in a different thread or on the Tor Project Forum.
See also:
https://forums.puri.sm/t/time-to-ditch-mozilla/21102/89?u=franklyflawless
I did, but it is clear that arkenfox’s solution does not fit my use case, so I eventually plan on creating my own user.js configuration for Firefox ESR in the future. Currently I have little to no time to read documentation of any sort.
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Opensource stoped partially icecat.deb via Gnu Trisquel, i strongly discussed this issue with team. However there are still newer Gnu Icecat binaries from here: Install package home:losuler:icecat / icecat
Yes i love Gnu Icecat and it is formally my default browser. 
Free Software
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Thank you for the link and info.
A revival of good old Icecat!
I will look into it
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I do not think so. You know, sometimes Humans or mindful Program’s, would see a bigger Picture and use it like a step of a stair to get to higher ground. And you have to establish some overview to understand the concept of its own brilliance. Just to use that view of concept or study that kind of tool to build a better version of it. And now you can not create a better version of it if you do not understand it fully. I think its like a growing to a lower level Layer. To understand how it existence there… and to optimize it in a race to the bottom, you have to build a better system with less energy consumption without cheating, in a pure version or with a better understanding of lower level physics.
Kids using technology without the understanding of it… they will be exploited… trust me.
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Most people aren’t trying to make their tools better, only use the ones that are good enough.
Not significantly moreso than using other things they don’t understand.
It is infeasible to understand everything, and instead of trying to teach kids everything, it is more practical to teach frameworks for evaluating things using trust based frameworks. Along with frameworks for evaluating risk.
Trust me, as a parent, children are both more intelligent and more resilient than most people give them credit for.
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