[Zealotux]

For a long time, it was installing Firefox over IE that was regarded as the proof of being "computer savvy". I'll even admit that back in the days, I took great pride in introducing it to my whole family when most of them didn't even know there could be an alternative to IE. And back then, it was Firefox that was the fastest, safest, coolest kid in town.

Up until recently, I was sharing your pessimism over the crushing success of Chrome and how Firefox would never get back in the heart of people. This is why it amazed me when people – non-techies – around me not only did notice but were more than eager to know why I had stopped using Chrome. Small talk was enough, in many cases, to convert them back into Firefox, which isn't is what I wanted to as I never specifically advocate for personal software solutions.

It appears regular people are more aware of these issues than we, in the tech field, might think. Maybe it's because I live in Europe and we're being constantly bombarded with cookie compliance notices – which are obvious dark patterns 90% of the time – that acts as a systematic reminder that almost no website we ever visit "respect your privacy". I'll admit it's nothing more than empirical, biased observation, but maybe something's happening here, I believe we should at least try.