[jfengel]

Who would be able to buy it in a way that did align with good browser development?

People really like getting their web browser for free. If they're not paying for it with money, the developers will have to recoup costs some other way. In general, that's not going to be something that benefits users.

I suppose they could set up a not-for-profit that takes donations. I think that's how Mozilla works, but I don't think it's working very well.

I'd love for there to be some other brilliant idea. But thus far, we've been stuck on "money, advertising, or your data" as the only ways to make revenue.