this post was submitted on 16 Apr 2026
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Keep in mind that that there is a strong likelihood that XLE is a demagogue and is dedicated to shitting up any mozilla/Firefox/TB thread with lies and gross exaggerations that function as lies. XLE almost certainly does not use Firefox or Thunderbird (it wouldn't make sense considering their posting history).
XLE claimed that "Firefox is bursting at the seams with ads." This is clearly not true.
As an example they cited "sponsored search suggestions", which to my mind isn't a big deal and can easily be disabled. For the sake of transparency, I will note that I've never got them and it seems I can't enable them even if I wanted to (likely due to my region?)
XLE also claimed that the on-hover sponsorship notice for the Firefox weather widget as an example of "Firefox bursting at the seam with ads." I haven't used the default new tab page in a decade plus, so maybe this impacts how I see things. From my perspective, an on-hover sponsorship notice for optional widgets is a misleading example for their claims.
You can make up your own mind and read our conversation here: https://piefed.social/comment/10831188
P.S. I am not saying you shouldn't cancel your donation. I've donated to Mozilla Foundation before and cancelled, so I would be a hypocrite for defending donations to MF.
I also have a more hard-line position on MF; they've turned into a shitty, corrupt American tech company imitation. All open source foundations based in the US are suspect by definition (including Linux foundation, Debian foundation etc.) as US society is in a state where it is extremely unlikely that crime and corruption will be addressed in the next 20 years (I've lived in the US for several years, as well as other countries across NA, Europe and Asia).
But that doesn't mean you should trust an individual like XLE, who muddies the water with bombastic BS, while at the same time defending Brave; an American criminal gang that was caught re-writing referral URLs for their own financial benefit.
Instant indication the person has either swallowed a lot of marketing kool-aid, or is a grifter.
I never pass up the opportunity to point out that Brave is basically a scam
https://twashingtonledger.com/brave-browser-privacy-scandal-goes-right-to-the-heart-of-brave/
https://eathealthy365.com/brave-browser-s-controversies-downsides-explained/
https://www.lifewire.com/brave-browser-falls-short-of-its-promises-of-privacy-5206799
The thread Rekall linked shows me defending Waterfox, a more ethical Firefox fork, getting browser-based (read: fast) ad blocking installed and enabled by default.
Brave does suck, and this is a much better article about why IMO: https://thelibre.news/no-really-dont-use-brave/
You linked to me praising Waterfox, which is a Firefox fork, for blocking ads by default with a method that's faster than with extensions.
I listed six sponsored things people will see on a new Firefox installation, things you admitted you don't see because you run a "heavily customized" copy of it. You can claim I don't know what I'm talking about, but things don't stop being ads just because you ~~don't see~~ don't mind them.
I stand by what I said. I will let people read my comment in this thread and our comments in this post (there are multiple threads that are relevant):
https://piefed.social/c/opensource/p/1952631/waterfox-to-integrate-brave-adblock-engine-with-search-ads-enabled-by-default
Let people make up their own minds.
What are people supposed to see? That you nitpicked my statements, accused me of not addressing every nitpick, and when I finally did... You decided to leave and then continue the argument here (not addressed to me but specifically complaining about that detail)?
Seems way more like you're just dredging up days-old personal drama disguised as a callout post.
For the record, I'm not a fan of Brave and its bigotry and unethical practices, and that extends to every company that engages in the same.