I don’t know. I’m hoping that after their attempts at building an ad network fail, they pivot back to developing a browser by focusing on features their users actually want. Or maybe by the time Mozilla fails another alternative springs up, like Ladybird.
To your point, cloning Proton is such an obvious path forward to generate revenue while staying true to their values. Even selling a Firefox Pro with an annual fee offering some developer-specific or power-user features would be great.
They tried that with Mozilla VPN. It used Mullvad under the hood (a very good Swedish VPN provider), was tailored towards USA, and I could not use a config manually. Which meant I paid a year for nothing. Not the same as donation, but still.
Together with certain other services, like Password manager and Firefox Accounts, they could indeed go with your suggestion. However, I really do not want my EU data under a US business or non-profit. I want my data under EU laws, or European at least (Norway, Switzerland are also OK).
IMO, Mozilla should team up with Kagi. They have the numbers of users, and Kagi has the excellent product.
To your point, cloning Proton is such an obvious path forward to generate revenue while staying true to their values. Even selling a Firefox Pro with an annual fee offering some developer-specific or power-user features would be great.