It isn’t just Linux, the same is in the user AppData on Windows (would also guess Mac OS). Both a gift and a curse as I find that when I need to make a backup of peoples’ data before restoring/clean installing Windows/Mac OS or moving stuff to a new PC. Those folders are pretty important to get, as you can have all their bookmarks, history, settings, and passwords just show up (though you need to sometimes have to change the profile if a new one still gets created). Same is true for Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers, but they tend to not bring passwords over the majority of the time (need to manually export and import if the PC is actually able to boot into normal/safe modes of whatever OS used).

FF is easier in the cases where the OS is broken or pulling the drive to copy (though very few people use it to begin with). But it does mean it is a curse if the passwords aren’t also locked (would imagine having a master password might help but haven’t tried to see). While it would make part of my job harder with regards to FF data, it is odd that Mozilla doesn’t break them most of the time when Chromium browsers are able to. Though I haven’t had to help someone with Linux in the same way, so maybe it is just a Windows (and maybe Mac OS been a while since I needed to worry about FF so idk) thing for passwords.

Last bit below is a general rant of a PC repair tech’s daily struggle with customers that freak out when something bad happens before bringing stuff in for repair/setting up a new PC. Just had to get it out, but not specific to FF and just data in general (just kept typing). lol

Would make my job easier if people at least signed into their browsers beforehand and remember their log-ins to get browser stuff working (which would at least give them other accounts/passwords back). But the folks that tend to freak out about their stuff tend to also not make their own backups or sign into their browsers (let alone even remember their passwords for crucial stuff) before anything happens. Password vaults would be the same issue even if they had them, but maybe less if they had to enter their master password daily at least once.

For Windows (and even Mac OS in some cases) cloud stuff like OneDrive being turned on by default for the Documents, Desktop, and Pictures (or the defaults for other services) folders don’t even help them. Because they literally don’t even remember the email used when setting up Windows/services, or for whatever reason lost access to that account and somehow think that just using a different account with a different email will still give them their shit. Claiming that I or my co-workers “lost their data” when it isn’t there due to just the stubs of files that were only in the cloud.