The change means Google will now be the priority search engine and the telemetry data option will again be checked by default.
Mozilla and Linux Mint have signed a partnership in which the Linux distribution throws web browser customization in the bin. By default, you will be presented with Mozilla Firefox in the near future.
The change means that the default home page will no longer point to a page that Mint determines. Search engines that used to work with Linux Mint, including Yahoo and DuckDuckGo, will be traded in for the search engines bundled with Firefox. Chief among that list are Google, Amazon, Bing, DuckDuckGo and Ebay. Patches of Mint upstream distributions Debian and Ubuntu are being dropped.
The new collaboration is commercial and technical in nature. For example, Mint users can now update the Internet browser within Firefox, similar to how it is today for Windows users. You would no longer have to use the Mint package manager for updates.
An additional benefit for Mint is that it no longer has to build Firefox itself by using Ubuntu packages. As of now, Mozilla itself packages the Firefox version.
Telemetry data and search engine review
Linux Mint users may have to readjust their default settings after the transition, though. Anyone who chooses something from the list of default search engines today will be presented with Google in the new partnership with Firefox. Those who do not want that will have to re-adjust it in the settings. Users who have manually added another search engine in the past will not have to do anything.
The most important double check you need to do is the gathering of telemetry data. Those who have disabled that by default must do so again. This is because the update re-enables it for everyone. Mozilla writes that a clear notification will be provided anyway to make that known.
The transition is happening for Linux Mint 19.x, 20.x and Linux Mint Debian Edition from as soon as Mozilla Firefox 96 is available next week.