Lightweight web browsers don't have as large of an attack surface, particularly if they eschew JS, cookies, etc or you disable them. Nyxt is alpha software, so YMMV until it's more feature complete, and independently audited to correctly implement WebKit and WebExtensions. Run Tor Browser without JS in a VM for security+privacy.
ESR is on record stating that the original focus of 'cathederal' was on GCC and Emacs, the terminology was applicable to proprietary software and top-down corporate cultures.
Your first reading was correct. The ambiguity is whether the comment was referring 'we'(author is part of referenced group), or 'them'(author is describing disgruntled group), possessing the viewpoint that the overturning was bad.
That's a rather presumptive over-simplification of what effect software cracking had and has on employed programmers' livelihoods. It's not a direct 1 to 1 relationship between a cracked installation and lost sale, nor does piracy prevention guarantee market relevance. I don't condone consuming pirated software when OSS alternatives exist, but that's not out of sympathy to tech megacorps.
Do any sources state that Valve transitioned to a traditional hierarchy? There's been reports of cliques and internal opaqueness going back a decade, but the only concrete difference I've heard versus pre-2012 is a shift towards microtransactions and hardware design.
There's also the iw4x project that brings community servers and patches to the 2009 Modern Warfare 2. The game mechanics, asinine matchmaking algorithm, map design, and monetization model of 2019+ Call of Dutys don't spark joy for those who grew up on 90's/00's PC multiplayer games.