There IS an option 4: Find all the patches needed for TLS 1.2 support in NSS and mozilla and back-port those to microb-engine somehow.

Oh and for those who say "forget about microb and stuff and use an existing modern replacement", what modern replacement do you suggest people on Maemo Fremantle use?

The newest Fennec build currently available for Maemo is Fennec 17 and that's not new enough to support TLS 1.2 and the newest security stuff so there is no existing Gecko browser that we can use.

All the new-enough webkit based browsers out there would need just as much porting work to run on Maemo as a newer Gecko does so that's not an option. And Leste isn't usable as a daily driver yet (and doesn't have a browser yet anyway) so switching to a new OS is also not an option. (and obviously "get a new phone" isn't the answer either since people using the N900 in 2018 are almost certainly using it because they like it and prefer it to iOS and Android