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Why shouldn't they be allowed to control how their branding is used?

So why have they all of a sudden done this, Firefox have been with many distros for agers now. Dont Mozilla want their browser to be known by firefox just for the sake of a tradmark.

You can have our browser but call it something else?, dont sound like openness and freedom to me.

I think Mozilla are perfectly within their rights, Firefox is finally getting brand recognition. Whats the point of them spending all this money on marketing if each distro then changes the name of the software THEY produced?!

http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html

It's within Debian's rights. I think it's silly, but it's probably just Debian following its own rules without exception.
I've never liked intolerant rules much, but oh well. It's not really a big deal...

you mean software, they, free software developpers that get zero money from mozilla, working at zero cost in their free time, and maybe even using debian, right ?

you probably missed the point of free software. it isn't adware.

Anyone who understands this understands that this isn't a BAD thing. Mozilla says

you have two choices:
1. You can use Firefox AS IS.
2. You can use Firefox, but you can't use the icon and you can't refer to it as Firefox, because once you change ANYTHING in the code at all, it's no longer Firefox. If you do this, you have to run ALL changes by us.

Essentially, Mozilla doesn't want them to release something with bugs or holes under the name of Firefox. Debian thinks they should have complete control. But once they change it, it's NO LONG FIREFOX! It's just "based on" Firefox.

"Essentially, Mozilla doesn't want them to release something with bugs or holes under the name of Firefox."

Yeah. Thats the prerogative of Mozilla. 64 times so far this year too!

http://www.mozilla.org/security/announce/

Essentially, Mozilla doesn't want them to release something with bugs or holes under the name of Firefox. Debian thinks they should have complete control. But once they change it, it's NO LONG FIREFOX! It's just "based on" Firefox.

This is all true, in a mean technical and legal sense. That which is "Firefox" is the code that is released by Mozilla as Firefox; anything else is merely another mozilla-based browser.

On the other hand... Linux is trademarked Linus Torvalds. No distribution I know of uses the stock kernel as released by Linus, yet they all claim to be Linux and use the trademark both on the system and in advertising. Why can they get away with it? Because Linus is doing the Right Thing and not merely the Protect What's Ours thing. Moilla should do the Right Thing, too, but they sadly no longer have the practical, idealistic programmers in charge.

You have to do this stuff to protect a trademark, much like Debian itself does.

http://www.debian.org/News/1998/19980306a

I think they have to do this by the law. If they don't protect their trademark (and releasing a patched firefox can be seen as trademark infringement), then they lose their rights to it.

Stop being so reactionary and use your head for a second. Mozilla needs to maintain protect the firefox brandname...

It is more Debian extremism than speaking of freedom.

Let's take a windows user, used to firefox who wants to switch to linux.

This person install a debian and could not find firefox. This person will maybe say : "linux is crap, it doesn't have firefox".

So, this is a debian stupidity than anything more !

I think debian will include a metapackage called "firefox". they generally do.

Let's take a windows user, used to firefox who wants to switch to linux.
This person install a debian and could not find firefox. This person will maybe say : "linux is crap, it doesn't have firefox".

And what windows user will actually take the time installing debian, when debian's current installer will look like crap to them.

The extremism and lack of listening to people is one of the biggest problems with debian.

We don't recommend their sets (including derivates) for this. The clashes we've had with developers on simple things (dselect easily comes to mind) was such that this was ineviteable.

I totally agree. Although it may be true that Mozilla can protect "their" Trade Mark, and "their" branding, they forget a few crucial things:

- Firefox and all of the Mozilla projects are open source and have been contributed to by thousands of people. Where do Mozilla get off deciding now that it's solely theirs now and they get to demand Debian has to run all patches by them?

- Debian isn't trying to fork Firefox, it just wants to distribute it, and frankly Debian is massive. Mozilla is shooting itself in the foot.

- Mozilla do not need to protect their brand like this, they really don't. Firefox is massive already, and the brand is understood. How is the brand damaged by Debian releasing it in the distribution?

Common sense prevails here. Although Mozilla may legally be right, stop and ask if legality is actually always the most important thing. Debian sticks to freedom because that is morally and ethically the right thing to do.

Good on you Debian, fight for what is right.

Under American law, they do have to protect thier brand, just like this. So common sense does not prevail.

mozilla is in the right. debian, is also changing the firefox name. so they are doing what is right also..

i mean, if someone wanted to use the debian name, debian would mail out as cease and desist letter. you just can't make your own os and call it debian. you can say based on debian. like ubuntu is. and you wouldn't be able to use the ubuntu logo and name to make your own os either.