OSNews > Thread > "RE[3]: So much for freedom" by Anonymous Coward

Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 28th Sep 2006 22:44 UTC, submitted by csousa

Debian adheres to a strict interpretation of what is Free Software and what isn't. The Firefox logo is trademarked, so Debian doesn't consider it to be Free and will not include it as part of its distribution. Mozilla claims that using the Firefox name without the official branding is a trademark violation. Furthermore, Mozilla claims that if Debian runs any patches to the version of Firefox included with Debian distros, it has to run them by Mozilla first for approval. What all this ultimately could mean is that the Firefox name is wiped from the face of Debian and its offshoots. Debian developer Eric Dorland confirmed to internetnews.com that Debian will re-name Firefox and that the re-naming process could be completed as soon as next week.

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RE[3]: So much for freedom

by Anonymous Coward on Fri 29th Sep 2006 02:01 UTC in reply to "RE[2]: So much for freedom"

Member since:
2005-07-06

Isn't Firefox under the Mozilla Public License? The GPL may be similar, but the link is irrelevant.

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RE[4]: So much for freedom

by ma_d on Fri 29th Sep 2006 03:21 in reply to "RE[3]: So much for freedom"

Member since:
2005-06-29

It's the same idea, it's a modified license. The point is that the idea of gpl/mpl/qpl software is to make it free for users to repackage it.

But I think they have to rename it, and not call it "firefox".

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