Slashdot Mirror
Firebird Database Project Admin on Name Clash
CapnKirk writes "Ann Harrison weighs in on the "Firebird--database or browser?" name clash. Her take on things: our users feel threatened. We're responding to their concerns. AOL lawyers said it's ok, so the Mozilla team isn't interested in negotiating, but that's ok because we've gotten a lot of publicity and name recognition. And no, we don't plan on going to court." As always, a small group of users are being real asses about the whole thing. Yay.
I would be satisfied if Mozilla's new name was just "Not Internet Explorer".
Methinks even more people would want to use it too.
Using Not Internet Explorer 1.3...
I still think Mozilla should take a clue from the automotive world, and call it what everyone else calls the Pontiac Firebird(the Screaming/Flaming Chicken- remember the giant decal on the hood?), only with the typical Mozilla twist.
"Introducing Screaming Dinosaur 7.0! Now features a Mullet theme(complete with AC/DC soundtrack) and optional CinderBlock technology, which completely disables the browser(but leaves it on your desktop, along with dozens of useless old documents and applications.)"
Please help metamoderate.
Which pair is more similar, a web browser and a database, or a web browser and a BIOS?
It seems to me that this name change had nothing to do with trademark law or avoiding confusion, and everything to do with who has the most lawyers.
Personally, I think that the Firebird database should be renamed the Mozilla database... because, hey, Mozilla's own lawyers (ok, AOL's lawyers, presumably) have obviously decided that nobody will ever be confused between a web browser and a database.
Tarsnap: Online backups for the truly paranoid
Sorry to disappoint you, but Pontiac doesn't make the Firebird OR the Firebird Trans-Am anymore. Somewhere, David Hasselhof and Burt Reynolds are quietly weeping, mourning the passage of their valiant steeds.
2002 was the last model year any of these cars were built. The same goes for the Chevy Camaro.
Just call the browser "Flamewar".
Maybe we should call the new lightweight Moz browser Pinto.
Fully licensed blockchain psychiatrist
Phoenix, the lightweight opensource mozilla browser, was renamed to Firebird.
Firebird, the open source database, is supported by a company called IBPhoenix.
Firebird, the database, also happens to be licensed under the IPL, which is based on the Mozilla Public License.
The Mozilla Project's Asa Dotzler has said that "the chances of someone confusing a web browser and a relational database are about as slim as someone confusing a loaf of bread and a bananna". There have now been complaints from Mozilla camp about IBPhoenix inciting their users to contact, en masse, Asa (and others) about this matter... I think that the Mozilla people should really just be glad that the users were only asked to send email, rather than to snail mail packages of mozilla-branded banana bread. Because that would be kind of funny.
In any case, I think that a project who's name and logo comes awfully close to infringing on a certain Japaneese movie franchise really ought to think carefully before stepping on friend's toes regarding name rights.
__
Choose mnemonic identifiers. If you can't remember what mnemonic means, you've got a problem. - Larry Wall
Firebi~2
Few people realize that the Phoenix browser's new name is an acronym:
Firebird: I Renamed Everrbody's Browser Into a Relational Database