Firefox To Be Renamed In Debian

Viraptor writes, "Debian is ready to change the name of Firefox in its distributions, beginning with Etch. They say it can be done within a week. The reasons stem from Mozilla's recent insistence on trademark fidelity and its preferences regarding Firefox patches. Debian doesn't want to accept the original trademarked fox & globe logo; they don't see it as really 'free' to use. On the other hand, Mozilla doesn't want Firefox distributed under that name if it lacks the logo. Mozilla also wants Debian patches to be submitted to them before distribution, and claims that's what others (Red Hat and Novell) are already doing. But some believe development and releases will slow down if distribution-specific patches have to be checked and accepted first. We will surely see more clashes between copyright claims and 'really free' distros such as Debian. Ubuntu is also asking similar questions." No word yet what the new name will be or what the logo will look like.

Comments

Can we get an internet or web in there somewhere?

[shaitand]

I can't see where renaming Firefox can be bad since it is the stupidest name for a web browser you can imagine. How about a name that in some way is at least vaguely associated with what the program does? My god what a concept. A name that would give reasonably intelligent people who have never heard of the program the ability to guess that they should click on that to browse the web!

Dear Debian....

[Duncan3]

Your disconnect with reality has now reached 100%.

Congratulations!

However, due to this this event, please STFU.

.

Re:Oh for heaven's sake.....

[alienw]

And of course, the Linux kernel does not, and never has, required patches to be submitted before they're used.

Yeah, and that's part of the reason why Linux will probably never be a single, unified platform. Every linux distro has significant differences in how it does things, and this is a very bad thing. In fact, this is why Unix pretty much died as a platform and Linux is slowly sliding down the same slope. The #1 complaint against Linux is lack of software, and the reason is obvious -- the code often needs to be hacked up to run on a given distribution.

Unlike Debian, Firefox actually aims to be a mainstream, successful open-source product. Firefox has several orders of magnitude more users than any other open-source piece of software. To remain in that spot, Firefox releases need to be of high quality, standardized to ensure compatibility with sites and extensions, and have consistent branding and marketing. When Debian's developers fuck with the codebase and introduce new bugs, it's Mozilla's reputation that gets tarnished -- even though Debian screwed it up. Furthermore, bug reports are not very useful when users aren't using a standard release.

Debian is being extremely rude and egotistical here. If they don't want to ship an unmolested version of Firefox, they shouldn't include it at all. If they feel the need to make changes to Firefox, they should follow Mozilla's development process. It's not their project to fuck with. If they want to hack shit onto it without following Mozilla's development process, they need to fork the codebase and use a different name. When millions of people start using Debian, then they can bitch about Mozilla's branding policy. Until then, maybe projects like Debian should look at why hardly anyone uses them before they start whining about Firefox.

If I fork Debian, can I use their name and logo?

[burndive]

If I can't, then is Debian truly free? This is stupid. There's a world of difference between the purpose of a trademark and the purpose of a free software license. Trademarks are like a signature: they associate a product with a unique producer. They do not restrict freedom in any meaningful way. If Debian is changing Firefox without Mozilla's approval, they shouldn't be claiming it's Firefox, because it isn't: it's their own fork of Firefox.