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Debian Allows Trademark Use For Commercial Activities
sfcrazy writes "According to the new trademark policy, Debian logos and marks may now be used freely for both non-commercial and commercial purposes. Stefano Zacchiroli, current Debian Project Leader and one of the main promoters of the new trademark policy, said 'Software freedoms and trademarks are a difficult match. We all want to see well-known project names used to promote free software, but we cannot risk they will be abused to trick users into downloading proprietary spyware. With the help of SPI and SFLC, we have struck a good balance in our new trademark policy. Among other positive things, it allows all sorts of commercial use; we only recommend clearly informing customers about how much of the sale price will be donated to Debian.'"
Does it actually change anything ?
The widely recognized ("official") logo was already the open one, while nobody uses the "restricted" logo.
The new trademark policy states: You cannot use Debian trademarks in any way that suggests an affiliation with or endorsement by the Debian project or community, if the same is not true.
But the official logo doesn't imply endorsement, that's what the restricted logo does. Or isn't the logo part of Debian's trademark ?
Or is it newspeak for an actual restriction of rights ?
I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of killer sig, which this margin is too narrow to contain.
Also known as an Archimedean spiral, who probably also ripped it off from Disney.
c++;
Ubuntu to Amazon: may we use your logo?
Debian to Amazon: you may use our logo.