This could also be just a smart move by the FirebirdSQL team. The project has been relatively obscure up until now, but with the/. articles people are much more aware of its existence.
It's all a right wing conspiracy. The Mozilla and FirebirdSQL projects conspired to hype both up and gain publicity while having an excuse for the true name of the new Mozilla browser:
"It just seems to me, that with a bit of foresight, moz could have avoided this problem for both of us."
You're missing the point: my use of the term 'firebird' to name my cat shouldn't infringe upon your ability to use it for your DB; your DB shouldn't infringe upon someone else using it for a web browser.
I understand there is an issue of "confusion", but that happens all the time and it won't be solved by limiting ourselves to "unreserved" words. At what point does a project (or cat) become so big that I cannot use the name? If you want to avoid confusion, then continue using 'FirebirdSQL' (as I almost always see it) and the Mozilla project can use 'Firebird Web' or 'Mozilla Firebird'.
Besides, nothing seems so childish as "he took my name, I was using it first". This is the mentality that has tied up the WIPO and caused all kinds of lawsuits.
Slashdot Mirror
It's all a right wing conspiracy. The Mozilla and FirebirdSQL projects conspired to hype both up and gain publicity while having an excuse for the true name of the new Mozilla browser:
Operation: Browser Freedom
You're missing the point: my use of the term 'firebird' to name my cat shouldn't infringe upon your ability to use it for your DB; your DB shouldn't infringe upon someone else using it for a web browser.
I understand there is an issue of "confusion", but that happens all the time and it won't be solved by limiting ourselves to "unreserved" words. At what point does a project (or cat) become so big that I cannot use the name? If you want to avoid confusion, then continue using 'FirebirdSQL' (as I almost always see it) and the Mozilla project can use 'Firebird Web' or 'Mozilla Firebird'.
Besides, nothing seems so childish as "he took my name, I was using it first". This is the mentality that has tied up the WIPO and caused all kinds of lawsuits.