Firefox Not Really Free?

[Skatoony]

The one thing I found strange about Firefox on Kubuntu was - it didn't contain the Firefox logo. After a quick search on Google, I found out why.

When most people think about the Mozilla Firefox browser, they think of it as being open source and free.
The truth is, while Mozilla Firefox is open source, it is not entirely free, and it may not even be legally compatible with Debian GNU/Linux, one of the most popular community Linux distribution bases.

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Though Debian and Debian-derived distributions such as the popular Ubuntu Linux currently include Mozilla Firefox, they do not typically include the actual Mozilla Firefox logo (the stylized fox on the globe). And therein lies the rub.

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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.

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What all this ultimately could mean is that the Firefox name is wiped from the face of Debian and its offshoots.

Full article

So to all you Debian/Ubuntu/Kubuntu users (including my self), if Firefox doesn't appear in your apt repository - you'll know what has happened.

[Graham M]

You cant blame them for trademarking it though really can you?

[Gareth]

Yeah, that's a bit weird... even the term Linux is trademarked, iirc, with Linus holding the entire rights. Strange.

[Robster]

I've been using Ubuntu for about a month and I had wondered about that.

Well now I know.....

[Skatoony]

New name for it has been confirmed - the version of Firefox in Debian/Ubuntu/Kubuntu will be called IceWeasel. Possible icons for the Ubuntu/Kubuntu distros can be found here.