The return of Iceweasel [LWN.net]

The return of Iceweasel

Posted Sep 26, 2006 16:36 UTC (Tue) by job (subscriber, #670)
Parent article: The return of Iceweasel

It's hypocrisy to call this free software. Yes, the license is free, but
Debian can not distribute it and give others the freedom to modify and
redistribute.

In a way it is very similar to the license behind QMail, which is widely
regarded as non-free. That one doesn't allow the redistribution of
modified tools, which in practice requires you to run all patches by the
author who decides what goes in and what doesn't, which is exactly the
same situation as with Firefox.

The very idea that Debian should change the DFSG to suit Mozilla is
silly. Free software doesn't need Mozilla but there wouldn't be a Mozilla
without free software.

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The return of Iceweasel

Posted Sep 29, 2006 13:49 UTC (Fri) by sepreece (subscriber, #19270) [Link]

You are, to the best of my knowledge, free to modify and redistribute. You just have to change the name. That doesn't sound at all unreasonable, to me.

The return of Iceweasel

Posted Sep 29, 2006 17:59 UTC (Fri) by giraffedata (subscriber, #1954) [Link]

It's hypocrisy to call this free software. Yes, the license is free, but Debian can not distribute it and give others the freedom to modify and redistribute.
You are, to the best of my knowledge, free to modify and redistribute. You just have to change the name.

Even more to the point, if Debian uses a different name, then "you" don't even have to worry about changing the name when you modify and redistribute Debian (or part thereof).