Iceweasel
Encyclopedia
In 2006, a branding issue developed when Mike Connor, representing the Mozilla Corporation
, requested that the Debian
Project comply with Mozilla standards for use of the Thunderbird trademark when redistributing the Thunderbird software. At issue were modifications not approved by the Mozilla Foundation, when the name for the software remained the same.
In 2006 the Debian Project subsequently rebranded
the Mozilla Firefox
program, and other software released by Mozilla, so that Debian could continue to distribute the software with modifications permitted, without being bound by the use of trademark requirements that the Mozilla Foundation had required. The new names established by Debian were Iceweasel for Mozilla Firefox
, Icedove for Mozilla Thunderbird
, and Iceape for SeaMonkey
. These changes were implemented in the subsequent version of Debian (Etch)
. In July 2007, Iceowl, a rebranded version of Mozilla Sunbird
, was added to the unstable branch of Debian.
The Debian Free Software Guidelines
are used by the Debian project to determine whether a license is a free license, which in turn is used to determine whether something can be included in Debian. As the logo did not meet these requirements, it could not be used by software which was to be included in Debian. This effect of the Mozilla trademark policy led to a long debate within the Debian Project in 2004 and 2005. During this debate, the name “Iceweasel” was coined to refer to rebranded versions of Firefox. The first known use of the name in this context is by Nathanael Nerode,
in reply to Eric Dorland's suggestion of “Icerabbit”.
It was intended as a parody of “Firefox”.
“Iceweasel” was subsequently used as the example name for a rebranded Firefox in the Mozilla Trademark Policy,
and became the most commonly used name for a hypothetical rebranded version of Firefox. By January 1, 2005, rebranding as a strategy was being referred to as the “Iceweasel route”.
The term "ice weasel" appeared earlier in a line which Matt Groening
fictionally attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche
: "Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come."
Debian was initially given permission to use the trademarks, and adopted the Firefox name. However, because the artwork in Firefox had a proprietary copyright license which was not compatible with the Debian Free Software Guidelines, the substituted logo had to remain.
, wrote to the Debian bug tracker and informed the project that Mozilla did not consider the way in which Debian was using the Firefox name to be acceptable. Connor confirmed that the Mozilla Corporation was revoking the previous agreement which allowed Debian to use the Firefox name. Further messages from Mike Connor clarified Mozilla's new trademark policies: usage of the Firefox name is not allowed unless the rest of the branding is used and all of the browser's changes are approved by Mozilla Corporation.
The immediate problem caused by the new policy was Debian's inability
to use the official Firefox logo due to its proprietary license
failing to comply with the Debian Free Software Guidelines
.
Additionally, as Debian releases are frozen on a long-term basis,
software in the frozen stable releases needs to be patched for any
newly-discovered security issue. Under the revised guidelines, in
order to use the Firefox name, approval from the Mozilla Corporation
would have been required for all security patches, but the Debian
project felt it could not put its security in the hands of an external
corporation in that manner.
The "Iceweasel" name was revived in the Debian community as a possible name to give the rebranded version of Firefox. The Iceweasel found in Debian is not GNU IceWeasel (now GNU IceCat)
but a rebranded Firefox created by the Debian project. The Debian maintainer has stated that he will "get in touch with [the GNU IceCat/IceWeasel team] to see what we can do together".
Similarly, Debian renamed Mozilla Thunderbird
and SeaMonkey
, to Icedove and Iceape, respectively.
project's unstable repository on November 20, 2006, on October 14, 2006, and on December 1, 2006, respectively. Icedove migrated to Etch and Thunderbird was removed on November 11, 2006. Iceape migrated to Etch on January 11, 2007, (the old Mozilla suite having previously been removed on October 6, 2006). Iceweasel migrated (and Firefox was removed) on January 18, 2007. Debian's first stable release to include Iceweasel, Icedove, and Iceape was Debian 4.0 (Etch), released April 8, 2007. Soon after the renaming Debian also replaced Mozilla's unbranded logos with new logos designed to fit with the new names, drawn by Ricardo Fernandez Fuentes.
, Thunderbird
, Sunbird
, and SeaMonkey
.
The rebranded products still use some Internet-based services from Mozilla, including the Mozilla plugin finder service, and Mozilla add-ons and their update notifications. There has also been no change to how non-free
components, such as Flash, are found or used.
distributed by the Debian project. It is based on Mozilla Thunderbird
, but is made entirely of free software
. With Icedove, the Debian project aims to provide a version of the Mozilla Thunderbird e-mail client
which has not yet been kept in synchronization with upstream development of Thunderbird as originally planned. It removes the proprietary
artwork and plug-in repositories used in the official release by the Mozilla Corporation
, which are classified as non-free by free software advocates.
distributed by the Debian project. Iceape is based on SeaMonkey
, but is made entirely of free software
. The Debian project aims with Iceape to provide a version of the SeaMonkey Internet suite
which is kept in synchronization with upstream development of SeaMonkey while removing the proprietary
artwork and plug-in repositories used in the official release by the SeaMonkey Council, which are classified as non-free by free software advocates.
application distributed by the Debian project. It is based on Mozilla Sunbird
, but is made entirely of free software
.
/GPL
/LGPL
tri-license. Unlike Mozilla, the default icons are under the same tri-license.
strings and refuse to work properly. As a workaround, Iceweasel 3.5.5 adds a "like Firefox
x.x.x" string to the User-Agent.
Mozilla Corporation
The Mozilla Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation that coordinates and integrates the development of Internet-related applications such as the Mozilla Firefox and SeaMonkey Navigator web browsers and the Mozilla Thunderbird email client by a growing global community of...
, requested that the Debian
Debian
Debian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
Project comply with Mozilla standards for use of the Thunderbird trademark when redistributing the Thunderbird software. At issue were modifications not approved by the Mozilla Foundation, when the name for the software remained the same.
In 2006 the Debian Project subsequently rebranded
Rebranding
Rebranding is the creation of a new name, term, symbol, design, or a combination of them for an established brand with the intention of developing a differentiated position in the mind of stakeholders and competitors....
the Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. , Firefox is the second most widely used browser, with approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers...
program, and other software released by Mozilla, so that Debian could continue to distribute the software with modifications permitted, without being bound by the use of trademark requirements that the Mozilla Foundation had required. The new names established by Debian were Iceweasel for Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. , Firefox is the second most widely used browser, with approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers...
, Icedove for Mozilla Thunderbird
Mozilla Thunderbird
Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser...
, and Iceape for SeaMonkey
SeaMonkey
SeaMonkey is a free and open source cross-platform Internet suite. It is the continuation of the former Mozilla Application Suite, based on the same source code...
. These changes were implemented in the subsequent version of Debian (Etch)
Debian
Debian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
. In July 2007, Iceowl, a rebranded version of Mozilla Sunbird
Mozilla Sunbird
Mozilla Sunbird is a free and open source, cross-platform calendar application that was developed by the Mozilla Foundation, Sun Microsystems and many volunteers...
, was added to the unstable branch of Debian.
Origins of the issue and of the Iceweasel name
Mozilla Foundation owns the trademark “Firefox” and claims the right to deny the use of the name and other trademarks to unofficial builds.The Debian Free Software Guidelines
Debian Free Software Guidelines
The Debian Free Software Guidelines is a set of guidelines that the Debian Project uses to determine whether a software license is a free software license, which in turn is used to determine whether a piece of software can be included in Debian...
are used by the Debian project to determine whether a license is a free license, which in turn is used to determine whether something can be included in Debian. As the logo did not meet these requirements, it could not be used by software which was to be included in Debian. This effect of the Mozilla trademark policy led to a long debate within the Debian Project in 2004 and 2005. During this debate, the name “Iceweasel” was coined to refer to rebranded versions of Firefox. The first known use of the name in this context is by Nathanael Nerode,
in reply to Eric Dorland's suggestion of “Icerabbit”.
It was intended as a parody of “Firefox”.
“Iceweasel” was subsequently used as the example name for a rebranded Firefox in the Mozilla Trademark Policy,
and became the most commonly used name for a hypothetical rebranded version of Firefox. By January 1, 2005, rebranding as a strategy was being referred to as the “Iceweasel route”.
The term "ice weasel" appeared earlier in a line which Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
fictionally attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
: "Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come."
Debian was initially given permission to use the trademarks, and adopted the Firefox name. However, because the artwork in Firefox had a proprietary copyright license which was not compatible with the Debian Free Software Guidelines, the substituted logo had to remain.
Trademark agreement revocation
In February 2006, Mike Connor, representing the Mozilla CorporationMozilla Corporation
The Mozilla Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation that coordinates and integrates the development of Internet-related applications such as the Mozilla Firefox and SeaMonkey Navigator web browsers and the Mozilla Thunderbird email client by a growing global community of...
, wrote to the Debian bug tracker and informed the project that Mozilla did not consider the way in which Debian was using the Firefox name to be acceptable. Connor confirmed that the Mozilla Corporation was revoking the previous agreement which allowed Debian to use the Firefox name. Further messages from Mike Connor clarified Mozilla's new trademark policies: usage of the Firefox name is not allowed unless the rest of the branding is used and all of the browser's changes are approved by Mozilla Corporation.
The immediate problem caused by the new policy was Debian's inability
to use the official Firefox logo due to its proprietary license
failing to comply with the Debian Free Software Guidelines
Debian Free Software Guidelines
The Debian Free Software Guidelines is a set of guidelines that the Debian Project uses to determine whether a software license is a free software license, which in turn is used to determine whether a piece of software can be included in Debian...
.
Additionally, as Debian releases are frozen on a long-term basis,
software in the frozen stable releases needs to be patched for any
newly-discovered security issue. Under the revised guidelines, in
order to use the Firefox name, approval from the Mozilla Corporation
would have been required for all security patches, but the Debian
project felt it could not put its security in the hands of an external
corporation in that manner.
The "Iceweasel" name was revived in the Debian community as a possible name to give the rebranded version of Firefox. The Iceweasel found in Debian is not GNU IceWeasel (now GNU IceCat)
GNU IceCat
GNU IceCat, formerly known as GNU IceWeasel, is a free software rebranding of the Mozilla Firefox web browser distributed by the GNU Project. It is compatible with both the GNU/Linux and Mac OS X operating systems....
but a rebranded Firefox created by the Debian project. The Debian maintainer has stated that he will "get in touch with [the GNU IceCat/IceWeasel team] to see what we can do together".
Similarly, Debian renamed Mozilla Thunderbird
Mozilla Thunderbird
Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser...
and SeaMonkey
SeaMonkey
SeaMonkey is a free and open source cross-platform Internet suite. It is the continuation of the former Mozilla Application Suite, based on the same source code...
, to Icedove and Iceape, respectively.
Rebranding
According to packages.qa.debian.org, Iceweasel, Icedove and Iceape were first accepted into the DebianDebian
Debian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
project's unstable repository on November 20, 2006, on October 14, 2006, and on December 1, 2006, respectively. Icedove migrated to Etch and Thunderbird was removed on November 11, 2006. Iceape migrated to Etch on January 11, 2007, (the old Mozilla suite having previously been removed on October 6, 2006). Iceweasel migrated (and Firefox was removed) on January 18, 2007. Debian's first stable release to include Iceweasel, Icedove, and Iceape was Debian 4.0 (Etch), released April 8, 2007. Soon after the renaming Debian also replaced Mozilla's unbranded logos with new logos designed to fit with the new names, drawn by Ricardo Fernandez Fuentes.
Subsequent products
Debian's Iceweasel, Icedove, Iceowl, and Iceape are respectively based on Mozilla's FirefoxMozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. , Firefox is the second most widely used browser, with approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers...
, Thunderbird
Mozilla Thunderbird
Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser...
, Sunbird
Mozilla Sunbird
Mozilla Sunbird is a free and open source, cross-platform calendar application that was developed by the Mozilla Foundation, Sun Microsystems and many volunteers...
, and SeaMonkey
SeaMonkey
SeaMonkey is a free and open source cross-platform Internet suite. It is the continuation of the former Mozilla Application Suite, based on the same source code...
.
The rebranded products still use some Internet-based services from Mozilla, including the Mozilla plugin finder service, and Mozilla add-ons and their update notifications. There has also been no change to how non-free
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
components, such as Flash, are found or used.
Icedove
Icedove is an e-mail clientE-mail client
An email client, email reader, or more formally mail user agent , is a computer program used to manage a user's email.The term can refer to any system capable of accessing the user's email mailbox, regardless of it being a mail user agent, a relaying server, or a human typing on a terminal...
distributed by the Debian project. It is based on Mozilla Thunderbird
Mozilla Thunderbird
Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser...
, but is made entirely of free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
. With Icedove, the Debian project aims to provide a version of the Mozilla Thunderbird e-mail client
E-mail client
An email client, email reader, or more formally mail user agent , is a computer program used to manage a user's email.The term can refer to any system capable of accessing the user's email mailbox, regardless of it being a mail user agent, a relaying server, or a human typing on a terminal...
which has not yet been kept in synchronization with upstream development of Thunderbird as originally planned. It removes the proprietary
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
artwork and plug-in repositories used in the official release by the Mozilla Corporation
Mozilla Corporation
The Mozilla Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation that coordinates and integrates the development of Internet-related applications such as the Mozilla Firefox and SeaMonkey Navigator web browsers and the Mozilla Thunderbird email client by a growing global community of...
, which are classified as non-free by free software advocates.
Iceape
Iceape is an Internet suiteInternet suite
An Internet suite is an Internet-related software suite. Internet suites usually include a web browser, e-mail client , download manager, HTML editor, and an IRC client....
distributed by the Debian project. Iceape is based on SeaMonkey
SeaMonkey
SeaMonkey is a free and open source cross-platform Internet suite. It is the continuation of the former Mozilla Application Suite, based on the same source code...
, but is made entirely of free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
. The Debian project aims with Iceape to provide a version of the SeaMonkey Internet suite
Internet suite
An Internet suite is an Internet-related software suite. Internet suites usually include a web browser, e-mail client , download manager, HTML editor, and an IRC client....
which is kept in synchronization with upstream development of SeaMonkey while removing the proprietary
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
artwork and plug-in repositories used in the official release by the SeaMonkey Council, which are classified as non-free by free software advocates.
- Note: As of Debian release Lenny, Iceape has been removed due to lack of development support within the Debian community. Libraries iceape-dev and iceape-dev-bin are still available but the application itself is not. However it is included with newer version of Lenny including the current stable, squeeze. The new version of iceape is based on Seamonkey 2.
Iceowl
Iceowl is a calendarCalendar
A calendar is a system of organizing days for social, religious, commercial, or administrative purposes. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months, and years. The name given to each day is known as a date. Periods in a calendar are usually, though not...
application distributed by the Debian project. It is based on Mozilla Sunbird
Mozilla Sunbird
Mozilla Sunbird is a free and open source, cross-platform calendar application that was developed by the Mozilla Foundation, Sun Microsystems and many volunteers...
, but is made entirely of free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
.
Licensing
The rebranded programs are available under Mozilla's standard MPLMozilla Public License
The Mozilla Public License is a free and open source software license. Version 1.0 was developed by Mitchell Baker when she worked as a lawyer at Netscape Communications Corporation and version 1.1 at the Mozilla Foundation...
/GPL
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
/LGPL
GNU Lesser General Public License
The GNU Lesser General Public License or LGPL is a free software license published by the Free Software Foundation . It was designed as a compromise between the strong-copyleft GNU General Public License or GPL and permissive licenses such as the BSD licenses and the MIT License...
tri-license. Unlike Mozilla, the default icons are under the same tri-license.
User Agent problem
Some web sites do not recognise the browsers' User agentUser agent
In computing, a user agent is a client application implementing a network protocol used in communications within a client–server distributed computing system...
strings and refuse to work properly. As a workaround, Iceweasel 3.5.5 adds a "like Firefox
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. , Firefox is the second most widely used browser, with approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers...
x.x.x" string to the User-Agent.
See also
- Mozilla FirefoxMozilla FirefoxMozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. , Firefox is the second most widely used browser, with approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers...
- History of Mozilla FirefoxHistory of Mozilla FirefoxThe Mozilla Firefox project was created by Dave Hyatt and Blake Ross as an experimental branch of the Mozilla project. Firefox 1.0 was released on November 9, 2004. Firefox 1.5 was released on November 29, 2005. Version 2.0 was released on October 24, 2006...
- Debian Free Software GuidelinesDebian Free Software GuidelinesThe Debian Free Software Guidelines is a set of guidelines that the Debian Project uses to determine whether a software license is a free software license, which in turn is used to determine whether a piece of software can be included in Debian...
- GNU IceCatGNU IceCatGNU IceCat, formerly known as GNU IceWeasel, is a free software rebranding of the Mozilla Firefox web browser distributed by the GNU Project. It is compatible with both the GNU/Linux and Mac OS X operating systems....
External links
- Debian and Mozilla - a study in trademarks - a summary of the debate at LWN.netLWN.netLWN.net is a computing webzine with an emphasis on free software and software for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. It consists of a weekly issue, separate stories which are published most days, and threaded discussion attached to every story. Most news published daily are short...
- Arguments on the Debian Bug tracking system