Re: Debian logo & its license
> On Sat, Jan 23, 1999 at 11:44:06PM -0800, Joey Hess wrote:
> > We shouldn't license our logo by any license that does not comply with the
> > DFSG. To do so would be hypocritical.
> >
> Not true. It's the Debian Free SOFTWARE Guidelines. A logo is not software.
> It may well be that we want a logo whose use is restricted so that we can have
> some control over the quality of items that it is associated with.
More to the point, a logo is more like a name than software. Its
purpose is to identify something, not make it work.
We have DFSG software in Debian which has the license requirement that
if a modified version fails to pass a particularly stringent, non-DFSG
conformance test, it may not use a particular name to identify it. The
ability to require renaming a program because the authors don't want a
broken fork detracting from their reputations has been a part of the
DFSG for a long time, and I didn't think that it was under dispute.
Should not the author have the same control over other identifying
marks (like logos) which are associated with the software? I don't
think that that violates the spirit of the DFSG. If it violates the
letter, then I think it should be looked into.
> It appears that what we really need are two logos: one with a relatively open
> license and second with a more restricted one. The open one would be used on
> web pages, etc. An example where a more restricted license would be appropriate
> is letting it only be used on CDs that pass a test suite guaranteeing that the
> CD set is 'good enough'.
I agree. I would suggest that the two be closely linked in form... To
use our current logo as an example, have the plain line-art penguin as
the "open" logo, and the penguin in the center of a scalloped-edged
annulus (as if it were in the center of a seal) as the restricted logo.
Both scale well, both are distinctive, and both are similar enough to
tell that they are both related. (I thought of suggesting the word
"certified", "approved", or similar into the suggested logo, but words
don't scale well, can be hard to read, imply things they probably
shouldn't, and are language-specific.)
>
> Jay Treacy
>
--
Buddha Buck bmbuck@acsu.buffalo.edu
"Just as the strength of the Internet is chaos, so the strength of our
liberty depends upon the chaos and cacaphony of the unfettered speech
the First Amendment protects." -- A.L.A. v. U.S. Dept. of Justice
Reply to: