Re: firefox -> iceweasel package is probably not legal
On Wed, 06 Dec 2006, Arnoud Engelfriet wrote:
> What do I get if I run it?
There's nothing in the package, so you don't get anything.
> If it's just a "Sorry, Firefox(TM) not available for legel reasons,
> we recommend Iceweasel instead", then that's fine.
What is being done is the technical equivalent; merely recommending
iceweasel has technical problems because not all frontends support
recommends. Moreover, in Debian, there's no way that you'd just have
the firefox package installed, so a Depends: is the proper dependency
according to policy. If you actually bother to look at the package
description, you'll see:
Description: Transition package for iceweasel rename
Package to ease upgrading from older firefox packages to the new
iceweasel package.
.
This package can be purged at anytime once the iceweasel package has
been installed.
> If it actually goes on to install Iceweasel automatically, then it's
> treading on thin ice. Giving people substitutes for what they asked
> is not a good idea under trademark law.
If there was no functional nature to the name, this would be the case.
However, the name of the package has a functional aspect: it can be
named nothing else and still function the same way.
> That's why a bar has to say "Sorry, we don't have Coke, would you
> like a Pepsi perhaps" instead of giving you Pepsi when you ask for
> Coke. Even when they tell you it's not Coke when they bring it to
> the table.
Can we stop with the horribly incorrect analogies please? If you want
to be even close with this analogy, you need to be talking about a
bartender's soda dispenser with a button labeled "coke" which cannot
be changed which puts out sprite instead of coke. You know it's not
coke, because the box that actually contains the syrup is labeled
sprite, and when it actually comes out, it's clear.
Don Armstrong
--
Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for
the people.
-- Oscar Wilde
http://www.donarmstrong.com http://rzlab.ucr.edu
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