Comment 511 for bug 269656

On Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:20:18 -0000
Remco <email address hidden> wrote:

> This hasn't been true for a long time. The version of Firefox that is
> shipped can not be modified freely. If we don't get permission from
> Mozilla to ship a revised binary, we can't. This has to do with the
> artwork and name, both of which are not released under a free license.

Debian, Linux, RedHat, Ubuntu... All trademarks. You can't use them
freely - as no one can use your name for something you didn't do.

If you own a website with 'linux' in the domain name, and if you use it
as a trademark, you need a sublicense from LMI - the name 'Linux' isn't
free.

Check this out (http://www.slackware.com/trademark/trademark.php):

In order to be called "Slackware", the distribution may not be altered
from the way it appears on the central FTP site (ftp.slackware.com).
This is to protect the integrity, reliability, and reputation of the
Slackware distribution.

and this (http://www.gentoo.org/foundation/en/):

The Gentoo Foundation is the legal owner of the Gentoo trademark and
logo. To protect Gentoo it will oversee the use of the Gentoo name and
logo and take appropriate action when the Gentoo Foundation feels that
the name or logo is wrongfully used.

Are Slackware and Gentoo non-free then? Even Debian has a trademark
policy which is clearly non-free, as you can't do whatever you want
with 'Debian'.

Notice how Slackware and Mozilla have identical trademark protection.
You can't change a bit in Slackware's source and call it Slackware.
This, of course, has nothing to do with software, which is free and
you can do whatever you want with it. Trademark isn't software.