One of the best examples of how careful Debian is about licensing issues involves the Mozilla suite of software, which includes the Thunderbird mail reader and the popular Firefox browser. A whole chapter could be written on the history of the dispute and the issues involved. However, the basic problem is that the Mozilla artwork is not under a free license as defined by the Debian guidelines. For a while, Debian was allowed to use other artwork, but eventualy the Mozilla Corporation withdrew that permission. Some of the reasons this changed included the way the Debian developers compiled the software to comply with their policies and the social contract.
After a long argument, the Debian project determined that the best approach was to rename the software, as allowed by the Mozilla license, so it would remain compatible with the DFSG. Thunderbird in Debian is now called Iceowl, and Firefox is called Iceweasel.
The names evolved from early discussions when Iceweasel was used to describe a hypothetical re-branded version. The name stuck. Other Mozilla software was renamed in a similar fashion.
The advantages for administrators include the following:
- The Debian version is unencumbered by non-free licensing.
- Bugs are frequently fixed by the Debian maintainers more quickly. These patches are passed on to the Mozilla maintainers. This is actually required for all patches to any software by Debian developers by policy.
- Updates are managed via the Debian packaging framework rather than requiring a separate, proprietary update procedure.
- The software uses standard Debian system libraries rather than installing Mozilla's separate libraries.
- The software will run on the various Debian supported, non-Intel architectures. For example, do you have an old IBM z Series server? Debian Iceweasel will run on it. How about an old SG or Sparc workstation? Same story, Debian Iceweasel will run just fine.
Nevertheless, Debian Iceweasel is, for all practical purposes, Firefox. It offers the same look and feel, uses the same plugins, and identifies itself to servers as compatible with Firefox. The same is true for the rest of the re-branded Mozilla software.
The Plugin Search feature is modified in Debian to seek only free plugins, but I've never found this to be a problem. Non-free plugins can still be installed at the user's own discretion, and will work.
