Ever wondered why firefox is missing in Debian? Though it is open source, Debian do not think so. Though some Debian distros currently include Mozilla Firefox, they do not typically include the actual Mozilla Firefox logo (the stylized fox on the globe). Debian Linux contains Iceweasel(now known as Icecat) that is derived from Firefox and theoretically should be fully compatible or better. The only difference should be name and logo, as the Firefox name and logo are trademarks.

Debian adheres to a strict interpretation of what is Free Software and what isn't, as outlined in the Debian Free Software Guidelines. The Firefox logo is trademarked, so Debian doesn't consider it to be Free and will not include it as part of its distribution. Mozilla claims that using the Firefox name without the official branding is a trademark violation.

Mozilla's reply to debian

Firefox® logos being subject to trademarks, Debian thinks they are not free.?

Trademark and copyright are different things. Mozilla® has unnecessarily given a non-free license to “clarify” the trademark situation, but that is not required. To make it clear: Debian thinks the logos are not free because they are not free.

              What GNU says about Icecat?

GNU IceCat is the GNU version of the Firefox browser. Its main advantage is an ethical one: it is entirely free software. While the principal source code from the Mozilla project is free software, the distribution contains various problematic files, the EULA they require for use of their binaries is troublesome, and they distribute and recommend non-free software as plug-ins.

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. Unless distributions use the binaries supplied by Mozilla or else have special permission, they must compile the Firefox source with an option enabled which gives Firefox the codename of the release version of Firefox on which it is based, and which uses the official logo or other artwork. 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 does 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 was being referred to as the “Iceweasel route”.

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