Thunderbird bz 579023 still not fixed even though there is an upstream fix available

[Adam Williamson]

On Sun, 2010-04-25 at 14:48 -0400, Chris Tyler wrote:

> * The trademark rules are there for a reason. Browser and e-mail clients
> are some of the most common attack points on desktop systems, and
> Mozilla needs to ensure that they don't get a black eye for some
> vulnerability introduced by a distro. And distros definitely introduce
> vulnerabilities: think about the Debian ssh-keygen patch fiasco as an
> example. We wouldn't do something so rash, of course -- or would we? The
> suggestion earlier in this thread that we patch TB and push directly to
> stable does not instill confidence. (We have the freedom to turn off the
> branding anytime and use the code however we want, but why give up the
> marketing value? and why give up the testing?)

I think a rather large part of the problem here is that all the above
'special exception' pleading applies far more to Firefox than it does to
Thunderbird. Firefox is a special exception; it's a phenomenon, the
single most successful F/OSS app, an app with its own very definite
distinct identity which many people know. It clearly does have a
reputation to protect and I can entirely agree with it being very
careful about that.

Thunderbird...uhhh, not so much. It's nowhere near as popular as
Firefox. Most people don't know what it is. It's not really a 'special
exception'; it's just another application like the ten gazillion others
we ship which don't have onerous trademark restrictions attached.

I think it'd be appropriate for Mozilla to take a rather more liberal
line with Thunderbird than it does with Firefox, if that's legally
plausible.
-- 
Adam Williamson
Fedora QA Community Monkey
IRC: adamw | Fedora Talk: adamwill AT fedoraproject DOT org
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