Re: [Linux-aus] FireFox vs IceWeasel

[Paul Wayper <paul.wayper@anu.edu.au>]

Glen Turner wrote:
> gareth wrote:
>> I was just wondering if there was consensus withing Linux.Aus that
>> the FireFox/Iceweasle(omg) situation is in fact a debacle that
>> jeopardises FOSS from taking its rightful place as a global standard.
> No, I don't think any such consensus exists.
I agree, although I think my point is different from yours.  I don't
think Linux Australia needs to do anything.  IceWeasel, or the Mozilla
Foundation being a Evil Nasty Corporation about bundling Evil Nasty
Proprietary Software into FireFox, isn't (IMO) going to change the
global browser market in any noticeable way.

Sure, there are going to be some dedicated die-hard Free Software
fanatics who change over to IceWeasel because they can't bear that the
Mozilla Foundation might allow the user to use non-free plugins, and
supply FireFox with a binary application that reports crash details.  I
can't see the majority of FireFox users on Windows being overly
disturbed by this, and I don't think that the majority of Linux users
are going to be disturbed by it either.  These are people who happily
install the Macromedia Flash plugin, Adobe's PDF reader plugin and
whatever else that makes their browsing experience more fun; they've
probably installed the NVidia or ATI proprietary binary-only Evil Nasty
modules that kernel developers seem to get so agitated about (as the
Kororaa LiveCD experience shows).  While they might realise that they're
"giving the entire kernel developer society the finger" (in the words of
Greg Kroah-Hartman), they're more interested in the cool OpenGL
performance and playing games.

So, realistically, you're only going to actually _look_for_ IceWeasel if
you care enough about FireFox allowing and using proprietary binaries. 
(To keep this in perspective, I see this as about as dangerous as
worrying about a third-party steering wheel cover in your car)  No-one
has worried about it up until now.  No FireFox user I've ever talked to,
on Windows or Linux, has ever said "you know, the fact that people can
use the plug-in system to install non-free plugins really worries me". 
So, in my small sample, IceWeasel is a project akin to cautioning people
about clapping in case they destroy untold millions of spores and
bacteria.  Not only is it only making more work, and dividing the
community more, but there are far more important problems (IMO) to do
with licensing and the openness and freedom of our software than this.

I can only hope that the people who run IceWeasel cycle everywhere, are
vegan, wear clothes made of natural fibres, and run their computers on
solar power.  Because, if not, you've got far worse ethical problems
than FireFox allowing users to do what they want to do.  IceWeasel is
just taking the Free Software Advocacy position to its illogical extreme.

JM2cW,

Paul