OK, I know that was posted by “troll” and should probably just be ignored… but there was no Firefox 0.1… the browser was called Phoenix until version 0.5 or so when it got renamed Firebird, then a couple versions later got renamed again to Firefox.

Anyways, I don’t see this EULA issue as anything but an attempt to protect the Mozilla Corporation and the Mozilla Project. There is nothing in the current EULA that places any restrictions on use of the software, and you aren’t agreeing to give up your personal information or your first born child. Its much shorter than most EULAs (at 2 pages max when printed, 1 page if small type is used). It might be a small annoyance, but its one most users will never remember, and you only see it once. The delay caused by the notice costs users at most a few minutes (if they read it, less than 2 seconds if not), which is much less than the time wasted complaining about it.

FOSS doesn’t mean freedom from EULAs… it means freedom of software and usage. There are licenses on all FOSS source code governing how it is distributed with the intent of protecting the project, and in kind it makes sense to include licenses on binaries to disclaim liability to also protect the project (or in this case the distributing and sponsoring organization).

Mozilla is doing the smart thing, and in the current legal atmosphere, the right thing. At the same time they are making huge strides in advancing FOSS. I applaud them for their efforts, EULAs and all.

Then, they came for the anti-EULA crowd…

The reason they put it in your face is simple: their lawyers said so.

If you dislike this, then I would like you to contact their lawyers.

It may be nothing of importance, BUT IT IS STILL ANNOYING.

I do use Fedora.