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Re: Firefox-3 isn't free software. Anything free and usable for GNU?
From: |
David Kastrup |
Subject: |
Re: Firefox-3 isn't free software. Anything free and usable for GNU? |
Date: |
Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:56:20 +0200 |
User-agent: |
Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/23.0.60 (gnu/linux) |
Alan Mackenzie <acm@colin2.muc.de> writes:
> I was just starting Firefox-3 on a GNU/Linux system, when up popped a
> obnoxious "end-user Software License agreement", to which you've got
> to agree before the program will start properly. Part of this is
> agreeing to their "privacy policy" (a privacy policy for a PROGRAM???)
> which you can't read, unless you've got another working browser, since
> it only gives a web address (http://www.mozilla.com/legal/privacy).
>
> In essence, this rambling, turgid, patronising web page says that
> Firefox will "phone home" in the event of a crash (and maybe at other
> times too), transmitting private and personal information to Mozilla,
> which they may use in any fashion whatsoever without regard to
> privacy.
>
> (Actually, they say they'll treat it with proper respect, but that
> they can change their "privacy policy" in any way at any time, without
> telling anybody, including you, about it, and that it's up to you to
> watch this page continually, just in case it changes).
>
> Does anybody here know of any genuinely free web browser which runs
> well in X-Windows running on GNU/Linux?
It is genuinely free, so feel free to throw out all the code that does
phone home.
It might be worth taking a look at, uh, Iceweasel? Or rather its
Debian-specific change files. It is conceivable that Debian has put the
wrench to functionality of that sort, saving you the work to do so.
--
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum