GNU IceCat

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GNU IceCat

Icecat1-300x300.svg
IceCat 38 Start Page.png
GNU IceCat 38.3.0 on Trisquel
Basic data

Maintainer Gnuzilla team
developer GNU project
Publishing year January 13, 2008
Current  version 60.7.0
( June 2, 2019 )
operating system Linux , macOS , Android , Windows
programming language C , C ++ , JavaScript
category Web browser
License MPL
www.gnu.org/software/icecat

GNU IceCat - formerly known as GNU IceWeasel - is free software - with the name of the web browser changed to Mozilla Firefox - distributed by the GNU Project . The software is compatible with Linux , Windows , Android and macOS . The GNU Project is trying to keep IceCat in sync with Firefox development while also removing all trademarked illustrations. The project also maintains a large list of free software plug-ins , in addition to which it has a few additional security features that are not part of the main line of the Firefox web browser.

history

Name origin

The Mozilla corporation owns the trademark "Firefox" and disclaims any use of the term for variants of the software that do not conform to certain guidelines. Only distributions that use the official binaries or that have special permission move within the guidelines. All others have to compile the Firefox source code with an activated compilation time, which produces binary files without official trademarks, and use either the free graphics provided or their own graphics.

This regulation led to a long debate with the Debian project in 2004 and 2005. In this debate, the name "Iceweasel" was chosen as an alternative name for the Firefox browser. Nathanael Norde's name was first mentioned as an alternative to Eric Dorland's suggestion for "Icerabbit". The name was supposed to be a deliberate parody of "Firefox" and this was then mentioned as an example name in the Mozilla Trademark Policy. The name "iceweasel" was then commonly used for all other Firefox versions.

In August 2005, the Gnuzilla project also adopted GNU IceWeasel's name and used it as a name for a renamed Firefox that does not use proprietary plug-ins . The first Gnuzilla IceWeasel version was based on Firefox version 1.5.0.4.

The term "ice weasel" existed earlier, and Matt Groening fictionally ascribed it to Friedrich Nietzsche :

“Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come. "

“ Love is to speed through the tundra in a snowmobile, but suddenly it overturns and you get stuck under the vehicle. The ice weasels come in the night. "

- Friedrich Nietzsche

Debian had permission to use Firefox from the start. This permission was withdrawn by Mozilla when Debian made major changes to the browser. Debian found the changes so important and - instead of following Mozilla's guidelines - they revived the name Iceweasel.

On September 23, 2007, one of the Gnuzilla developers announced that the name would change from IceWeasel to GNU IceCat in the next version . This step was taken to avoid confusion with Debian's separately maintained browser project.

Publications

  • GNU IceCat 2 (version 2.0.0.11-g1 was released on January 12, 2008)
  • GNU IceCat 3 (July 23, 2008)
  • GNU IceCat 4 (April 10, 2011)
  • GNU IceCat 5 (June 27, 2011)
  • GNU IceCat 6
  • GNU IceCat 7
  • GNU IceCat 9
  • GNU IceCat 10
  • GNU IceCat 12
  • GNU IceCat 13
  • GNU IceCat 14
  • GNU IceCat 17
  • GNU IceCat 24
  • GNU IceCat 31 (2014)
  • GNU IceCat 38 (2015)
  • GNU IceCat 45 (2016)
  • GNU IceCat 52 (2017)

IceCat publications are mostly up to date with the Mozilla Firefox source code.

distribution

GNU IceCat is available as a download for IA-32 and PowerPC architectures. Binary files and source code are available (although the latest packages are only available for Linux ), and it is also available for Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5. Mac users with these versions can install it on Mac OS X using Fink . There is also an installation package for Windows (from Vista ) and for Android (from 2.3).

Additional security functions

IceCat contains additional security functions such as B. the blocking of image files without size, which result in third party HTTP cookies (also known as tracking pixels ), this function was already available in Firefox 1.0, 1.5 and 3.0, but the UI option was missing in 2.0.

In version 3.0.2-g1, the certificate from CAcert (a certification authority ) was added to the list of trusted root certificates. Concerns about the move have been raised on a Savannah public mailing list .

Extensions

Licensing

Gnuzilla is available under the MPL / GPL / LGPL Trio license which Mozilla used for the source code; unlike Mozilla, IceCat's default icons are also under the same Trio license.

Google Summer of Code 2008

Recommendations were made for the Google Summer of Code 2008 to improve GNU IceCat.

These include:

  • Porting the code base to Firefox 3
  • Extended support for free plugins such as B. Gnash
  • Changes to privacy features

The proposal to port IceCat to the Firefox 3 code base was accepted and carried out by Giuseppe Scrivano .

See also

Portal: Free Software  - Overview of Wikipedia content on the subject of Free Software

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ lists.gnu.org .
  2. ↑ Savannah source code system: gnuzilla / icecat-latest: /toolkit/content/license.html . Archived from the original on July 4, 2013. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 15, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / bzr.savannah.gnu.org
  3. ^ Karl Berry: Ice Weasel . September 23, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  4. ↑ a b Ruben Rodriguez: IceCat 31.5.0 release . GNUzilla. March 9, 2015.
  5. ↑ a b c Mozilla Trademark Policy .
  6. ^ Nathanael Nerode: Mozilla Firefox's icon and trademark . February 27, 2004. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  7. ↑ Eric Dorland: Mozilla Firefox's icon and trademark . December 27, 2004. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  8. ↑ Joel Aelwyn: Mozilla and Trademarks . January 1, 2005. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  9. ↑ Gnuzilla / IceWeasel Project Application .
  10. ↑ IceWeasel 1.5.0.4 Download location . Archived from the original on May 23, 2020. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 30, 2007. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / aeneas.mit.edu
  11. ↑ Matt Groening : Love Is Hell . Pantheon Books , 1986, ISBN 0-394-74454-3 (English).
  12. ^ Gervase Markham: Ongoing Firefox (and Thunderbird) Trademark problems . July 14, 2005. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  13. ↑ Gervase Markham: Firefox / Thunderbird trademarks: a proposal . June 19, 2005. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  14. ^ Giuseppe Scrivano: GNU IceCat 4.0 . April 11, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
  15. ↑ Giuseppe Scrivano: GNU IceCat 5.0 . June 27, 2011. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  16. ↑ GNU Icecat 31 . Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  17. ↑ GNU Icecat 38 . Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  18. ↑ GNU Icecat 45 . Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  19. ↑ GNU Icecat 52 . Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  20. ↑ a b Gnuzilla homepage
  21. ^ Karl Berry: CAcert, GNU IceCat, and savannah . October 7, 2008. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  22. ^ Summer of Code project suggestions for GNU . Retrieved April 13, 2008.
  23. ^ Google Code - Summer of Code - Application Information . Archived from the original on June 21, 2008. Retrieved on August 7, 2008.