What will be Mozilla’s new name?

BANGALORE: Mozilla organization had recently announced that it would replace its Mozilla browser with a new, lighter browser, which was ‘temporarily’ named Phoenix. Objections arose because another browser by the same name (Phoenix FirstView Connect) already exists.

The company then announced, "After months of discussion and further months of legal investigation, we"re finally comfortable moving forward with new names. The new name for the Phoenix browser is Firebird. The documentation and product strings will be updated soon."

But the latest rabble-rouser against the name is the FireBird SQL database, which like Mozilla, is an open source project. The company says, "We of the Firebird project are devoted to our branding." They also claim that Mozilla’s decision to go ahead with the name, FireBird, is a "slap on the face of the open source community".

The company says, "We are dismayed that Firebird was not contacted before Mozilla"s decision was finalized. This breach of principle has occurred in the heartland of open source, where we are all supposed to be above such things. The attitude adopted by Mozilla"s vocal proponents of the change, in essence "if they don"t like it they can sue", is contrary to the generally accepted core values of the open source community. It reflects poorly on a community that voices strong opinions when corporate entities employ similar tactics. If Open Source is to win, we can do without brother cynically stealing from brother. "

FireBird supporters are making themselves heard by posting protest messages on various sites such as Mozillazine and slashdot.