Received: from sog-mx-1.v43.ch3.sourceforge.com ([172.29.43.191] helo=mx.sourceforge.net) by sfs-ml-4.v29.ch3.sourceforge.com with esmtp (Exim 4.76) (envelope-from ) id 1Xcdxx-0006mS-FY for bitcoin-development@lists.sourceforge.net; Fri, 10 Oct 2014 17:26:57 +0000 Received-SPF: pass (sog-mx-1.v43.ch3.sourceforge.com: domain of gmail.com designates 209.85.218.50 as permitted sender) client-ip=209.85.218.50; envelope-from=mh.in.england@gmail.com; helo=mail-oi0-f50.google.com; Received: from mail-oi0-f50.google.com ([209.85.218.50]) by sog-mx-1.v43.ch3.sourceforge.com with esmtps (TLSv1:RC4-SHA:128) (Exim 4.76) id 1Xcdxw-0003Jj-7g for bitcoin-development@lists.sourceforge.net; Fri, 10 Oct 2014 17:26:57 +0000 Received: by mail-oi0-f50.google.com with SMTP id i138so7342287oig.37 for ; Fri, 10 Oct 2014 10:26:50 -0700 (PDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Received: by 10.182.232.229 with SMTP id tr5mr2307007obc.83.1412962010802; Fri, 10 Oct 2014 10:26:50 -0700 (PDT) Sender: mh.in.england@gmail.com Received: by 10.76.86.105 with HTTP; Fri, 10 Oct 2014 10:26:49 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: References: <2262118.BDDGpkgqmz@1337h4x0r> Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 19:26:49 +0200 X-Google-Sender-Auth: S_3uMT8oSCqB5Lm9UIDKSRJzAWw Message-ID: From: Mike Hearn To: Jeff Garzik Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=001a11c32f94bc3069050514da82 X-Spam-Score: -0.5 (/) X-Spam-Report: Spam Filtering performed by mx.sourceforge.net. See http://spamassassin.org/tag/ for more details. -1.5 SPF_CHECK_PASS SPF reports sender host as permitted sender for sender-domain 0.0 FREEMAIL_FROM Sender email is commonly abused enduser mail provider (mh.in.england[at]gmail.com) -0.0 SPF_PASS SPF: sender matches SPF record 1.0 HTML_MESSAGE BODY: HTML included in message 0.1 DKIM_SIGNED Message has a DKIM or DK signature, not necessarily valid -0.1 DKIM_VALID Message has at least one valid DKIM or DK signature X-Headers-End: 1Xcdxw-0003Jj-7g Cc: Bitcoin Dev Subject: Re: [Bitcoin-development] Something people are forgetting about the Gentoo / Luke-jr censorship issue X-BeenThere: bitcoin-development@lists.sourceforge.net X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 17:26:57 -0000 --001a11c32f94bc3069050514da82 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 I'm sure this suggestion will go down like a lead balloon, but Bitcoin Core is not the first project that's had issues with Linux distros silently modifying their software as they package it. In this case Luke has changed things to be closer to what users expect, which is good to see, but I expect to see the same issue crop up with other Linux distributions in future. The temptation to "improve" things when you're a middleman is just too great. The usual approach to fixing it is trademark the project name and use that to enforce "clean" packaging. Firefox and Chrome both take this approach. I'll probably do the same with Lighthouse (need to figure out the trademarking process first). The goal here is not to remove choice, rather to ensure people know what they're getting. It's reasonable to assume if you do "emerge bitcoin" then you're getting Bitcoin Core as distributed by bitcoin.org, not a highly opinionated fork of it. Renaming a project and creating a package under the new name is not only better for end users, but lets the fork grow into something else and be more usable to people on other distros too. In this case "Bitcoin" is already a trademark, though I lost track of who owns it at the moment (the foundation?) but I guess Bitcoin Core is not. --001a11c32f94bc3069050514da82 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
I'm sure this suggestion wi= ll go down like a lead balloon, but Bitcoin Core is not the first project t= hat's had issues with Linux distros silently modifying their software a= s they package it. In this case Luke has changed things to be closer to wha= t users expect, which is good to see, but I expect to see the same issue cr= op up with other Linux distributions in future. The temptation to "imp= rove" things when you're a middleman is just too great.

The usual approa= ch to fixing it is trademark the project name and use that to enforce "= ;clean" packaging. Firefox and Chrome both take this approach. I'l= l probably do the same with Lighthouse (need to figure out the trademarking= process first).=C2=A0

The goal here is not to remove choice, rather to ensure pe= ople know what they're getting. It's reasonable to assume if you do= "emerge bitcoin" then you're getting Bitcoin Core as distrib= uted by bitcoin.org, not a highly opinio= nated fork of it. Renaming a project and creating a package under the new n= ame is not only better for end users, but lets the fork grow into something= else and be more usable to people on other distros too.

In this case "Bitco= in" is already a trademark, though I lost track of who owns it at the = moment (the foundation?) but I guess Bitcoin Core is not.
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