Is Chromium Free Yet?
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As the title suggests, has anybody recently checked to see if Chromium may be fully free software?
I realize that this has been asked quite a few times in the past, and it still has the issue of recommending non-free addons, but besides that, has the unclear licensing issues been fixed? I've tried having a look at the source code myself, however, it's a lot of files to go through, and I was never able to complete it.
So, has there been any discussions/investigations into whether or not Chromium can be added to fully free distributions like Trisquel? I'm asking because I really do like Chromium as a browser, however, I don't want to use it until I know that it's libre/can be liberated after fixing the addon issue.
There was a question posted to the gnu-linux-libre mailing list a few months ago:
http://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/gnu-linux-libre/2012-03/msg00028.html
And some follow up emails to that, in the archives.
In April there were two emails:
http://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/gnu-linux-libre/2012-04/msg00000.html
This is the last I've heard.
I know that modified versions of Firefox can't use the Firefox name, but does the same apply to Chromium? What is stopping Ruben and the gang from taking the Chromium source, modifying to work with a free extension store (like Abrowser) and adding to the repos?
I am a member!
Rubén would like to go to work on Trisquel full time. He can't. He has other work. There would need to be more people contributing to the project for him to take it on full time. Right now we still haven't hit a 100 members! Hint: become a member and maybe he'll have time to work on it in the future. Get other people to join.
Every $10 - $20 USD/EUROS/etc every month helps. More so then purchasing hardware or something from the gift store. A one time donation of a few hundred dollars/euros/etc is nothing compared to years of monthly contributions. As long as you become a member and stay a member you ultimately make a larger dent in improving Trisquel over the long haul.
There are only a few people making large enough donations that they might actually hit a larger amount that it doesn't matter. You end up spending about $1,200 USD / EUR over 10 years at $10 USD / EUR a month.
Just to clarify currently we have 50 members. Half way there. So depending on your view is that a glass half full or half empty?
Google allows for modified versions of Chromium to use the official blue logo and name under the CC-BY or BSD license, so it isn't like Firefox.
The biggest problem is that the licensing was unclear for some files. However, nobody knows if it's still unclear, or if it was fixed (the last time somebody checked was about a year or two ago IIRC).
I'd really like to finally see Chromium in free software operating systems. It's been around for 4 years now, and it is a lovely browser. If one of the problems is getting a free extension list going for it, I'd gladly help find free extensions.
May I suggest you open a wiki page here and now and start the screening process? Then other people who are also interested can chip in so to speak.
Write one sentence to the top on what the page is all about and then maybe a short howto. Then just start listing the files and licenses or lack thereof.
Let's get the ball rolling!
Yeah I am very curious as well which extensions on the Chrome Store have a free license. If you are up for the challenge in the research, then go for it bro. I may dabble in some research as well.
What I really like about Chromium is that it supports Greasemonkey scripts out of the box and are listed next to other extensions.
I've been watching as well.
This Chromium bug is relevant: http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=28291
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