Mozilla admits 'giant error' with Firefox EULA move

Bending to criticism from Linux users angry that it added a license agreement to Firefox, open-source developer Mozilla Corp. has admitted making a mistake and said it will strip the legalese from the browser's next update.

In a pair of blog posts, former Mozilla CEO Mitchell Baker -- currently the chairman of the umbrella Mozilla Foundation -- first acknowledged the error of packing an end-user licensing agreement (EULA) with the Linux version of Firefox and then announced that the EULA would be dropped.

"The most important thing here is to acknowledge that yes, the content of the license agreement is wrong," said Baker on Monday. "The correct content is clear that the code is governed by FLOSS [free/libre open-source software] licenses, not the typical end user license agreement language that is in the current version. We created a license that points to the FLOSS licenses, but we've made a giant error in not getting this to Ubuntu, other distributors, and posted publicly for review."

On Tuesday, Baker went a step farther. "We've come to understand that anything EULA-like is disturbing, even if the content is FLOSS based. So we're eliminating that."

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