Firefox, what's not to love about this open-source web browser? Well, a number of users following the development work on Ubuntu 8.10 (the Intrepid Ibex) are feeling rather outraged over Mozilla Firefox 3.0.2 and later. In the latest Ubuntu packages, Firefox requires an EULA (End-User License Agreement) be accepted the first time you launch the browser.

Mozilla received a lot of criticism from OS community for bundling EULA with Firefox builds. Even though they decided to remove EULA, earlier Ubuntu Ibex alpha builds still had the old EULA on.

As I reported yesterday, Mozilla has admitted that the Firefox EULA was flawed.

Grumpy Ubuntu users are snarling about Mozilla including a largely open-source irrelevant EULA (End-user license agreement) with the latest version of the Firefox Web browser. Indeed, one user went so far as to file an Ubuntu bug report about the EULA.

In the past few days we have seen a debate explode over the inclusion of a EULA in the version of Firefox to be included in future Ubuntu releases. Some argue that Ubuntu should just leave the EULA in, while others argue that something like IceWeasel, an unbranded version of Firefox, should be included.

Mozilla has received widespread criticism from within the open-source community for bundling a EULA with official binary builds of Firefox 3. Critics argue that including a conventional user license agreement in Firefox is antithetical to the principles of unencumbered use that are cherished in the open-source software community.

The pace at which Mozilla works can seem insane. It was less than a month ago when the the company released Firefox 3.5. Only three weeks later, Firefox posted screenshots of Firefox 3.7, which includes a change to the Tools bar and an Embracing Glass design.

But the ambition doesn’t end there. The Firefox team is looking even farther in the future: all the way to Firefox 4.0.

The Mozilla Firefox developers are working on several different branches of the web browser at the same time. The latest public version, Firefox 3.6.6 just released today, and Firefox 3.7 which will be renamed to Firefox 4.0 later this year.

"In this issue… # Firefox 2.0.0.12 schedule, # Firefox 3 Beta 3 code frozen, # Thunderbird in France, # 600,000,000 Firefox add-on downloads, # Mitchell interviewed for McKinsey Quarterly, # Mozilla Toronto on the CBC, # about:icecream ..."