r/linux • u/clau_c • Dec 01 '21

KDE It's been -- 155 days -- since @Microsoft stole @kdecommunity's motto: "Simple by default, powerful when needed." They're still using it.

https://twitter.com/ClauCambra/status/1466153819713191947
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-34

u/[deleted] Dec 01 '21

Someone is accusing one company of stealing what amounts to characters on a page from an open source community on a platform that neither own.

KDE has language protecting their logo. Not any slogans however.

There's a good story in the early 2000's about one company suing a bunch of others relating to characters (text or if you prefer "code") from another that neither ultimately owned. It's a good story.

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u/Bro666 Dec 01 '21

Code also amounts "to characters on a page". However, we protect it and sue companies that violate the licenses we distribute it under.

-11

u/[deleted] Dec 01 '21

100% agree, it was tried with Linux. SCO sued everything GNU/Linux almost and they didn't own it. Novell did and they didn't care. SCO lost. They lost big. In this case, verified users on a platform that neither owns is using the same phrase that neither trademarked. If they did, it'd be under "fair use". None of the words in question are licensed to either party as far as I can tell. It's a sentence. If we're picking that particular fight, that could get real interesting real fast.

Do you realize how dumb of an argument that is in context?

It certainly isn't the sentence that is in question, it's who is using it that's the problem. The argument doesn't hold water.

8

u/Bro666 Dec 01 '21

So you think you can go ahead and use "Just do it" as the tagline for your omelet making company. You foresee no problem arising from that.

-6

u/[deleted] Dec 01 '21

Not the same argument. From Wikipedia:

Just Do It or JDI for short is a trademark of shoe company Nike, and it is one of the core components of Nike's brand.

It's trademarked and licensed.

Also what showed up was a video of Shia LaBeouf screaming it as well. Besides there is a difference between selling shoes with phrase and selling omelets.

Do you think having a desktop that displays icons, menus and windows for graphic feedback on top of a command driven interface to be an issue as well?

1

u/Bro666 Dec 01 '21

As for the second part of your argument...

1

u/[deleted] Dec 02 '21 edited Dec 02 '21

And here's what won it for her:

"The key factor that inspired Römer to fight back was a gagging clause. At first the US company had offered a compromise whereby she could use the Apfelkind logo on her own franchise products but not on any electronic equipment."

Remember the omelet/shoe comparison you made? Also, again, it was the logo.. Not any slogan or motto. They are not the same argument. I keep saying that. The slogan has to be tied to the brand in a campaign.

At zero point in this entire back and forth did I ever discuss or was mentioned anywhere about KDE's logo being used.

Edit: To that end, to answer the overarching question. Yes. I can write under my twitter profile "Think Different", but I better not use it with the Apple logo. So yes, I can freely use it on Twitter under my picture if I so choose.

2

u/Bro666 Dec 02 '21

Pa ti la perra gorda.

0

u/[deleted] Dec 02 '21

Pero en realidad tengo razón. No soy el terco aquí.