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The Rust Trademark Policy is still harmful
Four days ago, the Rust Foundation released a new draft of the Rust Language Trademark Policy. The previous draft caused division within the community several years ago, prompting its retraction with the aim of creating a new, milder version. Well, that failed. While certain issues were addressed (thank you, we appreciate it!), the new version remains excessively restrictive and, in my opinion, will harm both the Rust community as a whole and compiler and crate developers. While I expect the stricter rules to not be enforced in practice, I don’t want to constantly feel like I’m under threat while contributing to the Rust ecosystem, and this is exactly what it would feel like if this draft is finalized. Below are some of my core objections to the draft.
The previous draft caused division within the community several years ago, prompting its retraction with the aim of creating a new, milder version. To avoid this outcome, both paid and for-profit events must be permitted as long as they don’t appear to be endorsed by the Rust Foundation. I do this because I want to be part of something that showcases the best of humanity, instead of worrying about how half the countries in the world want me dead and now the Rust Foundation can sue me if I fork a repo.
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