Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Qt Going GPL

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the well-its-about-friggin-time dept.

summer was the first to note that it looks like Qt 2.2 will be released under the GPL. This removes the licensing problem that is central to the age old (and very boring) KDE/GNOME flamewar. There's still nothing official appearing on Troll Tech's site, but this looks reasonable.

7 of 268 comments (clear)

  1. dept: its-about-frigging-time by Karma+Sucks · · Score: 5

    Good attitude, Commander. Troll Tech should be praised and thanked for bending backwards and forwards for the community like this. We really do not need your snide remarks here. Will GPL'ed Qt improve KDE acceptance by the community? I certainly hope so. I've always been a KDE fan and user regardless. Now I hope that KDE can compete with GNOME on purely technical grounds and not depend on who can shout louder in the PR wars.

    --
    (Please browse at -1 to read this comment.)
  2. We have a level playing field by tjwhaynes · · Score: 5

    At last KDE and Gnome can go completely head-to-head because they are now both totally grounded in GPL licensing. So what does the future now hold?

    Corporate take-up? Don't knock it - this is a potentially huge environment. Companies like to know where they stand, and simplified licensing is a huge bonus. Gnome already as a level of corporate acceptance as embodied by the formation of the Gnome Foundation to further the GNOME project. KDE may soon see itself in a similar position.

    Interoperability? Both KDE and Gnome are continuing to push their infrastructures forward and both desktop environments are likely to start eclipsing the competition sooner or later (already have eclipsed the competition in some areas). It's likely that Gnome programs will always talk most efficiently to other Gnome programs, and similarly for KDE to KDE, it would be nice to see the arrival of some bridge mechanism to allow the two camps to exchange and inter-embed each others applications across the divide.

    Flamewars? Almost certainly :-) At least now there won't be any (meaningful) wars over licensing ...

    Cheers,

    Toby Haynes

    --
    Anything I post is strictly my own thoughts and doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the opinions of IBM.
  3. Announcement on Troll Techs site. by shaka · · Score: 5

    Look again!
    There are two new announcements; Qt 2.2 released and Qt/Unix 2.2 being released under the GPL.

    --
    :wq!
  4. GPL not LGPL by Tet · · Score: 5

    Interesting choice. Going for the full GPL pleases the extremists, but it also has the side effect of allowing Troll Tech to protect their revenue stream. If they'd made it LGPL, then people could develop and sell proprietarty (closed source) apps using Qt. Being GPL prevents that, thus pleasing both sides. Those wanting to go that route can still purchase a Qt Professional Edition license from Troll Tech (something you had to do under the QPL anyway).

    --
    "The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." -- Delos B. McKown
  5. Debian by pyth · · Score: 5

    ARRGGHHH!!! Why does every good thing happen _after_ a Debian release!?!?!?

  6. Reasons from GPLing from the authors by FattMattP · · Score: 5

    Freshmeat has an article by the Troll Tech guys talking about why they decided to go GPL.

    --
    Prevent email address forgery. Publish SPF records for y
  7. Except Qt is copylefted. by yerricde · · Score: 5

    Because Free Qt is copylefted (choice of QPL or GNU GPL), companies still have to pay the Trolls to be able to port their proprietary winsoftware to free*n?x. GTK+ on the other hand, is lesser copylefted under LGPL; it will be more popular for proprietary apps such as your precious games.
    <O
    ( \
    XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?