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Trolltech Adopts GPL 3 for Qt

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the for-making-cute-software dept.

Funkmaster F writes "At the KDE Developer Conference today, Trolltech CEO Havaard Nord announced that its Qt application development toolkit will be released under GPL 3. 'Here at the KDE release event, Nord's announcement was met with applause. Like Trolltech's initial decision to move from its own QPL license to the GPL, this announcement and the company's more recent decision to adopt the GPL for all platforms rather than just Linux, demonstrate the company's ongoing commitment to openness.'"

5 of 240 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Here is the question... by pizzach · · Score: 0, Troll

    I can't remember any more. Is the GPL about freedom of developers or the "the bits want to be free!!!!!!!1111" free? Arg, my head is starting to hurt. Blarg.

    --
    Once you start despising the jerks, you become one.
  2. GPL can be anti-freedom too by plierhead · · Score: 1, Troll

    You may, but most users could care less what license their new shiny thing uses, as long as its free. They just use it.

    GPL can totally be used against the causes of freedom.

    I build a shiny widget, and release it under the GPL. Lots of people use my shiny widget - it becomes the gold standard for shiny widgets. Then some software house cuts a huge deal for software development with [insert name of immense multinational here]. The only trouble is, they need a shiny widget as part of the code. And damn, your one is the standard.

    They come to you, and boy, you have them over a barrel. Because you were cunning enough to use the GPL, you can hold them to ransom, and charge them $1M for a limited license that lets them use your shiny widget in their new project. And whats more, you can sell it all over again the next time someone needs your shiny widget in a non-GPL setting.

    If you had released your code under BSD this scenario can't happen.

    The proponents of GPL sing a great song about freedom - but more than a few of them are fully aware of just how much control the GPL reserves for them, and they love it.

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    1. Re:GPL can be anti-freedom too by Dr.+Evil · · Score: 0, Troll

      There's a third option. Use Gnome.

      This means that it hurts the community by fragmenting the desktop.

    2. Re:GPL can be anti-freedom too by Dr.+Evil · · Score: 0, Troll

      No. It's my opinion that dividing the efforts of development over more than one desktop environment hurts the community.

      Trolltech is not a charity. They're a commercial interest which is using the GPL and KDE to promote the use of their library. Their for-profit motives directly caused the fragmentation of the Linux desktop.

      The only reason they adopted the GPL was to slow the Harmony project, satisfy Debian and to retain their potentially lucrative position in the Linux desktop marketplace. Their continued use of the GPL instead of the LGPL discourages closed source and dual licensed apps from targeting KDE. That's not to say that it doesn't happen, but that it *discourages* it without explicit licensing or special agreements.

      If you don't care about closed source or dual licensed apps, then that's a difference of opinion. I personally think they're vital for Linux to be a success on the Desktop.

  3. The GPL is touted as a ways to "protect" your code by Britz · · Score: 0, Troll

    I guess Trolltech believes that this is true. And they can pay expensive lawyers.