Qt 4.5 Under Lesser GPL
Nokia will offer its Qt widget collection software under less restrictive LGPL licensing and has opened up its repositories.
Nokia has announced that as of March 2009 its planned Qt 4.5 will be available under the optional Lesser General Public License. At the same time Nokia will open the Qt source code repositories to enable as easy an access as possible for further community development. The Finnish mobile giant took this step in an agreement with the KDE Free Qt Foundation. The company issued an FAQ to describe the LGPL move to the community and commercial interests.
The announcement on the new Qt webpage declares that Nokia wants to remove all hurdles from use of its software through the licensing change. It seems that the previous cost-based licensing had dissuaded many firms from implementing the Qt widget sets. The change is also an advantage for the open source community in that Qt also remains under GPLv3 licensing, with LGPL as an additional option.
Positive reinforcement for the move comes from KDE e.V. board member Sebastian Kügler: "Qt being available under the terms of the LGPL streamlines the licensing of applications built using KDE components on top of Qt-based applications. This more permissive licensing will further lower the barrier for adoption of Qt and KDE technologies. The KDE team welcomes opening up the development process and is looking forward to further improved collaboration between KDE and Qt Software."
The KDE project first and foremost welcomes opening up its repositories. KDE developers are thus free to fix Qt bugs without relying solely on the goodwill of Nokia. The KDE libraries are already under LGPL, thereby enabling commercial KDE application development such as for Mac OS X and Windows.
Ubuntu's Mark Shuttleworth also sanctioned the move: "Qt is used extensively in Kubuntu and KDE applications, and Canonical is delighted to see this breakthrough in its licensing model. Qt's new licensing terms will help us deliver ever more 'lustful' applications to users. Nokia's continued investment in cross-platform Qt libraries, and the Linux platform, is a major driver of innovation in the free software desktop and mobile device stack."
The licensing change will occur as of Qt 4.5, planned for March 2009. Nokia acquired Qt from Trolltech in January 2008 and is currently working on a port for the Series60 (formerly Symbian) mobile OS. The company has clearly indicated its commitment to Open Source over the last year.
Issue 261/2022
Buy this issue as a PDF
News
-
KaOS 2022.06 Now Available With KDE Plasma 5.25
The newest iteration of KaOS Linux not only adds the latest KDE Plasma desktop but sets LibreOffice as the default.
-
Manjaro 21.3.0 Is Now Available
Manjaro “Ruah” has been released and includes the latest Calamares installer, GNOME 42, and much more.
-
SpiralLinux is a New Linux Distribution Focused on Simplicity
A new Linux distribution, from the creator of GeckoLinux, is a Debian-based operating system with a focus on simplicity and ease of use.
-
HP Dev One Linux Laptop is Now Available for Pre-Order
The System76/HP collaboration Dev One laptop, geared toward developers, is now available for pre-order.
-
NixOS 22.5 Is Now Available
The latest release of NixOS with a much-improved package manager and a user-friendly graphical installer.
-
System76 Teams up with HP to Create the Dev One Laptop
HP and System76 have come together to develop a new laptop, powered by Pop!_OS and aimed toward developers.
-
Titan Linux is a New KDE Linux Based on Debian Stable
Titan Linux is a new Debian-based Linux distribution that features the KDE Plasma desktop with a focus on usability and performance.
-
Danielle Foré Has an Update for elementary OS 7
Now that Ubuntu 22.04 has been released, the team behind elementary OS is preparing for the upcoming 7.0 release.
-
Linux New Media Launches Open Source JobHub
New job website focuses on connecting technical and non-technical professionals with organizations in open source.
-
Ubuntu Cinnamon 22.04 Now Available
Ubuntu Cinnamon 22.04 has been released with all the additions from upstream as well as other features and improvements.