The same old topic: Licensing.

mgran

Apart from a small css update it's the same as before.

ucomesdag

[quote author="MariusG" date="1275501216"]Have a look at this blog post for information about this directly from Qt legal:

"http://blog.qt.nokia.com/2009/11/30/qt-making-the-right-licensing-decision/(http://blog.qt.nokia.com/2009/11/30/qt-making-the-right-licensing-decision/)":http://blog.qt.nokia.com/2009/11/30/qt-making-the-right-licensing-decision/
[/quote]

Thanks that made it all clear to me!

sfilippidis

Since comments at

http://blog.qt.nokia.com/2009/11/30/qt-making-the-right-licensing-decision/

are closed, I was wondering if I could have an answer at the following scenario/question:

If someone writes a closed-source Qt application for Windows based on the LGPL-licenced Qt framework, and if he/she doesn't change the libraries, and if he/she linked dynamically with the dlls (Qt for Windows) then:

a) if he/she doesn't provide the dlls but he/she only provides the exe
b) if he/she provides both the exe and the dlls

does he/she has to provide the (unchanged) source code of the dlls?

DenisKormalev

Stavros Filippidis, AFAIK in both cases you shouldn't provide code.

sfilippidis

@_Denis Kormalev_: Just to clarify, I am NOT referring to the source code of the application, but to the source code of the Qt libraries (QtCore4.dll, QtGui4.dll, etc). In any case, I am not a lawyer, I am just have these questioned unanswered. :)

DenisKormalev

[quote author="Stavros Filippidis" date="1276707919"]@_Denis Kormalev_: Just to clarify, I am NOT referring to the source code of the application, but to the source code of the Qt libraries (QtCore4.dll, QtGui4.dll, etc). In any case, I am not a lawyer, I am just have these questioned unanswered. :)[/quote]

Yeah, I understood that question is about Qt sources. Anyway when you use Qt with LGPL license you need to provide link to Qt. And everybody who wants can take sources from Qt website.

jorj

(oooh, second page, ive never seen that before, very cool)

I think Qt could do more to explain its licences simply, as the previously linked page tried to do... I think there could be a further simplification of it...

troubalex

We agree. However, licensing (and law in general) unfortunately isn't easy to simplify while giving correct information...

sfilippidis

@Alexandra: In my opinion, it would be interesting if you would consider re-opening comments at

http://blog.qt.nokia.com/2009/11/30/qt-making-the-right-licensing-decision/

so that someone from Qt/Nokia's legal department could clarify additional questions that we could post there. ;)

DenisKormalev

Stavros Filippidis, good idea. Also may be good will be to make FAQ about licensing issues. Alexandra Leisse, what do you (and other Trolls) think about it?

jorj

[quote author="Alexandra Leisse" date="1276777620"]We agree. However, licensing (and law in general) unfortunately isn't easy to simplify while giving correct information...[/quote]

What about some simple use cases, specifying when and why you should use each licence... Although I suppose if it was that simple it would already exist...

A tricky topic....

troubalex

I just talked to our lawyer and she has already planned for a follow-up to mentioned "blog(Licensing blog)":http://blog.qt.nokia.com/2009/11/30/qt-making-the-right-licensing-decision/. To make it easier for her to figure out what is still unclear and would be good to address, I have started "a wiki page(Licensing wiki)":http://developer.qt.nokia.com/wiki/LicensingQuestions.

Please, add your questions/suggestions there and we do our best to provide you with answers.

sfilippidis

[quote author="Alexandra Leisse" date="1276877146"]I just talked to our lawyer and she has already planned for a follow-up to mentioned "blog(Licensing blog)":http://blog.qt.nokia.com/2009/11/30/qt-making-the-right-licensing-decision/. To make it easier for her to figure out what is still unclear and would be good to address, I have started "a wiki page(Licensing wiki)":http://developer.qt.nokia.com/wiki/LicensingQuestions.

Please, add your questions/suggestions there and we do our best to provide you with answers.[/quote]

I have just created this:

http://developer.qt.nokia.com/wiki/Question_Closed-source_application_scenario

But maybe I did something wrong and I do not see it at the Wiki! Could a TROLL please correct this? :)

EDIT:

I just noticed that I was supposed to EDIT the

http://developer.qt.nokia.com/wiki/LicensingQuestions

and NOT create a new wiki-page! So ... now I dit it (correctly!)!

Could a TROLL (please!) delete the

http://developer.qt.nokia.com/wiki/Question_Closed-source_application_scenario

which I shouln't have created the first place?

troubalex

[quote author="Stavros Filippidis" date="1277156563"]

Could a TROLL (please!) delete the
http://developer.qt.nokia.com/wiki/Question_Closed-source_application_scenario
which I shouln't have created the first place?
[/quote]

Done. Thanks for adding this scenario!

jorj

Yes, that scenario seems to cover the area in the middle I am more confused on... Interesting to see the result - thanks Stavros.

jeremy_c

When are the answers on the referenced wiki page going to be answered, or have they already and I'm just not finding them?

troubalex

[quote author="jeremy_c" date="1282830434"]When are the answers on the referenced wiki page going to be answered, or have they already and I'm just not finding them?[/quote]

Currently, Cristy - our lawyer - is working on her presentation for our Developer Days. The wiki is basis for that, among other things. It's supposed to help her understand what our users a struggling with.

After the event in San Francisco we will make her presentation available publicly.

I hope that helps.

sfilippidis

[quote author="Alexandra Leisse" date="1283252630"][quote author="jeremy_c" date="1282830434"]When are the answers on the referenced wiki page going to be answered, or have they already and I'm just not finding them?[/quote]

Currently, Cristy - our lawyer - is working on her presentation for our Developer Days. The wiki is basis for that, among other things. It's supposed to help her understand what our users a struggling with.

After the event in San Francisco we will make her presentation available publicly.

I hope that helps.[/quote]

Do we have anything new on the licencing follow-up with Cristy? :)

goetz

[quote author="Stavros Filippidis" date="1293545620"]Do we have anything new on the licencing follow-up with Cristy? :)[/quote]

The video is available "here":http://qt.nokia.com/developer/learning/online/talks/developerdays2010/qt-in-use

qtrahul

[quote author="Esdras Beleza" date="1275400201"]Hi,

I need to prepare a lecture for my colleagues about Qt Development, and one of the topics is licensing. But it's a very controversial topic, since the three Qt licenses make its licensing hard to understand. I tried to read "Qt Licensing(Qt Licensing)":http://qt.nokia.com/products/licensing) a few times, but I'm still confused.

So, I'll start with a some questions:

Can I develop and deploy closed-sourced commercial applications without buying a commercial license of Qt?
A more specific question, since the answer may be different: can I develop and deploy closed-sourced commercial applications without buying a commercial license of Qt, distributing it with the original Qt libraries, without any changes on it?

My personal projects are free and open sourced, but I need these questions answered so I could convince (or not...) some coworkers to use Qt on their commercial projects.[/quote]

If you are preparing lecture and need the material regarding it then "Qt in Education":http://qt.nokia.com/services-partners/qt-in-education will help you.

Check this "presentation":http://www.slideshare.net/qtbynokia/presentations also.

About licensing ,I think LGPL will not make any problem for you, As obvious you can not distribute that one.