Misleading qt.io/download questionnaire
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If you try to download Qt from qt.io/download you have to answer at first a short questionnaire:
"There are a few ways you can get started with Qt. To help us find the option for you, tell us what your application or device will be developed for..."
So I answer "Open source distribution under an LGPL or GPL license", then:
"Are you prepared to make your application source code publicly available?"
Where I answer "No" since LGPL allows me to keep my code closed.
After answering "What kind of product are you developing?" I'm offered to download Qt for Application Development instead of Qt Open Source.
Why is it so? The only way I'm offered to download Qt Open Source is when I answer "Yes" to the question "Are you prepared to make your application source code publicly available?".
I believe this is misleading, as the only way I can see the option to download Qt Open Source is when I state that I'm prepared to make my source code publicly available.
What do you think about this?
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If you try to download Qt from qt.io/download you have to answer at first a short questionnaire:
"There are a few ways you can get started with Qt. To help us find the option for you, tell us what your application or device will be developed for..."
So I answer "Open source distribution under an LGPL or GPL license", then:
"Are you prepared to make your application source code publicly available?"
Where I answer "No" since LGPL allows me to keep my code closed.
After answering "What kind of product are you developing?" I'm offered to download Qt for Application Development instead of Qt Open Source.
Why is it so? The only way I'm offered to download Qt Open Source is when I answer "Yes" to the question "Are you prepared to make your application source code publicly available?".
I believe this is misleading, as the only way I can see the option to download Qt Open Source is when I state that I'm prepared to make my source code publicly available.
What do you think about this?
@Fracu said in Misleading qt.io/download questionnaire:
The only way I'm offered to download Qt Open Source is when I answer "Yes"
you do not have to answer the questions. Simply scroll down ;)
Or go directly to the OpenSource download page -
Hello @raven-worx, thank you for your answer.
I know that you could scroll down and find the apropiate link, but most people won't do that , the questionnaire is filling all the screen space and it's not trivial that there are more content below.
I think this could be confusing people: eventually some of them will be buying commercial Qt when they could be using Qt Open Source according to their needs.
Even when you google "download qt open source" it takes you to qt.io/download and this questionnaire instead of qt.io/download-open-source.
I remember this was different in the past, when you could find Qt Open Source download link easily.
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I do get your concern but the open source version is quite easy to find anyway and the Qt company is not a charity, I think that screen is 100% intentional as a marketing tool.
I think it's fairHello @VRonin, thank you for your answer.
I completely agree with you that Qt Company is not an NPO, their goal is to make profit of license sales which is fair enough, no doubts about that.
What I dislike is that the questionnaire looks like they help you deciding between a commercial and a GPL alternative and not LGPL. The question "are you prepared to make your source public?" is irrelevant if we are talking about LGPL. Just avoid that question and use any other.
I know that this specific topic is not a serious concern but after some years using Qt Open Source for my software development I have the feeling (maybe it's only my perception, I'm not an expert on this matter) that slowly but steadily the LGPL edition is being left behind in favor of the commercial option.
I hope this is only a crazy idea in my mind.
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For what it's worth, this now appears to have (at long last!) been fixed.
This was a huge bug bear of mine when downloading Qt in that it felt like it was trying to "trick" you into downloading the commercial version.
Whether it was intentional, I couldn't say, but at least it now asks the right questions and directs you to the right version.
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For what it's worth, this now appears to have (at long last!) been fixed.
This was a huge bug bear of mine when downloading Qt in that it felt like it was trying to "trick" you into downloading the commercial version.
Whether it was intentional, I couldn't say, but at least it now asks the right questions and directs you to the right version.
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I do get your concern but the open source version is quite easy to find anyway and the Qt company is not a charity
Hello @ealltech , thanks for your answer.
I completely agree with you that Qt Company is not a charity, what I dislike is that the questionnaire looks like they help you deciding between a commercial and a GPL alternative and not LGPL. The question "are you prepared to make your source public?" is irrelevant if we are talking about LGPL. Just avoid that question and use any other. That's all.
