[Development] Is it possible to submit my Qt application for iOS to Apple App Store?

[Jake Petroules]

On 2014-07-04, at 06:45 PM, Pavel Mogilevskiy <pmogilevskiy at gmail.com> wrote:

> Looks like Qt 5 for iOS uses static linking. But I have commercial, closed source application. I don't want to provide source code, object files, etc.
> If I got this right, I can't use LGPL version of Qt for iOS development and I need to by commercial one. Right?
> 
> Are there any exceptions in LGPL license of Qt for iOS development that allows us to use static linking?
> -- 
>  Best regards,
>    Pavel Mogilevskiy            mailto:pmogilevskiy at gmail.com


You do NOT need to provide source code with LGPL and static linking. You only need to provide the ability to re-link (i.e. object files) with a different copy of said LGPL licensed code (Qt). There are no special exemptions provided by Digia regarding this, so if you don't want to provide the object files as required, then yes you will need to purchase a commercial license.

Keep in mind that object files are not source code. There is no harm that can be done to your IP by providing them as required by the license. If someone really wants to reverse engineer your application or otherwise compromise or illegally redistribute it, there is nothing you can do to stop them on a technical level. Copyright laws provide all the protection you need. If someone attempts to redistribute your IP without permission (keep in mind that if your application becomes popular this will happen no matter what you do), simply issue a takedown notice or file a lawsuit as appropriate.

In any case, starting later this year you won't need to use static linking on iOS anyways. That said, there are additional benefits to a Qt commercial license which you can read about on Digia's website.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. Please contact a qualified legal professional for more information if necessary.
-- 
Jake Petroules - jake.petroules at petroules.com
Chief Technology Officer - Petroules Corporation
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.qt-project.org/pipermail/development/attachments/20140704/497b8054/attachment.html>