[Development] Changes to Qt offering

[Cristián Maureira-Fredes]

On 1/29/20 8:29 AM, Mathias Hasselmann wrote:
> Am 27.01.2020 um 15:34 schrieb Lars Knoll:
>> Hi all,
>> [snip]
>> The second change is that a Qt Account will be in the future required 
>> for binary packages. Source code will continue to be available as 
>> currently. This will simplify distribution and integration with the 
>> Marketplace. In addition, we want open source users to contribute to 
>> Qt or the Qt ecosystem. Doing so is only possible with a valid Qt 
>> Account (Jira, code review and the forums all require a Qt Account).
> 
> Are you really sure that it is a good idea to raise the entry barrier 
> for trying Qt that much? Personally I only register for software that I 
> am conviced I'll keep using. If it requires such registration directly 
> at download or during installation already it doesn't even get 
> downloaded or installed. Such attitude might seem strange in the times 
> of Android, iOS, Windows 10 S, but keep in mind that your customers 
> aren't the typicial computer illiterated that simply accept any nonsense 
> you do to their privacy, you are targeting computer experts.
> 
> BBC Wales just sketched pretty well the rude attitude you are embracing 
> with that change: https://twitter.com/Uehmche/status/1217004373970161664
> 
> Besides both that barrier combined with that change to LTS releases will 
> just teach more people to build and patch Qt from source. Being used to 
> that process, having established that process just largely reduces 
> motivation to pay for Qt.
> 
> Ciao
> Mathias

Hello Mathias,

I understand the video is an exaggeration,
but in any case, there is something I really need to understand:

Currently, you can create a Qt Account with your email
and a password, when you received the email, you confirm by clicking on
the link, and then you can optionally enter your information.
First Name and Last Name are required, but then you can enter
any information on these fields. (I didn't check the checkbox
to receive information).

Doing that, now I have access
to the future installer, I can manage my Qt downloads, install the 
binaries, remove components if I will not use and everything else.

How different is this process
from registering to this mailing list for example?
IIRC I entered my email, my name, and a password, then I got an email,
clicked on the link, verified my name again, and then I was welcomed
to the mailing list.

But sure, the mailing list is not software, but a service
to communicate with others.
Since the installer is a service that TQtC provides,
for me is really not difficult to understand that I will require
an account, after all TQtC is responsible of having a working CI
that can generate those binaries for your convenience.
Sure, this was not there before, but is it really so strange? and rude?



Regarding the LTS decision, you can take it from another point
of view:
5.15 will only have 2 or 3 bug fixing releases, and so will all
the LTS versions in the future.
Since TQtC has commercial costumers, we will internally fork
the latest bug fix release, and will start adding patches on
top of that on request of the costumers, but hey! all those
patches will be on Gerrit, so if they are important for your work,
you can just cherry pick them to your local Qt and re-build.

I think nobody at Qt will be so irresponsible of not notifying
security patches, and I'm certain we will work around this issue,
to maybe distributed in a better way for Open Source users.



I really, really, don't want for some large company to buy Qt,
and start losing the momentum we currently have and more importantly
to lost the opportunity to have full time engineers improving Qt.

Please don't take me wrong,
I was technologically raised in Open Sources communities,
and I have been helping for Open Source initiatives since I
started to code, and I'm pretty sure you also have bast experience
with that, and certainly know how challenging is to survive in the
middle of other commercial-only companies, or how as a company
one need to be responsible for shareholders and being profitable.

Best


-- 
Dr. Cristián Maureira-Fredes
R&D Manager

The Qt Company GmbH
Erich-Thilo-Straße 10
D-12489 Berlin
https://qt.io