[Interest] [Development] The place of QML

[BRM]

----- Original Message -----

>>  For starters, there's already a foundation in place -
>>     http://www.kde.org/community/whatiskde/kdefreeqtfoundation.php. 
>>  That Foundation has the right to license Qt under a "BSD-style
>>  license or under other open source licenses" regardless of
>>  any other licensing. ...
>   No, there's no current right for KDE to distribute Qt under
>   other terms (than LGPL 2.1 and GPL 3). What there is is an
>   "escape clause" if "Nokia discontinue(s) the development
>   of Qt". Summarized at the site you cited, it reads:
> 
>    "The Foundation has a license agreement with Nokia. This
>     agreement ensures that the Qt will continue to be available
>     under both the LGPL 2.1 and the GPL 3. Should Nokia discontinue
>     the development of the Qt Free Edition under these licenses,
>     then the Foundation has the right to release Qt under a BSD-
>     style license or under other open source licenses. The
>     agreement stays valid in case of a buy-out, a merger or
>     bankruptcy."
> 
>   Now ask yourself how many millions of Euros could be
>   spent at some future point litigating whether or not
>   Nokia has "discontinued" the development of Qt. They
>   could entirely stop work on QWidget but the QML work
>   would probably prevent the triggering of the escape
>   clause.

My guess is that the contract that set it up (done under TrollTech, and updated when TrollTech was sold to Nokia)
probably outlines it very well; and that is it probably in the hands of the 4 member board for the KDE Free Qt Foundation.
However, that is purely a guess - you'd have to talk to someone involved with the foundation to get the real diagnosis.

Either way, I think it is presently a moot point as the KDE folks are likely to agree with Nokia on the current direction and usage of QML.

Of course, you are free to fork Qt under LGPL+GPL if you like and head in another direction.

$0.02

Ben