[Interest] Qt free software policy

Benjamin TERRIER b.terrier at gmail.com
Wed Aug 14 18:18:05 CEST 2019


Hi everyone,

Since we are talking about the future of Qt these days, I would like
to know The Qt Company free software policy with Qt.

Today, most of Qt modules are released under 3 free software licenses:
LGPLv3,
GPLv2 and GPLv3. Some modules are released only under GPLv3.
If my memory is good, these GPLv3-only modules are the ones which used to
be commercial-only modules (like Qt Charts).

However, it seems to me that most, if not all (except Qt 3D), new Qt modules
are now being released only under GPLv3:
 - Network Auth
 - WebGL
 - WASM
 - Http Server
 - Lottie
 - Quick 3D
 - MQTT

I understand that The Qt Company is only obligated to release new modules
under GPLv3 (because of the KDE agreement).
I understand also that The Qt Company business model is selling Qt licenses
and has no direct financial interests in releasing Qt under any other
license.

So I can understand that some modules, in particular those valuable for
wealthy industrial companies,
are only released under GPLv3.
However, for some modules like HttpServer, it seems to be an odd choice.
There are plenty
alternatives available under LGPL or more permissive licenses, so I do not
see what
would be the loss of releasing it under LGPLv3.

Also the fact that those modules are GPLv3 only is a problem when
developing with other
components that are GPLv2 only (and not GPLv2+).

So I would like that someone could officially confirm if all new modules
will be
released under GPLv3 only. Or if it is something that is decided on a per
module
basis.

I believe that Qt users and contributors deserve to know what it The Qt
Company
view on this.
Using an LGPLv3 framework is not the same thing as using a GPLv3 framework
where some historical parts are available under LGPLv3 and all new features
will be GPLv3 only.

BR,

Benjamin
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