[Interest] Qt free software policy

[David M. Cotter]

it’s a labor of love, i make about $2000 per month on it, so about $24k per year, and that just about covers my expenses and let’s me eat out sometimes. I occasionally have 2 others help me (3 developers).  if i had to pay, it would cost $16k per year? that makes the business pointless.  i’m ALLOWED to use the free version, right? or did i misunderstand how LGPL works?

> On Aug 14, 2019, at 10:11 AM, Vadim Peretokin <vperetokin at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Sorry but I'll ask the obvious question: you bet your entire business without paying for a license? 
> 
> Have I misunderstood you?
> 
> On Wed, 14 Aug. 2019, 7:01 pm David M. Cotter, <dave at kjams.com <mailto:dave at kjams.com>> wrote:
> +1 on this
> 
> i am in the process of porting my legacy project to Qt and am afraid that i’ve made the wrong choice.  i’m just one guy and i bet my whole business on the availability of what  i need from Qt under LGPL
> 
> i’m already using a third party HTTP server so i’m not affected by this but it’s a worrying sign. I too agree that the HTTP server really should be LGPL.
> 
> What’s going to happen? It’s taken me over a year’s worth of work to get this far with Qt and i’m only half done. did i make the wrong choice? 
> 
> -dave
> 
> > On Aug 14, 2019, at 9:18 AM, Benjamin TERRIER <b.terrier at gmail.com <mailto:b.terrier at gmail.com>> wrote:
> > 
> > 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
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > Interest mailing list
> > Interest at qt-project.org <mailto:Interest at qt-project.org>
> > https://lists.qt-project.org/listinfo/interest <https://lists.qt-project.org/listinfo/interest>
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Interest mailing list
> Interest at qt-project.org <mailto:Interest at qt-project.org>
> https://lists.qt-project.org/listinfo/interest <https://lists.qt-project.org/listinfo/interest>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.qt-project.org/pipermail/interest/attachments/20190814/05781692/attachment.html>