| Bill Jonas on Thu, 8 May 2003 03:16:06 -0400 |
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On Wed, May 07, 2003 at 04:54:38PM -0400, Nicholas Vettese wrote: > One of the reasons Mandrake was started was because RedHat wouldn't package > KDE. RedHat was a huge Gnome supporter and didn't think KDE was worth the > time. Actually, I'd argue that it was more because of licensing issues. Up until version 2 or 3, Qt was licensed for distribution under the QPL, which contained a couple or so restrictions[1] which were not in the GPL, thus rendering it incompatible with the GPL.[2] It was very convenient to overlook this, and many did. One could argue, as RMS did[3], that the KDE developers could be considered to have granted an implicit license to link KDE with Qt, but GPL code which did not originate with the KDE project was used in KDE, which would not in any case have had this implied license. Some distributions, such as Red Hat and Debian, chose not to distribute KDE because of this conflict. Others, like Mandrake (which started life as Just Like Red Hat, but with KDE and i586-Optimized(TM)) and others, didn't see it as a problem and distributed it anyway. This got resolved with a later release (Qt 2 or 3, I can't remember which), which was released dual-licensed under QPL and GPL (due in no small part to RMS' campaigning, no doubt). Incidentally, this is why most proprietary software for the Unix desktop is released as GTK/GNOME and not Qt/KDE, as well as why Sun favors GNOME and not KDE for its desktop. GTK is LGPL, meaning proprietary and/or non-GPL applications can link to it without having to be GPL themselves, while with Qt being GPL, a linking application must either be GPL or have a (paid) license negotiated from TrollTech. (ie, Why would Sun put a third-party company into such a postion of power regarding their graphical environment?) [1] Section 3: "You may make modifications to the Software and distribute your modifications, in a form that is separate from the Software, such as patches." Section 6c: "If the items are not available to the general public, and the initial developer of the Software requests a copy of the items, then you must supply one." "Choice of Law" section: "This license is governed by the Laws of Norway. Disputes shall be settled by Oslo City Court." http://www.trolltech.com/licenses/qpl.html [2] Specifically, section 6, which says in part, "You may not impose any further restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein." http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html [3] I can't seem to find this essay at the moment, but I recall reading it. I can put forth a better attempt to find it, if requested. -- Bill Jonas * bill@billjonas.com * http://www.billjonas.com/ "It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your front door. You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to." -- Bilbo Baggins Attachment:
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