On Monday 27 November 2006 13:34, Steve Salazar wrote: > 3. Why did you not use opie or gpe? >
I don't know anything about gpe, but opie uses QT, and QT is GPL - so anything written that uses the QT libraries must therefore also be GPL. GTK is LGPL, so you can use the gtk libraries in your application(s), and are not obligated to releasing the source, which is a crucial pre-req for anyone desiring to sell commercial (non-GPL/Free) applications. Seeing as a major aspect of the FIC/OpenMoko plan is to bring forth a flourishing ecosystem around the OpenMoko platform, it was in their ( and everybody's ) best interest to use a toolkit with the lesser gpl, which will enable both commercial _and_ Free software to thrive on the platform. This is precisely the same reason why Sun went with the GPL + GNU Classpath exception in their licensing of java's class libraries. Just imagine the uproar if every single piece of software written using Sun's new jdk _had_ to be released under GPL! It's a similar exception that allows you to use gcc and friends to write/link/compile closed-source software if you so desire. I, personally, much prefer qt over gtk - however if TrollTech were to have released their most excellent framework under LGPL, there would be very little incentive for people to purchase commerical licenses of QT - and TrollTech would not likely be in business for long. So even though I think qt is technically more advanced than gtk, the licensing angle is extremely important and I can totally understand why OpenMoko went with the less confining option - if OpenMoko was "confined" to a 100% Free software model, there would be 0% commercial interest in the platform. _______________________________________________ OpenMoko community mailing list [email protected] http://lists.openmoko.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/community
