On Fri, Oct 09, 1998 at 11:29:26PM -0700, Chris Waters wrote: > > Now, I won't install Qt even for the parts of KDE I like. > > This is the really sad part about this whole mess. Qt is a nice > library. Non-free, but not everything has to be free. But because of > the refusal of the KDE developers to FIX THE KDE LICENSE PROBLEMS, a lot > of people are being turned off of Qt! Qt doesn't deserve this, and I > think the KDE team should: 1) fix their license problems, and 2) > apologize to Trolltech.
Oh, I'm not turned off of Qt because of KDE's license. I'm turned off of Qt because I don't install non-free software for other than entertainment purposes if I can help it. The three things I cannot help yet are pgp, ssh, and netscape. Mozilla is not yet stable, gnupg is almost there, and psst seems to hav a ways to go before it can replace ssh. However, it's sad that the license mess is keeping KDE out of Debian where users who don't worry so much about free software as I do could find it more easily. I don't want to be dependant on a non-free library like that, but others don't mind. I wouldn't be surprised if the KDE license problem wasn't the result of a few flames of Troll Tech. Certainly the demands to make Qt GPL software deserve no attention, but it would be wonderful if Qt's license were more compatible with the GPL. Troll Tech is under no obligation to change its license, even if it gives the (apparently false) impression that the stock GPL can be used with its library. > To the KDE team: it doesn't matter whether you believe that the GPL is > compatible with Qt. The GPL may be open to interpretation, but that's > not relevant -- the biggest problem with the KDE license is the > existence of the controversy! Which isn't going to go away unless you > persuade RMS to accept your interpretation (good luck!), or you add an > exception clause to the license, or switch to a GPL-compatible library. > Until one of those three things happens, KDE is doing Troll a > disservice. (Fourth option: get a ruling from a judge in every country > KDE is used in.) As long as KDE is unwilling to admit that there is a potential problem and as long as Troll Tech shares that belief, there is going to be controversy. Troll Tech has not been innocent of claiming there's no clashing between GPL and Qt Free Editon's license. > If I were building a linux distribution I would not include KDE even > *if* I were willing to admit that your interpretation of the GPL *might* > be right -- which I am. I'd want to be sure! (Unless I had deep enough > pockets to feel that the risk was worth it.) But then I live in the > USA, where people sue at the drop of a hat. The great american pastime is not baseball but rather lawsuit, that's for damned sure.
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