----- Original Message ----- >> For starters, there's already a foundation in place - >> http://www.kde.org/community/whatiskde/kdefreeqtfoundation.php. >> That Foundation has the right to license Qt under a "BSD-style >> license or under other open source licenses" regardless of >> any other licensing. ... > No, there's no current right for KDE to distribute Qt under > other terms (than LGPL 2.1 and GPL 3). What there is is an > "escape clause" if "Nokia discontinue(s) the development > of Qt". Summarized at the site you cited, it reads: > > "The Foundation has a license agreement with Nokia. This > agreement ensures that the Qt will continue to be available > under both the LGPL 2.1 and the GPL 3. Should Nokia discontinue > the development of the Qt Free Edition under these licenses, > then the Foundation has the right to release Qt under a BSD- > style license or under other open source licenses. The > agreement stays valid in case of a buy-out, a merger or > bankruptcy." > > Now ask yourself how many millions of Euros could be > spent at some future point litigating whether or not > Nokia has "discontinued" the development of Qt. They > could entirely stop work on QWidget but the QML work > would probably prevent the triggering of the escape > clause.
My guess is that the contract that set it up (done under TrollTech, and updated when TrollTech was sold to Nokia) probably outlines it very well; and that is it probably in the hands of the 4 member board for the KDE Free Qt Foundation. However, that is purely a guess - you'd have to talk to someone involved with the foundation to get the real diagnosis. Either way, I think it is presently a moot point as the KDE folks are likely to agree with Nokia on the current direction and usage of QML. Of course, you are free to fork Qt under LGPL+GPL if you like and head in another direction. $0.02 Ben _______________________________________________ Interest mailing list [email protected] http://lists.qt-project.org/mailman/listinfo/interest
