[PyKDE] compiled vs interpreted languages and Qt

Greg Fortune lists at gregfortune.com
Fri Sep 20 08:33:00 BST 2002


Ahh, maybe I should have pulled up my license and found those lines myself 
;o)  Thanks for pulling me back in line.

<snip>
>
> Things are different and more debateable for PyQt which clearly "competes
> with" (and wins over) Qt itself (viii) and also allows to "create
> Applications with the Software" (vii).
<snip>

I guess this is where my main concern lies...  By using PyQt and distributing 
a library that allows the user to develop applications using Qt, I'm clearly 
violating Qt's license.  It would seem this would be true for *any* 
interpreted language and even any application that provides signifigant 
scripting capabilities, etc....

>
> BTW, I have not seen any FAQ on PyQt by trolltech ... where can I find that
> and/or what does it say?

Me too ;o)

>
> Cheers
> Peter Lipa
> porl3141 at hotmail.com
>
> PS: IMHO if a license agreement is formulated in such imprecise and
> ambiguous terms (what is an "Application" in an interpeted environment?
> What is "primary and substantial functionality to Qt"? Is sip and python
> "adding substantial functionality to Qt"?) it leaves room for
> 'interpretation' and the issuing company can not expect every licensee to
> arrive at the same conclusion and subsequent use of the product. And then,
> the whole GPL/win32 issue raised by Greg Fortune? If they want consistent
> usage they ought to write a clearer and unambiguous license agreement.
>

For reference, check out the Qt mailing list.  Looks like this issue is being 
hashed over yet again.  Basically, it sounds like Trolltech has decided not 
to pursue the open source Windows Qt market.  Sorry for bringing up the 
GPL/win32 discussion here.  I hadn't dug on the Qt mailing list about the 
windows non-commercial license until today.

The issue I should have raised is how does this affect interpreted languages 
as opposed to compiled languages?  Is it even possible to use Python with Qt?

Greg Fortune




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