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<chapter id="licensing">
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<title>&Qt; and Licensing questions</title>
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<qandaset>
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<qandaentry>
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<question id="qt">
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<para>What is &Qt;, by the way?</para>
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</question>
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<answer>
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<para>&Qt; is a C++-based class library to build user interfaces. It
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also includes many utility classes like string classes and classes
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to handle input and output. It
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provides most of the widgets you will see in a &tde; application:
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menus, buttons, sliders, &etc; &Qt; is a cross-platform library that
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allows developers to write code that will compile on &UNIX; systems as well as
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&Windows; and embedded devices. Learn more about &Qt; at <ulink
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url="http://www.trolltech.com">http://www.trolltech.com</ulink>.</para>
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</answer>
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</qandaentry>
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<qandaentry>
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<question>
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<para>Why does &tde; use &Qt;?</para>
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</question>
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<answer>
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<para>&Qt; is a sophisticated toolkit that provides everything that
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needed to build a modern user interface. &Qt; is written in C++, thus
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allowing object-oriented development which ensures efficiency and
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code reuse in a project the size and scope of &tde;. In our opinion
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there is no better toolkit available for &UNIX; systems and that it
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would have been a grave mistake to try to build &tde; on anything but
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the best.</para>
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</answer>
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</qandaentry>
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<qandaentry>
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<question>
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<para>Why does &tde; not use gtk, xforms, xlib, whatever?</para>
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</question>
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<answer>
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<para>There are a number of toolkits available. To provide a
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consistent user interface and to keep used resources such as memory to
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a minimum, &tde; can use only one of them. &Qt; was selected for the
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reasons mentioned above.</para>
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</answer>
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</qandaentry>
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<qandaentry>
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<question>
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<para>But &Qt; isn't free, is it?</para>
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</question>
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<answer>
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<para>&Qt; is free/libre. Since September 4, 2000, version 2.2 of the &Qt;
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libraries are licensed under the <acronym>GPL</acronym>, thereby
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fulfiling all aspects of <quote>free/libre software</quote>.</para>
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</answer>
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</qandaentry>
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<qandaentry>
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<question>
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<para>Can I write commercial software for &tde;?</para>
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</question>
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<answer>
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<para>You can use the &tde; libraries to write <quote>commercial and
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closed source</quote> as well as <quote>commercial and open
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source</quote> software. If you write open source software you can
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use the &Qt; free edition. If you write closed source software
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you may not use the &Qt; free edition; you need to obtain the &Qt;
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professional edition from Troll Tech. For more information, please
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contact <ulink url="http://www.trolltech.com">Troll Tech</ulink> directly.</para>
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</answer>
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</qandaentry>
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<qandaentry>
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<question>
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<para>Isn't Qt3 obsolete and "dead" technology?</para>
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</question>
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<answer>
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<para>The definition for "obsolete" varies based upon who applies the term.
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Generally the term "obsolete" means something no longer is useful or no longer
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needed. In software circles the term often means antiquated or no longer shiny.
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Usefulness often is not part of the intended meaning of the word. The term is
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used as an emotional wedge more than a factual observation.</para>
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</answer>
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</qandaentry>
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<qandaentry>
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<question>
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<para>Are there plans to migrate &tde; to Qt4?</para>
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</question>
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<answer>
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<para>Not at this time.</para>
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</answer>
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</qandaentry>
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</qandaset>
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</chapter>
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