Nokia Slams Office Working On Qt Components

[talvik]

QT is not a threat and never will be a threat because writing 'cross platform software' is crap no matter how many layers of abstraction you throw at it and KDE will never take the steps necessary to be a mainstream desktop OS that could ever possibly threaten Microsoft.

Like VLC, Google Chrome, Firefox... all crap
Personally I've developed a few commercial Qt applications for Linux. And when a Windows version was requested... recompile and it is done!

[bug77]

Like VLC, Google Chrome, Firefox... all crap
Personally I've developed a few commercial Qt applications for Linux. And when a Windows version was requested... recompile and it is done!

You're just a developer. Trolls know better.

[Awesomeness]

They could change the license but they would need the approval of a few hundred developers. That won't happen, I assure you.

You have no clue. Every Qt contributor must sign an agreement to hand over all licensing rights to Nokia. Nokia can change Qt's license at any time. That's why Nokia and Digia can sell closed source versions.
Worst part: Qt's FOSS license is LGPLv2 only, without the “or any later version” clause which makes forks inflexible.

Qt’s “open governance” is actually not open. If it really was, the community could decide on the licensing terms on its own.

[TheBlackCat]

You have no clue. Every Qt contributor must sign an agreement to hand over all licensing rights to Nokia. Nokia can change Qt's license at any time.

First, they don't "hand over" anything. They grant Nokia a non-exclusive license, which means they can also license it to anyone else they please under any license they please.

Second, Nokia can only change the license within the existing agreement, which says that if they remove the open-source license, or don't release open-source versions at least once every 12 months, the license automatically changes to BSD.

So let me ask you: since they cannot take Qt solely closed-source, can't stop development of Qt without it becoming BSD-licensed, and can't make the current open-source license more restrictive, what could they do that would be so bad for the open-source community?

[liam]

You're just a developer. Trolls know better.

You think drag is a troll? You must be new.
Drag's point was accurate. MS simply doesn't care about Qt. It isn't a concern b/c they don't care about xdesktop development beyond what they get .NET. As far as Qt and MS are concerned, there never was a conspiracy. Qt was simply a flea squished by titans shaking hands.

[funkSTAR]

Qt’s “open governance” is actually not open. If it really was, the community could decide on the licensing terms on its own.

LGPL is not good enough for Qt. Where does this put Qt?

Ive heard Nokia Marketing vetoed a few other nice catchy buzz lines.

"Qt CLAing macht frei" and "Here is to a another 15 years of comprosing freedom" were voted down. I dont get it.

[bug77]

You think drag is a troll? You must be new.
Drag's point was accurate. MS simply doesn't care about Qt. It isn't a concern b/c they don't care about xdesktop development beyond what they get .NET. As far as Qt and MS are concerned, there never was a conspiracy. Qt was simply a flea squished by titans shaking hands.

But this is not about Microsoft at all. It's about Nokia bleeding money and cannibalizing itself in an effort to survive. Bringing irrelevant aspects into this thread equals trolling imho.
Seriously, Nokia just closed its factory in Finland, who would expect them to keep pouring money into Qt? Especially since they're not using it anymore.

[ariendj]

Qt is in high demand right now with no direct competition. Many companies are heavily invested in Qt. It's not "going to die".

The australian guys will get new jobs, Qt will march on, so will KDE.

Because of the Qt Projects open governance and the KDE Qt agreement there is not much anyone could do to sabotage.

Bad luck for the Brisbane guys but like I said, they will find new work.

These guys aren't stupid and most probably saw it coming. My guess is that they are well prepared to transition to something new. It was the same with the people who now make up Jolla.

[ariendj]

The australian guys will get new jobs,

Case in point: "C. Bergström shared that PathScale is hiring."

I hope that when I lose my job people come to me, offering me work, proactively, too.

Too bad I don't work on Qt and it's not going to happen

[droidhacker]

But this is not about Microsoft at all. It's about Nokia bleeding money and cannibalizing itself in an effort to survive. Bringing irrelevant aspects into this thread equals trolling imho.
Seriously, Nokia just closed its factory in Finland, who would expect them to keep pouring money into Qt? Especially since they're not using it anymore.

The logic that you're missing is the REASON that Nokia is bleeding... which is MS.

They got a bit too enthusiastic when MS offered them up a pile of cash to put all their eggs into the MS meat-grinder-disguised-as-a-basket, and its KILLING them. Now to stop the bleeding, they're cutting off their SECOND testicle, guaranteeing permanent impotence.

Not long ago, they said that they had a secret plan B.... the general theory was that it would be dropping MS and going with Android. Unfortunately, their only way to remain RELEVANT is to have something that DISTINGUISHES them. If they switched to Android when Android was NEW, they could be bigger than Samsung right now. That, by itself, would be enough to distinguish them. Now their ONLY prayer is to offer something unique. Dropping the last bit of Qt is definitely the wrong approach.