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amlwwalker / got-qt

A framework for building cross platform GUI interfaces in Go and QML
MIT License
300 stars 14 forks source link

Qt licensing statement #2

Closed muesli closed 5 years ago

muesli commented 6 years ago

Your README mentiosn Qt not being open source. This is incorrect as Qt is LGPL licensed. Also note the official spelling "Qt" (the all uppercase variant is usually associated with QuickTime).

amlwwalker commented 6 years ago

I'm trying to be slightly careful because If I'm honest I find the Qt license a complicated one. I think:

If ur work is open source then u can use Qt fine. If your work is not open source but u dynamically link to Qt, fine. If u statically compile, but open source your work, fine. If u statically compile and charge for ur work, then u need a commercial license. That's my understanding, don't quote me in court on it, but if u learn something new, please let me know!

amlwwalker commented 6 years ago

Will fix casing, thanks!

muesli commented 6 years ago

I don't think there's anything particular special about the Qt licensing, you'll have to stick to the LGPL just as you have to with any other dependency released under that license.

The examples you gave also apply to any other LGPL dependency (e.g. therecipe/qt), too.

For more info: https://www1.qt.io/qt-licensing-terms/

I guess the confusion stems from Qt's licensing being a bit more complicated ~10y ago.

amlwwalker commented 6 years ago

Ok, so as long as you understand the LGPL then there is no need for me to mention it. Yep, OK I'll update to just mention that its LGPL rather than open source - straight up open source suggests you can do whatever you want! Updating readme now

muesli commented 6 years ago

Awesome! Also note, that currently static linking with therecipe/qt isn't technically feasible anyway, so I guess you and your readers are on the safe side here.

amlwwalker commented 6 years ago

What makes you say that? I've compiled a statically linked app using therecipe/qt the docker containers

muesli commented 6 years ago

Hah, I take it back, it looks like that is "fixed" by now. It used to be a fairly hacky / painful process. Notes: https://github.com/therecipe/qt/issues/230

amlwwalker commented 6 years ago

Oh yeah docker makes it a dream! :)

I found this, it seems to be a good way to think about the licensing for Qt apps: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8760076/commercial-application-using-qt

FYI updated the readme

muesli commented 5 years ago

I guess we can close this one then?