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Re: [TCLUG:628] Linux in the StarTribune



On Mon, 13 Jul 1998, Jon Schewe wrote:

> > (2) KDE is Qt-based, GNOME is GTK-based. Qt is not free, :( GTK is.
>
> Has this always been the case?  Is this one of those things hwere it's
> fine to use personally, but you have to pay to use it in a company?  The
> reason I'm asking is because it's free downloadable on the web, at least
> last time I checked.

Yes, it has always been this way. Read the Qt license. The deal is that
if you are developing free/open source software, you can use the libs for
free, but if you are developing payware, you have to pay for the libs.

Remember that zero cost != freedom. The FSF takes donations and encourages
open source developers to charge for their software. (Food, and all, you
know.)

The real issue is that Qt is not free because you can not change the 
source code and redistribute it. That is what makes free software free,
and that only.

_____________________________________________________________________________
Christopher Reid Palmer : jaymz@acm.cs.umn.edu : innerFire on IRC (EFNet)

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