🚀 go-pugleaf

On 22 May 1998 20:06:45 GMT, VHA PC Development <codifex@airmail.net> wrote:
>Steve Bergman <steve@netplus.net> wrote in article
><3565C401.1E387FC@netplus.net>...
>> In the free software world, "free" usually means that the source code is
>> freely available to all.  Some "free" software costs money and some does
>> not.  The availability of the source code tends to keep prices down. 
>I was under the impression that QT was freely usable as a component base
>for those who released their software free of charge.  Conversely, if

No, it is not freely usable as a component base for those who release
their software free of charge. You are not allowed to take routines
out of the QT library and place them into your source code (if, for
example, you're writing a Motif clone or some sort and don't want all
of the QT baggage), and you are not allowed to modify the QT library
in any way to add any features/fix bugs/etc. I personally have no
problem with Troll Tech charging money for QT, and their distribution
license (there isn't one) is reasonable. I do object to the restrictions
on what you can do with their source code  -- in the event that a bug
cannot be fixed in a timely manner by TT, or TT goes out of business,
I don't want to have bet my business on QT only to find out that my
entire application base is basically stuck in 1998 for eternity. The
whole deal with having source code, as an application writer, is that
if the source code vendor goes out of business it doesn't affect my
business -- if all else fails, I can hire someone else to add features
etc. In part this is why Faircom still sells a ton of C-Tree licenses
despite the fact that Raima etc. produce a better product for less
money -- applications writers want the stability and predictability of
freely--modifiable source code for the basic underpinnings
of their application. As someone who has been burned by a database
vendor basically abandoning a product and raising their per-copy
license 1000%, I can relate quite well to that desire for free sourcce
code (free as in liberty, not free as in price -- believe me, Faircom wants
a pretty penny for their C-Tree software!!).  


-- 
Eric Lee Green   exec@prysm.net          Executive Consultants
Systems Specialist               Educational Administration Solutions
             See http://members.tripod.com/~e_l_green