More Open-Source Participants Are Backing A Possible Fork Of Qt

[reavertm]

i used KDE for like 15 years... in the moment i realized what the CLA-WAR is i quit and now i use gnome.

Face the truth Qt was bought by Nokia and Nokia was bought by Microsoft and now Microsoft use it as a weapon against linux because of this they build of all this CLA-WAR as a strategy against FLOSS success it is a operation of so called: Controlled Opposition this is a false flag attack you damage the real opposition by creating a fake opposition to split the enemy in two groups this is told Talmud tactic used by all Jewish "Bill Gates/Georg Soros" groups.

I agree with you. GTK, being Zionist product created specifically to oppose Qt should die.
Gnome, another controlled opposition against KDE, created only to cause fragmentation, should die as well.

Is it a coincidence that Miguel de Icaza, founder and creator of Gnome works for Microsoft now?
Is it coincidence that he was the one who helped Microsoft with EEE strategy when he created Mono and by creating inferior desktop environment, his successful lobbying in RedHat based distributions, he did more damage to Linux desktop and caused more fragmentation than Microsoft?

I used KDE since version 2.0 and this is when I sworn to purge every GTK/Gnome infestation of inferiority aimed by Microsoft at Linux Desktop.
God the almighty, guide me through Gentoo portage tree and protect my GPG keys for I am your sword that shall purge the foul and purify the unclean.

(and they say people get smarter with age..)

[andyprough]

This moronic discussion thread should be bronzed and built into a memorial shrine for all to stare at forever in dumbfounded awe.

[onicsis]

Ground breaking

Knome Linux! - One DE to Rule Them All

[qarium]

Ground breaking

Knome Linux! - One DE to Rule Them All

this should not be a april fools day joke... they really should do it.

unite an do Knome (without CLA-WAR)

[tildearrow]

tildearrow


1) You don’t get to decide the license for kt. It’s decided by the original Qt modules.

I. Never. Said. I. Decided.
The Free Qt foundation can relicense it at will as part of the agreement.

2) Qt’s war against Freedom will increase profitability. Possibly taking some of KDAB’s business as well.

...............

3) kt will not be a viable alternative because you have no team, no infrastructure, no funds, no operations, no support from externals and no compatibility.

And you think GTK is a viable alternative?
Yeah, give me examples of major commercial software using GTK.

4) In case someone should buy or take over kt you need CLA for all external code including the original Qt code. Not going to happen.

Stop, already! Look at Google!
Now tell me where is the CLA there!

[qarium]

Stop, already! Look at Google!
Now tell me where is the CLA there!

well think about controlled opposition als false flag google is part of this
google blocked real linux on smartphones for ages.
yes google andorid uses the linux kernel and yes some OLD(not new) versions are opensource(but incomplete) but it is fact that all linux technology from python to wayland and all other linux stuff is blocket from the smartphones.

and all the big players from microsoft to apple and google did make sure any real linux on smartphone die die die die die die die... Nokia tried it and microsoft bought it and killed the linux phone.

so your argument is weak because google was never a true FLOSS/linux supporter instead they blocked real linux on smartphone and instead they abused the FLOSS with their release modell (Android Open Source Project (AOSP))

you see it by version numbers Andorid 11 is in rollout and LineageOS 17.1 is andorid 10 because andorid 11 is not developed in a opensource way instead years after release they release AOSP opemsource version of andorid.. so if you want a smartphone with andorid 11 you are forces to buy google pixel phone because all the competitors only have andorid 10 right now and projects like LineageOS only have andorid 10

so it is fact google abused his monopoly power against the philosophy of FLOSS

[oiaohm]

oiaohm KDAB doesn’t want a hostile fork. They want a place to offload upstreamable code. Meaning keeping compatibility and CLA in place. Would other community members like that? No.

https://mail.kde.org/pipermail/kde-community/2020q2/006101.html

The existance and functioning of the Open Governance model of Qt is critical to KDAB's business and critical to the continued success of Qt as a technology and a business.

You did not read this line. KDAB is not exactly happy with the CLA. A full proper Open Governance Model does not use CLA instead just uses the License itself.

The CLA on the commercial version has been disrupting KDAB business model the longer delay on open source release of Qt more disruption to the KDAB business model.

Basically KDAB has been tolerating the CLA but has not been happy for quite some time. Now if "The Qt Company" decides to relex the terms of the CLA over the commercial version of Qt not to cover third party code so third party can release extensions on Open source qt without "The Qt Company" approval this would reduce KDAB motivation to fork but it going to lead us back to the fragmentation of the time KDE had it own extension libraries to the Qt framework.

Yes KDE agreement with "The Qt Company" said they could delay release of open source version for 12 months. Something important here KDAB was not part of that agreement.

Basically "The Qt Company" read over their contracts and when what is the max we can legally do its 12 months lets do that without consulting with their biggest single customer KDAB if this was in fact tolerable now they have one very upset customer who was the resources for fork Qt if they don't back down.

[qarium]

Basically "The Qt Company" read over their contracts and when what is the max we can legally do its 12 months lets do that without consulting with their biggest single customer KDAB if this was in fact tolerable now they have one very upset customer who was the resources for fork Qt if they don't back down.

i think they only learn it the hard way... KDAB should fork it and stop pay the Qt company any money. then this results in the bankruptcy of Qt company this result in a more than 1 year delay of the Qt opensource version and then it will be set free.

even better would it be if KDE and KDAB would unite with the gnome people and should start develop a gnome based KDE or a Knome version of KDE.

lets face it this is what these people need (the hard way)

[STiAT]

There are a few things to consider here. The Qt Company has a known employee count of 295. KDAB is somewhere between 80-150(this is based on different numbers people have worked out) or possible more due to being a truly privately listed company they don't need to publish how many employees are in fact part of KDAB .

KDAB has for a long time support Qt on several OS for their existing client base.

Its about time you go read about KDAB.

https://www.kdab.com/

KDAB have been doing Qt now for over 20 years. This is not like having some rookies jump in and fork Qt code base. This is having group with 20 years development experience working on Qt jump in and fork it. Little bit extra funding into KDAB and they would be able to pick up the extra 100 or so developers fairly quickly.

https://mail.kde.org/pipermail/kde-c...q2/006101.html

Yes this is Managing Director KDAB Germany pissed by the 12 months delay idea with the staff and the money to fork the complete project if "The Qt Company" does not back down. Also KDAB have been on going getting annoyed by the terms that means commercial and open source license comes into conflict so hindering release of code unless it goes past "The Qt Company" first.

Please also note KDAB is the "The Qt Companies" largest single customer that gives them money. Lets say instead of paying them money KDAB keeps that money and puts into developers instead as well..


Reality the the man power arguement is baseless KDAB does have the man power to fork the code base. KDAB can increase it man power once it stops paying the "The Qt company" and if some other parties buy stuff from KDAB instead of the other fairly quickly KDAB could be the large man power.

Fixing the license issue would allow code KDAB developers for it customers to be released faster open source because it would not need the "The Qt company" rubber stamp of approval to release any more.

The 12 months delay on release is really the straw that broke the camel's back. The real load causing the problem is the terms on the commercial license saying you extend that with your own code you cannot public release it without "The Qt company" approval. 12 months delay on open source release would not be a bother if KDAB was free to port there extensions of the commercial version to the open source version and release it as add on libraries and the like but the current commercial license of Qt does not allow this.

PS this is underhanded this allowed "The Qt company" in open source release and commercial releases to take credit for features added by KDAB as well. So this has been a powder keg for some time now.

This is certainly interesting, thank you for sharing. I do understand the frustration, but I didn't know that KDAB was actually that big, though, still significantly smaller than TQtC, but you're right about shifting operational expenses from licensing to employees (depending on license fees). Business side of things that shouldn't change that much for you though, you're a commercial customer of them. Besides having the "right" values at heart, you'll have reasons for not liking that 12-month open source delay even business whise, which I currently don't see.

[STiAT]

What about Apache or MIT or something (or even LGPL?) for the fork?

I feel like the future of Qt should be like this:
1. Qt forked, as Kt or something
2. Qt slowly dies out and the company goes bankrupt
3. Kt takes over, and becomes a real alternative
4. Kt is bought or maintained or has its ownership transferred to some big company (say, Google or SUSE or something)
5. Kt is relicensed under Apache (still remains open)
6. Companies move to Kt and we are happy

A good plan, but with a tough investment. Somebody will have to invest manpower, and replacing ~300 FTEs in TQtC won't be easy. And you'll need some commercial backing / marketing as of KDAB or similar companies. Just forking won't work if you can't outperform TQtC on customer needs.