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List:       kde-cygwin
Subject:    Re: gcc windows and Qt 3
From:       Justin Karneges <justin-qt () affinix ! com>
Date:       2002-08-10 0:36:39
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Ralf,

There is also the possibility of having a nice person with a Qt/Windows 
license compile a KDE distro for win32.  Users would lose the ability to 
modify the apps, but it would be a small tradeoff.  Most users wouldn't 
modify application code anyway, especially those that run Windows.

-Justin

On Friday 09 August 2002 15:33, Ralf Habacker wrote:
> > > Will Windows ever get a Qt 3.0 non-commercial edition?  Or will it?
> >
> > It
> >
> > > is going to be hard growing the ranks if the answer is "no".
> >
> > I'm afraid the answer is no anyway. I already sent out the official
> > statement once at this location, here it is again:
> > "Unfortunately, Trolltech has not found a way of making free versions
> > for Mac OS X and Windows without risking the very business model we
> > depend upon to be able to further develop and support Qt. We do not plan
> > further releases of non commercial editions of Qt."
> >
> > Here is some more inofficial statement:
> > When you release a non-commercial version of your product and see the
> > sales graph go down like we did
>
> I guess, this belongs to the qt2.3 nc release ?
>
> > you will think more than twice before you go into that direction again.
> > Apart form the numbers going down we also didn't have any of the
> > synergetic effects we are experiencing from the Qt/X11 free user
> > community (as the release does not include the sources),
>
> Do you mean the time as kde was based on a non gpl qt release ?
>
> If so, I think the same situation could be now for windows.
>
> Do you have heard about the kde on cygwin project, which tries to bring kde
> on the windows desktop ?
> Currently we are using the gpl based release of qt2/3/x11, but the time
> comes nearer and nearer, where people like to get a native qt release as
> base for kde applications on windows.
>
> There are already people, who are thinking about how a native gpl based qt
> port could be done (see http://kde-cygwin.sourceforge.net/faq/#E7) and
> others are on the startline for porting a native qt (see the kde-cygwin
> malinig list on http://lists.kde.org/?l=kde-cygwin&r=1&w=2 )
>
> Why, you may ask, are they doing like this ?
>
> Well, one answer could be found on the kde-cygwin project website
> http://cygwin.kde.org
>
> A) "We think that KDE is a great desktop and has the opportunity to be a
> big player in the 'desktop environment' area. One of the main reasons for
> this is because of the famous Qt library, which is designed to be very
> platform independent and has already been ported to many operating systems.
> Hence porting KDE applications from one UNIX derived operating system to
> another is relatively painless. The one operating system this doesn't hold
> true for is Windows.
>
> Windows is the OS of choice for many companies. How does this square with
> the promotion of KDE? The answer is simple: build something that allows KDE
> applications to run atop Windows. This is the goal we are aiming for with
> this project."
>
> Another one tell us some impressions on
> http://kde-cygwin.sourceforge.net/faq/#E8.
>
> B) " .... So what is the reason here? A bit of revenge and some social
> efficiency.
>
> By porting KDE, not only KDE, but hundreds of useful tools will be
> instantly available. And not just the command-line ones. What kind of
> impression does using KDE GUI apps make on a newbie? There is an
> alternative!"
>
> There are some more threads found under
> http://kde-cygwin.sourceforge.net/press.php relating to the question, why
> kde on windows (using a native qt release) would be a good way.
>
> > so at the end of the day we had less to eat (or drink; we're in
> > Norway, after all!), and more to work (it's amazing how many people
> > actually
>
> seem to have
>
> > trouble understanding the concept of "PATH").
>
> Of course, trolltech employeers have to eat and earn money from selling the
> qt library, but think about, does trolltech would not could earn more money
> if the qt lib would be a more known library as now and already used in a
> major gui application on windows ?
>
> Now many people does not know qt. But if a native kde on windows would be
> existant, people would say:
>
> "Qt, isn't this the basic lib of KDE, the windows gui alternative ? And it
> runs on windows as good as on unix/linux ?"
>
> Would this not be a good promotion for the multi platform toolkit ?
>
> Additional B) said, that there would be hundreds of kde applications using
> qt on windows. Would this not spread the publicity of qt and could increase
> selling qt licenses ?
>
> Currently kde on cygwin is visited up to 12000 times a day, see
> http://sourceforge.net/project/stats/index.php?report=last_30&group_id=2724
>9, which shows me, that people like to see this realised.
>
> What about the barrier with changing the development technologies? The more
> one basic technology is used, the more this technology would be used for
> other projects. So if kde(qt) applications are spread over the millions of
> windows pc's, would not the possibilites for selling qt licenses increase ?
>
> Fourth, kdevelop could be an alternative development environment, if a
> native open source qt release would be there. This would decrease the
> learning curve switching from windows to unix and vice versa for writing qt
> applications. There is some work needed to archive this, but if kdevelop is
> usable for the first time, it will be more and more used an enhanced. A
> start is already done: An x11 release of kdevelop for windows is already be
> available. See
> http://www.kdevelop.org/ for further informations:
> "22. May 2002 - Kool!!! KDevelop-2.1 for KDE 2 now available on Microsoft
> Windows! See the screenshot on XP and the appropriately needed base
> software KDE on Cygwin (2.2.2-Beta1)."
>
> Fifth: a native qt would make it possible to bring up koffice. Think about
> if koffice would be available on windows. There are endless options for
> adding commercial add-ons (based on qt) which result in selling qt license.
>
> Isn't these (and perhaps other not named topics) the synergetic effects of
> which you have spoken and as are given on unix ? Could this successfull
> unix story be repeated on windows ?
>
> Why not, I (and others) believe so.
>
> Ralf
>
> --
> List archive and information: http://lists.trolltech.com/qt-interest/

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