Quarterly</a>. It is a paper-based newsletter exclusively
available to TQt licensees.
<p> As a courtesy and convenience to all our users, a selection of
articles is also published online about one month after publication.
<p><hrwidth="30%">
<h3> I think I have found a bug in TQt. Where can I report it?
</h3>
<aname="3-4"></a><p> Bugs should be reported to <ahref="mailto:qt-bugs@trolltech.com">qt-bugs@trolltech.com</a>. But <em>please</em> read (the very short)
<ahref="bughowto.html">How to Report a Bug</a> page <em>first</em>.
<p><hr>
<h2> Questions about Professional Licensing
</h2>
<aname="4"></a><p><hrwidth="30%">
<h3> We have purchased a license, but the developer is leaving the company
project. Can we transfer the license to another developer?
</h3>
<aname="4-1"></a><p> Yes. TQt licences are for the individual use of named developers. If
the developer associated with a licence leaves the organization, or
moves on to another project that does not retquire a TQt license,
another developer can take over the licence. You can change the name
of the developer using a licence at any time, but after a change you
must wait at least six (6) months before changing again.
<p><hrwidth="30%">
<h3> Can I purchase floating licenses for TQt?
</h3>
<aname="4-2"></a><p> No, we do not offer floating licenses.
<p> The reason is this: Floating licenses are based on the concept
of defining a maximum number of concurrent users. For example,
for a word processor, this means the maximum number of
instances of that application that can be running at any
time. However, for a library product like TQt, there is no main
application that is always running when the product is being
used. Hence, it is not possible to count the number of
concurrent users, and therefore floating licenses do not
make sense.
<p>
<p><hrwidth="30%">
<h3> Can we use the Open Source Edition while developing our non-free
application and then purchase commercial licenses when we start to
sell it?
</h3>
<aname="4-3"></a><p> No: our commercial license agreements only apply to software
that was developed with TQt under the agreement. They do not
apply to code that was developed with the TQt Open Source Edition
prior to the agreement. Any software developed with TQt
without a commercial license agreement must be released as
free/open source software.
<p><hr>
<h2> Questions about Open Source Software Licensing
</h2>
<aname="5"></a><p><hrwidth="30%">
<h3> I just want to run KDE and other TQt-based software on my
machine. Can I do that with the Open Source Edition?
</h3>
<aname="5-1"></a><p> Yes. You may use the TQt Open Source Edition for running applications,
both at home and at work, without restrictions.
<p><hrwidth="30%">
<h3> I want to put TQt, and applications that use it, on a CD-ROM or on
a web site. Can I do that with the Open Source Edition?
</h3>
<aname="5-2"></a><p> Yes. You may copy and redistribute the TQt Open Source Edition, both
at home and at work, without restrictions.
<p><hrwidth="30%">
<h3> Can I make software with the TQt Open Source Edition and release it under
the GNU GPL, BSD, or Artistic license?
</h3>
<aname="5-3"></a><p> Yes. The GNU GPL, GPL-compatible licenses, or any other
approved open source license will do. The FSF.org and
OpenSource.org web sites list approved software licenses.
<p><hrwidth="30%">
<h3> I don't want to give away my source code. What do I do?
</h3>
<aname="5-4"></a><p> You need to buy a commercial TQt license.
<p><hrwidth="30%">
<h3> Is software based on the TQt Open Source Edition really free? Does it
carry any Trolltech-specific license restrictions?
</h3>
<aname="5-5"></a><p> Yes, it really is free. This is because the TQt Open Source Edition
uses the GNU GPL, which forbids the imposition of any license
restrictions on software based on the Open Source Edition that would
make it non-free. And no, there are no Trolltech-specific
license restrictions on software produced using the Open Source
Edition.
<p><hrwidth="30%">
<h3> What if Trolltech stops releasing Open Source Editions of TQt?
</h3>
<aname="5-6"></a><p> We have absolutely no intention of doing that. Together with
the K Desktop Environment project, we have set up the KDE Free
TQt Foundation (see
<ahref="http://www.kde.org/whatiskde/kdefreeqtfoundation.php">http://www.kde.org/whatiskde/kdefreeqtfoundation.php</a>) to
legally guarantee the availability of TQt for free software
development now and forever - even if circumstances beyound
our control prevent us from producing new free editions.
<p><hrwidth="30%">
<h3> Using the Open Source Edition, can I make non-free software for internal
use in my company/organization?
</h3>
<aname="5-7"></a><p> No. Software developed with the Open Source Edition is always free
software, i.e. it can only be distributed under a free
software license. In particular, all the source code for all
the modules your software is based on, regardless of whether
they have been written by you or by others, must be free
software. This is part of our commitment to the free software
community, and enables those who contribute to the free
software pool to do so without paying license fees.
<p> Although it is possible to write free software for internal
use, it is difficult to ensure that such software is used and
distributed legally. For example, if your free software
retquires any modules that impose conditions on you that
contradict the conditions of the GNU GPL, including, but not
limited to, software patents, commercial license agreements,
copyrighted interface definitions or any sort of
non-disclosure agreement, then you cannot distribute it at
all; hence it cannot be given to consultants, employees for
their personal computers, subsidiaries, other divisions, or
even to new owners.
<p> Consequently we recommend using commercial licenses for all
internal software development.
<p><hrwidth="30%">
<h3> Is TQt Open Source Edition really free software in the GNU meaning of the
word?
</h3>
<aname="5-8"></a><p> Yes - it is free software both as in "no cost" and as in
"free speech". Even more, it is actually available under the
terms of the GNU GPL. This means you can link GPL'ed software
to it, and you can take code from TQt and put it into other
GPL'ed software.
<p><hrwidth="30%">
<h3> If the Open Source Edition is GNU GPL, aren't there license conflicts
with incompatible open source licenses? How come people can even
run commercial software like the Opera web browser with it?
</h3>
<aname="5-9"></a><p> If the Open Source Edition was licensed purely under the GNU GPL,
there would be problems. However, as long as TQt-based
software is either open source or was developed under a
commercial license agreement with Trolltech, we grant
permission to compile, link and run those programs with the
Open Source Edition. This is written down in our second free software
license, the TQPL.
<p><hrwidth="30%">
<h3> Doesn't such an en extra license in addition to the GNU GPL
violate the terms of the GPL or at least make the whole package
GPL-incompatible?
</h3>
<aname="5-10"></a><p> No, because those extra license terms give you rights in
addition to those of the GNU GPL, including the right to
remove those extra terms.
<p><hrwidth="30%">
<h3> Why is TQt Open Source Edition not distributed under the GNU Lesser
General Public License (LGPL)?
</h3>
<aname="5-11"></a><p> The LGPL is designed to "permit developers of non-free
programs to use free libraries" (quote from the LGPL). In
other words, if TQt Open Source Edition were LGPL'd, companies would
not have to purchase our commercial editions in order to make
commercial/proprietary software, they could just use the Open Source
Edition, free of charge. That would mean Trolltech would not
get the revenue necessary for improving and extending TQt.
<p> Note also that the Free Software Foundation discourages the
use of the LGPL.
<p><hr>
<h2> Questions about other programming languages
</h2>
<aname="6"></a><p><hrwidth="30%">
<h3> Are there bindings to languages other than C++?
</h3>
<aname="6-1"></a><p> Yes there are, e.g. bindings to Perl (PerlTQt) and Python
(PyTQt). These bindings were written by the open source
community and are not supported by Trolltech.
<p><hrwidth="30%">
<h3> Can I develop commercial applications with PerlTQt or PyTQt or other
TQt wrappers?
</h3>
<aname="6-2"></a><p> Yes, if you have purchased a commercial license. The licensing
conditions are the same whether you use the TQt API directly in
C++, or you use it through some API wrapper in another
programming language. All developers that write code
containing calls to the TQt API (directly or through a wrapper)
