Keep It On The Qt: Linux/Windows GUI Toolkit Coming To Mac OS X

by , 12:00 PM EDT, June 19th, 2003

If you've used KDE, a GUI for Linux, you've probably used an application built using Trolltech's Qt GUI toolkit. According to the company, it will release an OS X native version of Qt at Apple's upcoming Worldwide Developer's Conference in San Francisco. The software will be released under the GPL, and will allow the native compilation of such software as the Konqueror Web browser and file manager, and the KOffice productivity suite under OS X without the need of an X11 server such as Apple's X11 or XDarwin. From Trolltech:

Trolltech today announced that Qt/Mac will be released under the GPL (GNU General Public License) at Apple's World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) 2003 in San Francisco on June 23rd.

With the release of the Qt/Mac Free Software Edition, the advantages of Qt's dual licensing model are now taken to Mac OS X. Since it's founding in 1994, Trolltech has successfully used a dual licensing business model, offering both commercial and Free Software licensing options to developers.

"Trolltech's dual licensing strategy has been key to our success," says Trolltech CEO and co-founder, Haavard Nord. "We are now expanding this strategy to include the Mac. We estimate that there are over one hundred thousand Qt developers in the Free Software community today. These free software developers receive a high quality tool, and in return, they provide Trolltech with valuable feedback on Qt."

Qt/Mac is the Mac port of Qt - a single-source, multiplatform C++ GUI toolkit that allows applications to run natively on Windows, Linux/Unix, and Mac OS X, all from the same codebase.

The GPL release of Qt/Mac allows Mac free software developers to use Qt free of charge. Any software produced with the GPL version of Qt/Mac (and any derivatives of this software) must also be released with full source code available under the GPL. Developers who wish to create commercial (proprietary or closed source) software can continue to do so using the existing Qt/Mac commercial licenses.

With the upcoming Qt/Mac GPL release, thousands of existing Free Software applications developed with Qt/X11 (Linux and various flavors of Unix) and Qt/Embedded (embedded Linux), can now be ported to the Mac OS X platform. Most of these applications only require a simple recompile for Mac OS X.

The release of Qt/Mac under the GPL also means that Qt Script for Applications (QSA), Trolltech's new scripting toolkit for Qt-based applications, will be available under a dual license on Mac OS X.

Qt/Mac will be available to download from Trolltech's Web site free of charge starting on June 23rd. You can find more information about Trolltech, Qt, and Qt/Mac at Trolltech's Web site. Also check out the article on KDE.News, which contains links to other pertinent information and screenshots of applications recompiled to run under OS X.

The Mac Observer Spin:

It is very exciting to see such interest in porting such toolkits to OS X. The growing support for Mac OS X from the open source and *nix markets bodes well for eventual growth of the platform. Trolltech's support is especially important simply because it will allow still other software titles to make their way to the Mac. There are many great KDE applications out there using the Qt toolkit, and the release of Qt/Mac should make them absurdly easy to port to OS X.

Trolltech