The Qt framework may be moving to a paid-for model, according to a report from a KDE developer on the board of the KDE Free Qt Foundation. The report says that the Qt Company is thinking of restricting new releases to paying customers for the next year. 

Qt is a cross-platform application and UI software development framework that lets you create native apps for desktop, embedded or mobile platforms. KDE, is a graphical desktop environment with elements including an office suite and games, all of which use KDE libraries. The libraries make use of the QT libraries, so KDE has a strong reliance on QT.

Qt's potential plans for charging are apparently because of the effect Covid-19 is having on the company finances, meaning they need to increase short-term revenues.

Olaf Schmidt-Wischhöfer of KDE said:

"They announced that LTS releases of Qt will only be available for paid license holders. It is still unclear what this implies for contributions to Qt and for the sharing of security fixes between the various parties (including The Qt Company, the many Qt experts contributing, the KDE community, and Linux distributions)."

While the rumors have created quite a fuss, they've also brought out a group of developers who say if Qt goes to a paid model they will consider forking it. The backers of this plan include developersof the Qute browser developer and the QGIS project.

In response to the speculation, The Qt Company said:

"There have been discussions on various internet forums about the future of Qt open source in the last two days. The contents do not reflect the views or plans of The Qt Company.

The Qt Company is proud to be committed to its customers, open source, and the Qt governance model."

We'll undoubtedly find out the truth in due course. 

More Information

Qt WebSite

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