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This is a sad story... Qt was gaining huge momentum under Nokia's acquisition. QML, their new technology for mobile interfaces was just pure joy to use. The pla

This is a sad story... Qt was gaining huge momentum under Nokia's acquisition. QML, their new technology for mobile interfaces was just pure joy to use. The platform was moving fast, and it seemed that nothing was impossible, including ports of Qt to Android or iOS. Now, it just seems that it's slowly going to die. As an enthusiastic Qt / QML developer, I'm sad...

mambodog 16y ago
I'm sure Qt still have a place on the desktop as a multiplatform GUI toolkit, but it does seem like the end of the road for Qt's mobile stuff. I think the best that could be hoped for it would be a role akin to MonoTouch, but I think the amount of work to get to that stage would be too great, especially considering Nokia would have no interest in it.
cookiecaper 16y ago
I really hope Qt doesn't die. As I'm sure you know, Trolltech nourished Qt for more than a decade until they were bought by Nokia a couple of years back, and Qt is an awesome toolkit that has wide support on Linux et al. I can't fathom Qt just dying out -- even if what used to be Trolltech fades, people will at least continue to hack on the codebase, and hopefully professional support is absorbed by the remaining Linux companies. Qt is the widget toolkit for many first-class Linux applications, including VLC and all of KDE. KDE and Qt specifically are very closely linked, so KDE-based distros should be especially anxious to absorb any Qt refugees from Nokia.
- mbreese 16y ago
  I'm sure the KDE project would absorb as many people from Qt as possible. But who is going to pay them? Which distros a) still use KDE exclusively and b) have the resources to pay for a number of Qt refugees?
  - joe_the_user 16y ago
    1. Trolltech was profitable when Nokia bought it. 2. Nokia could sell Trolltech/Qt. They justify their actions on the basis of needing some money. Selling Troll/Qt could bring in some money (let's exclude the small detail that MS wants QT dead, not sold...) 3. If KDE demanded the Qt source out of escrow, it would be one more black eye on the already nasty look Nokia, so Nokia might just let the Trolls go...
joezydeco 16y ago
As an enthusiastic Qt/Embedded developer, I'm hopeful. Qt/Embedded suffered under Nokia. QML, nice as it is, is a dog on anything less than 700 MHz of core. Strings flying everywhere. The Trolls were told to put everything into QML and Mobility, to the point where I've filed embedded bugs and been told "Sorry, it's not a priority issue". Add this to the word I got through the backchannels that Nokia was discouraging (and not even testing) static builds of Qt libraries and I could see the writing that Qt was pretty much completed for non-QML embedded devs. I'm hopeful that wherever the code lands next that we'll see some of the floors get swept and we can all move on. Lighthouse is a nice gateway to better things, for example.
- gmartres 16y ago
  Yes, especially since Mobility really is a weird beast. See http://doc.qt.nokia.com/qtmobility-1.1.0/gallery.html http://doc.qt.nokia.com/qtmobility-1.1.0/gallery.html . Maybe it's just me but this screams "over-engineered", I still haven't figured how you're supposed to use it.
  - joezydeco 16y ago
    I agree. My take on Mobility is that they needed a higher level of abstraction to make QML attractive to Javascript/Cocoa Touch/Android XML developers.

mambodog 16y ago

I'm sure Qt still have a place on the desktop as a multiplatform GUI toolkit, but it does seem like the end of the road for Qt's mobile stuff. I think the best that could be hoped for it would be a role akin to MonoTouch, but I think the amount of work to get to that stage would be too great, especially considering Nokia would have no interest in it.

cookiecaper 16y ago

I really hope Qt doesn't die. As I'm sure you know, Trolltech nourished Qt for more than a decade until they were bought by Nokia a couple of years back, and Qt is an awesome toolkit that has wide support on Linux et al. I can't fathom Qt just dying out -- even if what used to be Trolltech fades, people will at least continue to hack on the codebase, and hopefully professional support is absorbed by the remaining Linux companies. Qt is the widget toolkit for many first-class Linux applications, including VLC and all of KDE. KDE and Qt specifically are very closely linked, so KDE-based distros should be especially anxious to absorb any Qt refugees from Nokia.

mbreese 16y ago
I'm sure the KDE project would absorb as many people from Qt as possible. But who is going to pay them? Which distros a) still use KDE exclusively and b) have the resources to pay for a number of Qt refugees?
- joe_the_user 16y ago
  1. Trolltech was profitable when Nokia bought it. 2. Nokia could sell Trolltech/Qt. They justify their actions on the basis of needing some money. Selling Troll/Qt could bring in some money (let's exclude the small detail that MS wants QT dead, not sold...) 3. If KDE demanded the Qt source out of escrow, it would be one more black eye on the already nasty look Nokia, so Nokia might just let the Trolls go...

joezydeco 16y ago

As an enthusiastic Qt/Embedded developer, I'm hopeful. Qt/Embedded suffered under Nokia. QML, nice as it is, is a dog on anything less than 700 MHz of core. Strings flying everywhere. The Trolls were told to put everything into QML and Mobility, to the point where I've filed embedded bugs and been told "Sorry, it's not a priority issue". Add this to the word I got through the backchannels that Nokia was discouraging (and not even testing) static builds of Qt libraries and I could see the writing that Qt was pretty much completed for non-QML embedded devs. I'm hopeful that wherever the code lands next that we'll see some of the floors get swept and we can all move on. Lighthouse is a nice gateway to better things, for example.

gmartres 16y ago
Yes, especially since Mobility really is a weird beast. See http://doc.qt.nokia.com/qtmobility-1.1.0/gallery.html http://doc.qt.nokia.com/qtmobility-1.1.0/gallery.html . Maybe it's just me but this screams "over-engineered", I still haven't figured how you're supposed to use it.
- joezydeco 16y ago
  I agree. My take on Mobility is that they needed a higher level of abstraction to make QML attractive to Javascript/Cocoa Touch/Android XML developers.