7 ms·

Does anyone have context for what these discussions are? That's a pretty terse message for those of us not in the loop... Edit: This article gives a bit more c

Does anyone have context for what these discussions are? That's a pretty terse message for those of us not in the loop... Edit: This article gives a bit more context. https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Qt-Open-Source-Statement https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Qt-Open-...

Arnt 7y ago
There's a crisis at the moment, more general, and the crisis has caused catastrophic loss of income at many companies. Some people say that qt.io is one of the companies in trouble, and that it's reacting by releasing new versions of qt to customers first, and to opensource users a year later. I've no idea how much income qt.io actually has lost.
- Rochus 7y ago
  They lost long before Corona because the business model doesn't work.
  - slavik81 7y ago
    What makes you say that? They're still not making much of a profit, but their revenue has doubled since 2015. https://mb.cision.com/Public/14183/3035372/be360a13ae94ae9d.pdf https://mb.cision.com/Public/14183/3035372/be360a13ae94ae9d....
    - Rochus 7y ago
      Revenue of what?
      - slavik81 7y ago
        The Qt Company (QTCOM). They're publicly traded, so they have to publish yearly financial statements. Their employee count has also doubled, which is why they're not making any profits despite the revenue growth. Edit: Ah, you're pointing out that only 25% of their revenue is commercial licenses, while most of their revenue is consulting. I don't know if that's really such a big deal.
        Rochus 7y ago
        You're getting close ;-)
      - Arnt 7y ago
        If you know enough about their business model to state that it doesn't work, then you know the answer to that question. So why do you ask, what are you trying to say?
        Rochus 7y ago
        Just have a look with what they earn money. The other stuff is just holding on to an illusion.
        amedvednikov 7y ago
        They earn money with Qt, an open source library.
        Rochus 7y ago
        No. Look closer.
Rochus 7y ago
Here is a good background article: https://www.embeddeduse.com/2019/12/21/safe-guarding-the-lgpl-future-of-qt/ https://www.embeddeduse.com/2019/12/21/safe-guarding-the-lgp... And here the email to which Qt Comany reacts: https://mail.kde.org/pipermail/kde-community/2020q2/006098.html https://mail.kde.org/pipermail/kde-community/2020q2/006098.h... LGPL has long been a thorn in the side of Qt Company management. Nokia had bought Qt for $150 million, developed and popularized the platform, and then released everything under LGPL. Digia/The Company then bought the intellectual property from Nokia for just 4 million Euros and have been trying to make money from it ever since. Now, with Corona, the management seems to have had a good opportunity to get rid of its annoying obligations to the open source community.
- lentil_soup 7y ago
  I also thought it had to do with that, but given the parent's edit it seems to do with ideas floating around because of money issues given covid-19
  - Rochus 7y ago
    Software development business is among the least affected by Corona. But Corona is a good opportunity for many managers to use it to justify previous misconduct.
    - oaiey 7y ago
      Big customers of QT are Car Companies. And they are affected a lot. However, it is very early to see this impact in a second or third layer company like QT. On the other side, it could be good management (thinking forward). But I agree with you. They are most likely executing now an old plan under Corona cover.
    - jonfw 7y ago
      A lot of tech companies have clients who are significantly affected by Corona
      - 7y ago

Arnt 7y ago

There's a crisis at the moment, more general, and the crisis has caused catastrophic loss of income at many companies. Some people say that qt.io is one of the companies in trouble, and that it's reacting by releasing new versions of qt to customers first, and to opensource users a year later. I've no idea how much income qt.io actually has lost.

Rochus 7y ago
They lost long before Corona because the business model doesn't work.
- slavik81 7y ago
  What makes you say that? They're still not making much of a profit, but their revenue has doubled since 2015. https://mb.cision.com/Public/14183/3035372/be360a13ae94ae9d.pdf https://mb.cision.com/Public/14183/3035372/be360a13ae94ae9d....
  - Rochus 7y ago
    Revenue of what?
    - slavik81 7y ago
      The Qt Company (QTCOM). They're publicly traded, so they have to publish yearly financial statements. Their employee count has also doubled, which is why they're not making any profits despite the revenue growth. Edit: Ah, you're pointing out that only 25% of their revenue is commercial licenses, while most of their revenue is consulting. I don't know if that's really such a big deal.
      - Rochus 7y ago
        You're getting close ;-)
    - Arnt 7y ago
      If you know enough about their business model to state that it doesn't work, then you know the answer to that question. So why do you ask, what are you trying to say?
      - Rochus 7y ago
        Just have a look with what they earn money. The other stuff is just holding on to an illusion.
        amedvednikov 7y ago
        They earn money with Qt, an open source library.
        Rochus 7y ago
        No. Look closer.

Rochus 7y ago

Here is a good background article: https://www.embeddeduse.com/2019/12/21/safe-guarding-the-lgpl-future-of-qt/ https://www.embeddeduse.com/2019/12/21/safe-guarding-the-lgp... And here the email to which Qt Comany reacts: https://mail.kde.org/pipermail/kde-community/2020q2/006098.html https://mail.kde.org/pipermail/kde-community/2020q2/006098.h... LGPL has long been a thorn in the side of Qt Company management. Nokia had bought Qt for $150 million, developed and popularized the platform, and then released everything under LGPL. Digia/The Company then bought the intellectual property from Nokia for just 4 million Euros and have been trying to make money from it ever since. Now, with Corona, the management seems to have had a good opportunity to get rid of its annoying obligations to the open source community.

lentil_soup 7y ago
I also thought it had to do with that, but given the parent's edit it seems to do with ideas floating around because of money issues given covid-19
- Rochus 7y ago
  Software development business is among the least affected by Corona. But Corona is a good opportunity for many managers to use it to justify previous misconduct.
  - oaiey 7y ago
    Big customers of QT are Car Companies. And they are affected a lot. However, it is very early to see this impact in a second or third layer company like QT. On the other side, it could be good management (thinking forward). But I agree with you. They are most likely executing now an old plan under Corona cover.
  - jonfw 7y ago
    A lot of tech companies have clients who are significantly affected by Corona
    - 7y ago