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LGPL. Which eliminates his requirement for a single executable. With LGPL you are only allowed to link dynamically.

jjmarr 2y ago
The goal of this is so that end-users can modify or update Qt, the LGPL licensed component. The LGPL is working as intended.
- deutschepost 2y ago
  Yes. But the article states that they don’t care about that. They just want a single executable.
  - EasyMark 2y ago
    I never understood the need for a single executable on windows when folders, zip files, and 100% free installers exist if you don’t like zip files. Also nearly all of the gui kits he’s shooting down have ways to build custom components if that’s what you want to do.
    - ranger_danger 2y ago
      No need for an installer when it's just one file you can run anywhere. And folders/zips are way too hard for the average user. Ask me how I know. My partner gave up an entire game platform because it was delivered as a .7z file they could not figure out.
      - riffraff 2y ago
        But a .7z requires a custom expander, .zip is natively supported by windows, isn't it?
        Kwpolska 2y ago
        .7z recently got native support.
    - josefx 2y ago
      None of these help you if you are dealing with users that move executables for convenient access or think updating the sofware just involves dragging and dropping the new executable into the existing installation folder. Customer support had countless stories like that.
      - jimbobthrowawy 2y ago
        Does using something like APE by jart work? It's a single executable that's also a zipfile. (I assume a replaceable .dll inside the archive is LGPL compliant) I know it's a bit of a tangent, but on platforms like macos the "apps" are all directories with the .app extension, and that doesn't seem to cause issues.
  - TheCoelacanth 2y ago
    Then pay for a license or make the object files available to users who want to relink the app.
singpolyma3 2y ago
Not true at all. The LGPL does not specify anything about mode of linking or anything like that. What the LGPL requires is that the end user be able to take the source code for the LGPL part, modify it, recompile it, and then replace the functionality in your binary provided by that part with their new part. Obviously with dynamic linking this is almist trivial, the end user replaces the so or DLL and done. With normal static linking, it's only a bit harder. If you ship alongside your binary a bundle of eg .o files and a script that links them together with a .a for the LGPL part for example, this is also compliant without revealing the source code to your non-lgpl part.
- Wowfunhappy 2y ago
  > If you ship alongside your binary a bundle of eg .o files and a script that links them together with a .a for the LGPL part for example, this is also compliant without revealing the source code to your non-lgpl part. This is super clever, I love it! Does any software actually do this?
  - jcelerier 2y ago
    Yes. For instance some Cisco app on iOS that uses gstreamer (LGPL) does exactly this.
    - jimbobthrowawy 2y ago
      Do you mean iOS the iphone operating system, or cisco IOS the router operating system?
      - jcelerier 2y ago
        the iPhone operating system: https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/jabber/iOS/12_6/Cisco-Jabber-for-iPhone-and-iPad-12-6_Licensing_Information.pdf https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/jabb...
- bla3 2y ago

The goal of this is so that end-users can modify or update Qt, the LGPL licensed component. The LGPL is working as intended.

deutschepost 2y ago
Yes. But the article states that they don’t care about that. They just want a single executable.
- EasyMark 2y ago
  I never understood the need for a single executable on windows when folders, zip files, and 100% free installers exist if you don’t like zip files. Also nearly all of the gui kits he’s shooting down have ways to build custom components if that’s what you want to do.
  - ranger_danger 2y ago
    No need for an installer when it's just one file you can run anywhere. And folders/zips are way too hard for the average user. Ask me how I know. My partner gave up an entire game platform because it was delivered as a .7z file they could not figure out.
    - riffraff 2y ago
      But a .7z requires a custom expander, .zip is natively supported by windows, isn't it?
      - Kwpolska 2y ago
        .7z recently got native support.
  - josefx 2y ago
    None of these help you if you are dealing with users that move executables for convenient access or think updating the sofware just involves dragging and dropping the new executable into the existing installation folder. Customer support had countless stories like that.
    - jimbobthrowawy 2y ago
      Does using something like APE by jart work? It's a single executable that's also a zipfile. (I assume a replaceable .dll inside the archive is LGPL compliant) I know it's a bit of a tangent, but on platforms like macos the "apps" are all directories with the .app extension, and that doesn't seem to cause issues.
- TheCoelacanth 2y ago
  Then pay for a license or make the object files available to users who want to relink the app.

singpolyma3 2y ago

Not true at all. The LGPL does not specify anything about mode of linking or anything like that. What the LGPL requires is that the end user be able to take the source code for the LGPL part, modify it, recompile it, and then replace the functionality in your binary provided by that part with their new part. Obviously with dynamic linking this is almist trivial, the end user replaces the so or DLL and done. With normal static linking, it's only a bit harder. If you ship alongside your binary a bundle of eg .o files and a script that links them together with a .a for the LGPL part for example, this is also compliant without revealing the source code to your non-lgpl part.

Wowfunhappy 2y ago
> If you ship alongside your binary a bundle of eg .o files and a script that links them together with a .a for the LGPL part for example, this is also compliant without revealing the source code to your non-lgpl part. This is super clever, I love it! Does any software actually do this?
- jcelerier 2y ago
  Yes. For instance some Cisco app on iOS that uses gstreamer (LGPL) does exactly this.
  - jimbobthrowawy 2y ago
    Do you mean iOS the iphone operating system, or cisco IOS the router operating system?
    - jcelerier 2y ago
      the iPhone operating system: https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/jabber/iOS/12_6/Cisco-Jabber-for-iPhone-and-iPad-12-6_Licensing_Information.pdf https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/jabb...
bla3 2y ago