Trolltech opens up QPE framework

Post by **Patrick** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:04 am

Trolltech is opening up their entire QPE (Qtopia Phone edition) framework stack under the GPLv2:
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS5429713730.html

So if you write embedded apps using Qtopia it should be able to run on a multitude of processors (OpenMoko, Nokia N880, Greenphone, etc.):
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS5429713730.html

There is a vmware image of the greenphone demo:
ftp://ftp.trolltech.com/qtopia/livecd/q ... 742-en.zip

snarkout · Post by **snarkout** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 11:02 am

My understanding is that OpenMoko is still more or less unusable, as is the greenphone. It'll be really exciting when this culminates into something solid and usable.

Post by **Patrick** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 11:10 am

One of the big caveats is that Qtopia now runs on the Neo1973 phone that the OpenMoko project uses. OpenMoko is basically developing a framework that uses GTK+(C) while Qtopia uses Qt(C++). From reading the OpenMoko mailing lists I get the impression that the phone is only partially functional (and buggy) running the OpenMoko framework but people are reporting that it's more functional using Qtopia and the applications currently running on it:
http://lists.openmoko.org/pipermail/com ... 10426.html

There is a decent amount of applications already developed with Qtopia since it's been used for PDAs for some time now. I know that the embedded versions of Opera & Skype on the Nokia N880 uses Qtopia. However the Nokia uses the Maemo UI which is completely written using GTK+ libraries. Another thing to consider is that GTK+ is LGPL (free for commercial developers to use) while Qtopia is GPLv2 (Trolltech charges for a commercial developer license). This could turn into an extension of the whole Gnome vs KDE flamewar! I'm seriously considering picking up a second generation Neo phone (when it comes out in December?) but only if it 's functional (calling in/out and accessing my voicemail). Reading the docs it seems the SIM chip in my current Motorola phone works with the Neo. Next I have to research if Cingular will let me use it. I'm definitely interested in learning to develop some apps for this thing.

Tsuroerusu · Post by **Tsuroerusu** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 12:12 pm

Patrick wrote:Another thing to consider is that GTK+ is LGPL (free for commercial developers to use) while Qtopia is GPLv2 (Trolltech charges for a commercial developer license).

I know I'm probably a purist with this, but I think it's justified. Pat, commercial just doesn't mean proprietary! Red Hat Enterprise includes Qt and KDE, and costs over 2500 bucks! Sure a lot of that is for support and services, but you still pay someone to get some software, is that not paying for software? I sure as hell think it is, 2500 is a lot of money!

Patrick wrote:This could turn into an extension of the whole Gnome vs KDE flamewar!

Dude that part started years ago! Some GNOME developers are still to this day, claiming that Qt is not free software! I heard Miguel de Retardo (Sorry, but I just can't stand this guy these days!) intentionally implying that just a year ago. Yeah, because you KNOW that GPLv2 is definitely the most evil proprietary license in the world!

Post by **Patrick** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 12:57 pm

Screenshots of Qtopia running on the Geo1973:
http://www.openmoko.org.pl/node/57