[dot] Trolltech and KDE Free Qt Foundation Announce Updated Agreement

[Dot Stories]

URL: http://dot.kde.org/1090614115/

From: Cornelius Schumacher <schumacher at kde.org>
Dept: together-we-are-strong
Date: Friday23/Jul/2004, @22:21

Trolltech and KDE Free Qt Foundation Announce Updated Agreement
===============================================================

     On July 23rd 2004, Trolltech [http://www.trolltech.com] and the KDE
Free Qt Foundation
[http://www.kde.org/whatiskde/kdefreeqtfoundation.php] announced the
signing of an updated agreement
[http://www.kde.org/whatiskde/kdefreeqtfoundation.php#updated_agreement]
between Trolltech and the KDE Free Qt Foundation about securing the
availability of Qt for development of free software. The new agreement
replaces the original agreement
[http://www.kde.org/whatiskde/kdefreeqtfoundation.php#agreement] from
June 1998 by adapting it to the current situation and providing a new
text which addresses the problem in a more exact and more complete way.
The intention and basic content are still the same.

     Read the full press release
[http://www.kde.org/whatiskde/kdefreeqt_announcement_20040723.php] for
more details:




   TROLLTECH AND KDE FREE QT FOUNDATION ANNOUNCE AMENDED AND RESTATED
                       SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT

     (July 23, 2004) Trolltech [http://www.trolltech.com/], developer of
Qt, the leading cross-platform development framework upon which KDE
[http://www.kde.org/] is based, and the KDE Free Qt Foundation
[http://www.kde.org/whatiskde/kdefreeqtfoundation.php] (the Foundation)
today announced the signing of an Amended and Restated Software License
Agreement
[http://www.kde.org/whatiskde/kdefreeqtfoundation.php#updated_agreement]
(the Agreement).

     The Foundation was formed in 1998 by Trolltech and KDE e.V.
[http://www.kde.org/areas/kde-ev/], which represents KDE in certain
legal and financial matters, to provide assurances to free software
developers developing with Qt should Qt development cease.

     The revised Agreement continues to honour the original purposes of
the Foundation. In particular, should Trolltech ever discontinue making
regular releases of the Qt Free Edition for any reason - including a
buyout or merger of Trolltech or the liquidation of Trolltech - the Qt
Free Edition will be released under the BSD license and optionally under
one or more other Open Source Licenses designated by the Board of the
Foundation.

     The amendments are aimed at modernizing the Agreement in light of
developments occurring after the original agreement was executed -
including the release of the Qt Free Edition under the GPL
[http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html] and QPL
[http://www.trolltech.com/licenses/qpl.html] in October 2000 - and at
improving the accuracy of the parties' understanding, thereby ensuring
that the Agreement continues to operate in the best interest of both
parties. The major amendments include improved precision in the
definitions of the Qt product releases, the clarification of licensing
terms, and the addition of possible termination of the Agreement under
certain limited circumstances.

     "Third-party software development is a crucial element of KDE's
continued future success, and the restated Agreement encourages both
Open Source and proprietary software developers and enterprises to
develop with KDE and/or Qt on the X Window System by providing a
practical solution should Trolltech be unable to continue developing
Qt", explained Martin Konold, a KDE board member on the Foundation and a
key figure in the formation of the Foundation and execution of the
original agreement
[http://www.kde.org/whatiskde/kdefreeqtfoundation.php#updated_agreement]
in 1998. "As with the release of Qt under the GPL and QPL, we are very
delighted that Trolltech has again demonstrated its ongoing support of,
and commitment to, Open Source software development, and to the KDE
project in particular."

     "Maintaining a close connection with the Open Source community is
essential to the success of Trolltech," said Matthias Ettrich, director
of software tools development at Trolltech. "The amended Agreement
provides an excellent framework for a continued and mutually rewarding
relationship between Trolltech and the KDE Free Qt Foundation."


III. ABOUT THE KDE FREE QT FOUNDATION

     The KDE project, via KDE e.V., and Trolltech, the creators of Qt,
announced the formation of the KDE Free Qt Foundation in June 1998. The
purpose of the Foundation is to assure the availability of Qt for free
software development now and into the future. The Foundation is
controlled by a Board, which consists of two KDE e.V. representatives
and two Trolltech representatives; in many cases, the KDE e.V.
representatives break a voting tie. The governing document of the
Foundation is available online (Page 1
[http://www.kde.org/whatiskde/images/kdefreeqt5.png], Page 2)
[http://www.kde.org/whatiskde/images/kdefreeqt6.png].


 IV. ABOUT KDE

     KDE is an independent project of hundreds of developers,
translators, artists and other professionals worldwide collaborating
over the Internet to create and freely distribute a sophisticated,
customizable and stable desktop and office environment employing a
flexible, component-based, network-transparent architecture and offering
an outstanding development platform. KDE provides a stable, mature
desktop, a full, component-based office suite (KOffice)
[http://www.koffice.org/], a large set of networking and administration
tools and utilities, and an efficient, intuitive development environment
featuring the excellent IDE KDevelop [http://www.kdevelop.org/]. KDE is
working proof that the Open Source "Bazaar-style" software development
model can yield first-rate technologies on par with and superior to even
the most complex commercial software.
  For further information, please contact: Trolltech AS Tonje Sund +47
21 60 48 78 press at trolltech.com KDE Martin Konold +49 7071 940353
kde-pr at kde.org