[plug] KDE licence (was Debian was Mandrake)

[Greg Mildenhall]

On Wed, 1 Mar 2000, John Summerfield wrote:
> > > If I can take the component parts and put it all together to get the same 
> > > final results,
> > I don't quite understand this line. Are you suggesting writing KDE from
> > scratch yourself and not distributing it?
> Take -- get & use
> Component parts == all necessary source code and/or libraries
> put it all together == compile & link as necessary to produce the final 
> result
Aaaah, OK. The answer to this is that you cannot take the component parts.
In particular, you may not take the KDE part without the Qt part and
expect to license it under the GPL. The GPL only allows redistribution
under the GPL "as a whole". You may not license it as a part which is not
functional without additional code unless you also offer that additional
code under the GPL, so that it is "licensed as a whole at no charge to all
third parties under the terms of this License."

> > > I don't see that suing me is going to server anyone any useful purpose. 
> > Probably not. More likely would be that they sued the larger distributors
> > of it. That would mean no more development, no more covert distribution,
> > and probably no more KDE for most users.
> Time for us users to worry is when we can't use KDE any more.
Don't bet on it not happening if feet continue to be dragged. My
expectation, though, is that if the situation comes to a head, someone
with a vested interest in KDE will buy TrollTech and GPL the Qt library.

> I switch between GNOME & KDE regularly; GNOME is altogether too erratic 
> for my liking, but then it does some things better.
I think GNOME has a superior architecture and that it will therefore prove
the better system in the long run. At the moment, though, KDE has seen a
lot more attention to detail, which makes the user experience smoother.
Another factor is that KDE is very much aimed at a smooth transition from
traditional interfaces, (Windows/CDE/Mac) while GNOME is intent on
creating an interface for the future, which obviously demands extreme
flexibility (since we don't know what the future is, yet :) and not tying
itself to compatibility with past paradigms/mistakes.
GNOME is a bumpier ride to a better place, which makes it appealing for
the off-road enthusiasts like myself, but not a comfortable environment
for the Rav-4 drivers of the computing world.

-Greg