It was announced on Monday that Nokia would be purchasing Trolltech, the company responsible for Qt (the software behind KDE, the popular Linux desktop environment). Qt is a cross-platform set of C++ libraries that enable programmers to design GUI (graphical user interface) applications in various operating systems without needing to force code to comply to said operating system's API. Nokia is largely interested in Qtopia, a Qt derivative, that Trolltech created specifically for use with consumer-level mobile phones.
Nokia has already integrated Qt into its Nokia PC Suite, which allows mobile handsets to communicate with PCs. Dr Kai Öistämö, the head of Nokia's devices unit, reassured fans of the Norweigan company Trolltech, when he stated that Trolltech would be allowed to "continue in its current organisation form with full operational alignment." Trolltech's board of directors and shareholders of the Qt developer unanimously supported the deal with Nokia. Like the recent purchase of MySQL by SUN, there seems little to fear in the acquisition of Trolltech by Nokia. Öistämö assuaged fears by stating that Nokia would "actively contribute to the open-source community, especially KDE", and that it would "continue to invest in Qt, adding more advanced graphical capabilities". Nokia has previously had a vested interest in the Linux community, as the company already sports some Linux-based tablets (though these use the popular Gnome interface). The two companies had been in talks about the possibility of an acquisition since September of 2007. The existing dual-licensing model that Trolltech employs will be maintained; this licensing allows open source developers to freely use the software on the contigency that any software they create will be made available to the open source community, and for those developers that wish to sell proprietary software written with Qt, they must pay a license fee. Trolltech's willingness to commit to this deal with Nokia largely hinged on the preservation of this license. Only registered users can write comments. Please login or register. Add as favourites (60) | Quote this article on your site | Views: 493
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