Frequently Asked Questions

Please note: the latest version of this and other FAQ lists are available at:
                        http://www.trolltech.com/faq/


   1.Who is Trolltech? 

      Trolltech is a software company based in Oslo, the capital of
      Norway. Our flagship product is Qt, the multi-platform C++
      GUI toolkit. 

      Trolltech AS was founded in 1994. However, the core team of
      designers at Trolltech started developing Qt already in 1992.
      Ever since then, Qt has steadily expanded and improved. Qt is
      currently used in hundreds of software development projects
      world wide. 

      In addition to Qt development and support, Trolltech engages
      on a consultancy basis in various exciting development projects.

   2.Do you have any plans for a graphical designer/dialog
      builder? 

      Yes, since Qt 2.2.
      See the tools/designer directory of your Qt distribution.

   3.Is there a mailing list or something for Qt? 

      There are three: qt-interest@trolltech.com, snapshot-users@trolltech.com,
      and qt-announce.

      Qt-interest is a user forum. There can be as many as 150
      messages per week. To join it, send a message containing the
      single word "subscribe" to qt-interest-request@trolltech.com. 

      Snapshot-users@trolltech.com is a forum for people using the
      cutting-edge unstable version.  The details of the snapshot
      releases are detailed at http://www.trolltech.com/qt-snapshots.html

      Qt-announce is for announcements of new Qt versions and a
      few other announcements. We expect that there will be less
      than ten messages to the list each year. To join the list, send
      mail containing the single word "subscribe" to
      qt-announce-request@trolltech.com. 

      All messages to Qt-announce are also sent to Qt-interest, so
      you don't need to be on both lists. 

   4.Can I use Qt's classes without writing a graphical
      user interface? 

      Quite a few of the classes can be used independently of the
      user interface. See utility classes, for example. There are also
      a few classes that will work without the GUI only by chance. 

   5.What kind of licenses exist for Qt? 

      The Qt toolkit is available under two different licenses: The
      Professional Edition for commercial use, and the Q Public License
      for developing free software for the X platform. 

   6.What are the differences between the Professional
      Edition and Free Edition of Qt? 

      You can write commercial software only if you have the
      Professional Edition. The library itself is the same. With the
      Professional Edition, you also get technical support and
      upgrades.  For full details, see the LICENSE.QPL file.

   7.Are you going to include so-and-so feature in Qt? If
      so, when? 

      We try not to make public speculations about the whats and
      whens of the next Qt release too early, because we do not want
      to be known as a vaporware company. 

   8.I don't want to give away my source code. What do I do? 

      Then you need the Professional Edition. 

   9.Can I charge for my application? 

      If you have the Professional Edition: Yes, of course. If you use
      the Free Edition your software must be freely distributable
      and you must include the source. 

      The Free Edition is intended for free software. We realize
      that CD-ROMs cost money to produce, for example, so you
      can charge a copying fee. 

  10.Where can I find Qt? 

      The latest version of Qt can be downloaded from
      http://www.trolltech.com or from ftp.trolltech.com, and a whole range
      of ftp mirror sites around the world. Look for a mirror near you
      on the list available under http://www.trolltech.com/dl/ 

      We encourage all developers of free Qt software to upload
      their work to ftp.trolltech.com. 

  11.I want to port Qt to a new platform. What do I do? 

      If the new platform is POSIX-like and runs the X Window
      System, you need to create a new directory in mkspecs and
      adapt the qmake.conf and qplatformdefs.h files to your needs.

  12.Will Qt be available for [OS/2, Mac, Amiga]? 

      At present, Qt only works well on X11 and Win32 (Windows
      95 and Windows NT). Porting to other platforms is a lower
      priority. Currently, we concentrate on the Windows and X
      versions. 

  13.Can I make a Qt shared library and distribute it with
      my Linux distribution? 

      Yes, if you do not make changes to Qt and include all the files
      present in our distribution of Qt. If you absolutely need to
      change something, write to info@trolltech.com. 

      It is very important for Trolltech that we know what is being
      distributed, so that we can guarantee the quality of Qt. 

  14.I found this obscure bug and I need it fixed, fast! 

      Qt Professional Edition includes technical support. We try to
      support the developers using the Qt Free Edition as well, and
      we take all bug reports seriously, no matter who they come
      from. But, of course, when there's too much to do, our
      customers have higher priority.