Harmony toolkit
Encyclopedia
The Harmony toolkit is a never-completed free software
widget toolkit
that aimed to be API
compatible with the then non-GPL licensed Qt widget toolkit. The QPL license that Qt used was free only if the program was not sold for profit and if its source code was freely available. It was later released under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License
(LGPL).
In addition to source compatibility with Qt, the Harmony project also aimed to add functionality such as multi-threaded applications and pluggable themes. Features that Qt itself later added.
The GNU project
launched the Harmony project, and also the GNOME
desktop project, to counter the perceived problem that the free software KDE
desktop was gaining popularity but was requiring that people install non GPL licensed software.
Development ceased at the end of 2000, when Qt was released under the GPL, removing the perceived need for the Harmony Project to exist. In January 2009 Qt itself was made available under the GNU LGPL, along with the previous license options.
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
widget toolkit
Widget toolkit
In computing, a widget toolkit, widget library, or GUI toolkit is a set of widgets for use in designing applications with graphical user interfaces...
that aimed to be API
Application programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
compatible with the then non-GPL licensed Qt widget toolkit. The QPL license that Qt used was free only if the program was not sold for profit and if its source code was freely available. It was later released under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License
GNU Lesser General Public License
The GNU Lesser General Public License or LGPL is a free software license published by the Free Software Foundation . It was designed as a compromise between the strong-copyleft GNU General Public License or GPL and permissive licenses such as the BSD licenses and the MIT License...
(LGPL).
In addition to source compatibility with Qt, the Harmony project also aimed to add functionality such as multi-threaded applications and pluggable themes. Features that Qt itself later added.
The GNU project
GNU Project
The GNU Project is a free software, mass collaboration project, announced on September 27, 1983, by Richard Stallman at MIT. It initiated GNU operating system development in January, 1984...
launched the Harmony project, and also the GNOME
GNOME
GNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
desktop project, to counter the perceived problem that the free software KDE
KDE
KDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
desktop was gaining popularity but was requiring that people install non GPL licensed software.
Development ceased at the end of 2000, when Qt was released under the GPL, removing the perceived need for the Harmony Project to exist. In January 2009 Qt itself was made available under the GNU LGPL, along with the previous license options.
External links
- The GNU project, an essay by Richard Stallman, telling the story of Qt, Harmony, and GNOME
- Harmony / FreeQt mailing list
- Qt and the LSB, mostly tangental information about Qt licensing