LessTif
Encyclopedia
LessTif is a free software
reimplementation or clone
of the Motif
computer programming toolkit, developed by the Hungry Programmers.
As opposed to Motif, which is distributed under a proprietary
license
that can require the payment of royalties
, LessTif is distributed under the GNU Lesser General Public License
(LGPL), a less restrictive, free software license. This makes LessTif more attractive to many developers, distributors and users. The licence of Motif was the main motivation for the development of LessTif.
LessTif aims for full source and binary code compatibility with Motif. While this has not yet been achieved, many Motif applications run with LessTif and/or can be compiled with it.
After the release of Open Motif
there is now a second alternative to replace Motif. However, Open Motif itself is not free software
, so the development of LessTif continues.
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...
reimplementation or clone
Clone (computer science)
In computing, a clone is a hardware or software system that is designed to mimic another system. Compatibility with the original system is usually the explicit purpose of cloning hardware or low-level software such as operating systems...
of the Motif
Motif (widget toolkit)
In computing, Motif refers to both a graphical user interface specification and the widget toolkit for building applications that follow that specification under the X Window System on Unix and other POSIX-compliant systems. It emerged in the 1980s as Unix workstations were on the rise, as a...
computer programming toolkit, developed by the Hungry Programmers.
As opposed to Motif, which is distributed under a proprietary
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
license
License
The verb license or grant licence means to give permission. The noun license or licence refers to that permission as well as to the document recording that permission.A license may be granted by a party to another party as an element of an agreement...
that can require the payment of royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
, LessTif is distributed under 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), a less restrictive, free software license. This makes LessTif more attractive to many developers, distributors and users. The licence of Motif was the main motivation for the development of LessTif.
LessTif aims for full source and binary code compatibility with Motif. While this has not yet been achieved, many Motif applications run with LessTif and/or can be compiled with it.
After the release of Open Motif
Open Motif
Open Motif is a source code release of the Motif computer programming toolkit by The Open Group, the current owners of Motif....
there is now a second alternative to replace Motif. However, Open Motif itself is not free software
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...
, so the development of LessTif continues.