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jcr
18th May 2006, 22:33
Hello,

This is a very basic question about Qtopia; Who installs Qtopia on a linux device? Can I take a Linux device and install Qtopia by myself without help and agreement of Trolltech and/or the manufacturer?
Maybe you can point to a reference where I can learn more about that.
Many thanks

lpotter
24th May 2006, 21:35
Qtopia is released under a dual license model, one of which is the GPL.

http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html

If you are using the free version of Qtopia available from the ftp site at Trolltech.com (and even Opie), you must use it according to the provisions in the GPL.

jcr
25th May 2006, 13:25
Hello,
Just to make things clear; if the the manufacturer of a device has not installed Qtopia on it, then there is no legal and safe way for someone else to install Qtopia at a later stage and develop Qtopia-based applications for it. As far as I understand, only a manufacturer can install a J2ME on a device and Qtopia works the same way in that regard. Right?
There are also frameworks (i.e. SuperWaba or Smertec) that make it possible to develop cross-device applications. They require a device with an "open" OS so that the engine can be installed before the application is downloaded. Here the collaboration of the manufacturer is not necessary.
I am not saying that one architecture is better than the other, but I was a little confused as to which category Qtopia belonged to. Or maybe it
Once a device has been Qtopia-enabled by a manufacturer, it becomes possible to write applications using the Qtopia tools (under the right licenses). So I guess the future of Qtopia hinges on manfuctaturers' willingness to use Embedded Linux and Qtopia.
Thanks.

wysota
25th May 2006, 14:30
I don't know much about the subject, but I think you should be able to upload a Qtopia enabled system (or maybe just upload Qtopia itself) just as you upload the firmware from regular phones. If the device has some interface for data transfer, you should be able to use it to upload Qtopia (and probably the applications are uploaded the same way too). But, as I said, I'm no expert -- it's just a wild guess.