PyQt, Qt, Windows and Linux

[Jim Bublitz]

email9898989 at yahoo.com wrote:

>> Trolltech's pricing strategy, for me, keeps me on wxWindows. 
>> Qt does seem like an excellent product, however.
 
> I agree.
 
> I guess the simplest explanation is that if you have anything
> to do with Windows or if you want to sell your software, you
> have to pay for TrollTech's Qt and PyQt (minimum $400 for
> BlackAdder).
 
> The only way it is free to use it is if you are developing on
> Linux, distributing only to Linux users, and not charging for
> your software.

Qt for Linux is GPL'd, so nothing prevents you from selling your
software for Linux - you do have to provide source code though
and can't charge for Qt/PyQt/etc.
 
> Here are some technical advantages to Qt/PyQt/PyKDE, but I can
> still wouldn't recommend it for Windows development:
> - QT Designer is a very nice intuitive visual GUI builder (form
> designer).  You can progress from a simple prototype to a
> cross-platform app easily.  You aren't forced to plan the
> layout in
> advance.  Then again for most apps it is not hard to just do
> your layout in code.
> - The QT C++ API is better designed, although that doesn't mean
> it is better for Python development (both PyQt and WxPython are
> basically
> thin wrappers for the C++ Qt and wxWindows APIs).  Performance
> or bug-wise I don't know that PyQt is better than wxPython on
> Windows. On Linux, wxPython uses GTK.
> - With KParts and KDE applications, you can embed other
> components (like a web browser or spreadsheet) into your own
> app, although PyKDE does not yet support this. 

PyKDE has been able to import KParts for at least a year. PyKDE
currently doesn't allow you to export (author) KParts in Python,
although the ability to do this is essentially complete and
mostly just needs to be integrated with the PyKDE distribution.

> You can do something similar in
> wxPython on Windows embedding ActiveX controls (such as
> Internet Explorer or Adobe Acrobat Viewer).

Jim