Embed the source code directly in your Qt app, for GPL compliance | Hacker News Reader

Embed the source code directly in your Qt app, for GPL compliance

raymii.org

9 pointsjandeboevrie8 comments

This is clever. I like it as a form of reproducible build: there is never any question about which version of the source was used to produce the binary, when the binary includes its source.

That seems suboptimal for app size, would be better to just offer links to the source in the same place as links to the binary.

Agreed, but a few text files shouldn't be a big size increase. Its the only was to provide the source to users on mobile platforms without making the source directly public. Or do you have another suggestion?

If its not open source, just don't distribute the source. If it is open source then link to the public git repo containing the source.

Have you read the article? I feel like this entire thread wouldn't exist if you had read even the first few sentences of the article.

Of course. Putting GPL source code only in the app and not anywhere else is shortsighted. Anyone who downloads the app could publish the source code and the first person who has heard of the GPL before will be publishing the source code immediately. Then poof your entire moat and business model is gone.

A much better and more honest approach is something like what Krita has; donations and gratis app downloads on the homepage, identical paid apps in all the app stores and a pay-what you want model for the stores that offer that. You get a larger user base, more word of mouth, more user good feelings, more fans and more potential future payers that way.

I don't mind the source "leaking", as stated in the article. I'm even planning to just send it onto paying customers, but that's impossible on mobile platforms without making it public. I want a hurdle, just enough to make people consider buying instead of downloading. Take Fritzing for example, for os X and windows you must pay for an installer or compile yourself, on most Linux distros it's an apt insta away.

I've had multiple forms of donation buttons on my various sites and software over the years and they have never worked as good as either ads or paid software. As in, 99% difference.

Krita found the hurdle of having to go to their website to get the gratis download is enough of a hurdle that people pay for the app store version over downloading. I'll try to find the article about that. IIRC Flathub is working on supporting paid apps on Linux too.

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