KDE-Powering Qt's New Framework Lets Developers Bring Ads Into Their Apps

"Qt, the framework that powers the KDE desktop, is announcing support for ads in client-side applications," reports Neowin: This means that application developers will now be able to serve ads in traditional desktop applications.... Windows users have been dealing with this in Metro UI apps since Windows 8 and it's something that's never gone over well on the desktop.

While it's doubtful you'll see ads in KDE's core applications, it would be possible for distributions that wish to further monetize their work to fork these applications, placing ads in them.... According to the documentation, the advertising plugin supports a variety of platforms. They are as follows:

- Windows 10
- Ubuntu 20.04
- Raspbian Buster
- macOS
- Android 7.0
— iOS

"Our offering aims to disrupt the IoT industry," explains Qt's press release, "enabling new business models and business cases that before were not possible."

Reactions have been mixed. Comments on Phoronix ranged from calling it "a great way for boost development on KDE" to "Not sure if I like this."

Thanks to Slashdot reader segaboy81 for sharing the story

Re:

[waspleg]

Yep, some moron screaming Awesome! unironically got upvoted within 2 minutes of your post. Nice call.

Re:

[theshowmecanuck]

How the fuck is this a troll?? Talk about cancel culture, right here.

Awesome

[NateFromMich]

I can't wait!

Re:

[Tablizer]

More rotting toenail ads, my fav! Extra points if they pop up to fill the screen so I can see the individual vines of mold.

Re:

[Tontoman]

There will probably be an extra-cost subscription option for ad-free. The reason this is good news is that now we consumers have more choices and our favorite technology can compete more fully with the tech oligarchy.

Re:

[Tablizer]

So they show ugly disgusting ads, along with a link "Don't like these ads? Click here to rid them!" which then goes to the fee page? Brilliant! (from a Satan U. standpoint.)

Re:

[jenningsthecat]

So they show ugly disgusting ads, along with a link "Don't like these ads? Click here to rid them!" which then goes to the fee page? Brilliant! (from a Satan U. standpoint.)

Developers gotta get paid, and if they don't have employers per se then some way of ensuring a revenue stream is necessary. Failing sufficient donations from end users, we have a choice between ad-based monetization and no application development / maintenance.

I despise ads, but if they're the only workable way of funding the developers...

Re:

[OrangeTide]

I don't accept that ads are the only workable way to get funding. I'd argue that some markets maybe shouldn't exist, especially if the only revenue is found by stealing processor cycles and a user's time.

I get paid as a developer by working a 9-5 job. My employer gets paid by arranging for fees to be paid on the products and services my coworkers produce. The products and services are used because the end users (usually businesses) benefit financially from them, usually in the form of an increase in product

Re:

[JBeretta]

I don't accept that ads are the only workable way to get funding. I'd argue that some markets maybe shouldn't exist, especially if the only revenue is found by stealing processor cycles and a user's time.

Stealing? Uninstall the program then, fuck head. And nobody gives a fuck what your opinion is on what markets should/should not exist.

The MARKET will sort this out.

You sound like a spoiled little bitch.

I get paid as a developer by working a 9-5 job. My employer gets paid by arranging for fees to be paid on the products and services my coworkers produce. The products and services are used because the end users (usually businesses) benefit financially from them, usually in the form of an increase in productivity.

Great.. Everything should be exactly like your situation.. Got it.. Mono-culture.

Probably a liberal....

Re:Awesome

[ZiggyZiggyZig]

Finally, the year of the ads on the Linux Desktop!

Re:

[Guignol]

You don't have to ;) [awesomewm.org]

Year of Linux on the Desktop For Sure!!

[Vomitgod]

Can't Wait!

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Qt isn't Linux nor KDE. There are bunch of Windows-only Qt apps. Automotive industry is also relies on Qt. There's just wrong implication that KDE has something to do with this. You should go with pitchforks to The Qt Company, KDE has nothing to do with their doings.

So the year of the linux desktop will be

[waspleg]

making it even more shit like Android/MIckeysoft rent-seeking spyware edition. I remember when QT was Trolltech. RIP.

Re:

[Tablizer]

The Year of Spam

Re:

[JBeretta]

making it even more shit like Android/MIckeysoft rent-seeking spyware edition. I remember when QT was Trolltech. RIP.

Someone forcing you to install KDE apps/programs? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Great, free fridges

[evanh]

with a camera too! It'll order for you on every kid's wish. Sure, can't wait.

Why should this live in Qt?

[JoeyRox]

Speaking strictly from an engineering POV (putting aside opinions about ads in apps), what's the rationale for this type of logic to be in Qt? Sure Qt is a graphical UI library and ads are visual but Qt is proposing a full advertising platform here, including turnkey connectivity to a Supply Side Platform (SSP) to deliver the ads. This means lots of unrelated logic, such as networking and credential logic.

Re:

[augo]

Qt is not a GUI-only framework - it had other non-GUI related stuff, including networking, for ages. So, I don't think this ads support would be completely foreign compared to what Qt already had.

Re:Why should this live in Qt?

[ljw1004]

Speaking strictly from an engineering POV (putting aside opinions about ads in apps), what's the rationale for this type of logic to be in Qt? Sure Qt is a graphical UI library and ads are visual but Qt is proposing a full advertising platform here, including turnkey connectivity to a Supply Side Platform (SSP) to deliver the ads. This means lots of unrelated logic, such as networking and credential logic.

Are you sure? From a quick browse of the website https://www.qt.io/product/feat... [www.qt.io]
* Qt Core
* Qt GUI
* Qt Multimedia (including camera, and network media streams apparently e.g. https://docs.huihoo.com/qt/5.4... [huihoo.com])
* Qt Network (TCP, requests, cookies, ...)
* Qt SQL
* Qt ...

Re: Why should this live in Qt?

[JoeyRox]

Well that certainly answers my question. Thank you kindly.

Re:Why should this live in Qt?

[PPH]

I suspect that this is the first step on the road to Qt apps being able to launch ads without the participation of the app author. Today, I'm sure I could build ads into my app with the existing framework. But a time will come when simply calling a Qt lib will trigger a connection to some server which will sent its ad content to a modal window without involving my involvement.

Re:

[Teun]

Hmm, I believe QT as used in Linux is fully Open Source.
So what is stopping one to rip out the ad calls?

Re:

[PPH]

So what is stopping one to rip out the ad calls?

Go ahead and do it. But most people won't. And if there's money to be made by installing apps with ad-enabled Qt libs, they will be statically bound or distributed as Snap packages with app specific libraries bundled. So forking an ad-free version of the libs will be useless.

Re:

[Teun]

Regular, Snap or Flatpack, they are still fully open source, anyone capable can fork it.

Re:

[PPH]

anyone capable can fork it

"capable"

I'll bet that my grandmother can't. So she's still stuck with all the Medicare ads.

Re:

[Teun]

There are quite a few applications that have been forked, take Chromium and Pale Moon.

Re:

[GuB-42]

It is a separate library you have to select explicitly when you install the SDK, and explicitly link it with your app and make sure the end user has it.

Qt already has modules for things like serial ports, database access, networking, etc... You can use them or leave them, they are just libraries. That they are part of Qt only means that they are maintained by the Qt company and downloadable from the official Qt servers. But besides that, they are no different from any other library using the Qt framework. T

Re:

[sabt-pestnu]

Don't worry. I'm sure they will skimp on the credential logic. After all, no malware targets linux....

My eyes are bleeding...

[franzrogar]

Quote: ""[...] enabling new business models and business cases that before were not possible."

How is SPAMMING a "business" not possible before?

And "ads" in apps are spamming if I paid for it; and if its "free", there's no room for "ads". The developer should make it "adware" instead, which, again, was already a "business" before.

So, nothing to see, move along. KDE only added support for "adware" and "spam".

Re:

[Nrrqshrr]

Much like with video games, businesses discovered that the fine line between Freemium and Premium can easily be crossed. They turned Premium offerings into "Premium but with the same nickel-and-diming as Freemium" and, what do you know? Customers still paid.

So.... why not?

Re:

[test321]

The rationale is you can create a revenue stream for developing freeware on MS Windows. It is now as simple for the dev to add adverts in your software as it is to add them to a mobile application or to a social page or a blog. You will probably share revenue with The Qt Company, which this way secures its future as a small company that unil now was always in jeopardy.

Example of software using Qt are: voice communication Skype and teamspeak, 3D modeler Autodesk Maya, electronic engineering software EAGLE.

Th

Re:

[gitano_dbs]

Example of software using Qt are: voice communication Skype and teamspeak, 3D modeler Autodesk Maya, electronic engineering software EAGLE.

qBittorrent also uses Qt, and while its multi-plataform, its very popular in Windows. From their oficial webpage:

qBittorrent Features
Polished Torrent-like User Interface
No Ads .... long list of features, but notice the 2nd feature on the list its just, No Ads

Pardon my French.

[Kokuyo]

Motherfucker...

This is some twisted repost

[Anonymous Coward]

There's no mention of KDE in original announcement. KDE is completely independent from The Qt Company. And this news has some implication that ads are somehow connected with KDE. There are more Windows users of Qt apps than KDE users.

Easier blocking

[alecdacyczyn]

Before anyone gets too wound up about this, consider that a standard API route for ads means easier interception, replacement, and/or outright blocking. Replace the library with a version with appropriate "patches" and the ads are gone. This should be welcomed.

Re:

[caseih]

Yup. On Linux distros, Qt simply needs to be patched, ending the problem for all applications.

If a developer wants to make an Android App, advertising is pretty much required to make money there, so I'm not surprised Qt supports this now, since the native Java Android APIs have for years now.

No Thanks

[organgtool]

It's shit like this that makes me less inclined to root for the Year of the Linux Desktop [slashdot.org]. The more popular Linux becomes, the more profit motives start taking priority over a clean and functional desktop experience.

Re:

[theshowmecanuck]

Yeah, heaven forbid people make money for their work. I expect you give away everything you make from work and sit on a corner with a beggar's bowl in order to eat. Get fucking real dude. Stop being a parasite.

Re:

[JBeretta]

I have no problem with commercial software or Qt adding features to support non-free software yet non-free shit and their ads should not be included with Linux distros.

Then start your own fucking distro and don't include non-free software. You aren't the Linux dictator. Nobody gives two fucks what your opinion is. The simple fact is you lefty assholes HATE freedom. It's your way or the highway.. Don't let the door hit you in the ass.

Re:

[organgtool]

That's a complete strawman argument as there are plenty of opportunities to get paid for your work that don't involve harvesting data or serving ads. I have a number of commercial applications I use in Linux that I happily paid for and I encourage other Linux users to do the same. If we want great application support on our OS, then we need to financially support the people doing it. But "great application support" is mutually exclusive with showing ads.

Re:

[Pentium100]

I have not used a lot of different desktop environments, but KDE is better (to me) than the default Ubuntu DE. LXDE and LXQT are great for low-memory, but if the computer has enough RAM, IMO KDE is better.

Then again, there are probably a bunch of other DEs that could be better.

Re:

[theshowmecanuck]

I agree.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

KDE is not owned by QT.
KDE is not owned by a corporation.
KDE is managed by a non-profit organization called KDE e.V.
KDE is a true open source project.
KDE is licensed under LGPL and GPL.
KDE did not add an ad-framework; QT did.

Disruptive to whom?

[Nahor]

Our offering aims to disrupt the IoT industry

You mean "people's lives", don't you? Nothing like waking up in the middle of night because the toaster decided to play a video ad, or your parent being aware of your pregnancy thanks to baby product ads on the fridge.

Re:

[Fly Swatter]

Stop buying junk that doesn't need internet that has internet - that is disruption.

Re:

[Nahor]

Indeed, that's another form of disruption to the users: not being able to buy anything because everything requires Internet.

Why would I need support from QT

[rsilvergun]

if I wanted to put ads in an app? I could just do it myself if I wanted. What a bizarre sort of publicity stunt. I mean, why not just integrate NFT Blockchain Dogecoin support while you're at it.

Can it be banned via a patent ?

[Tablizer]

I don't like these overbroad software patents, but maybe they can be used as weapons against shit as long as the courts permit them.

Re:

[Schoenlepel]

I, unfortunately, put something in the tip jar for KDE (€20). Apparently it has been misplaced. I hope this bug gets fixed quickly.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Did you confuse KDE with Qt?

Re:

[Barefoot Monkey]

When did KDE ask for this? None of the articles mention KDE having anything to do with it. Do you have a reference?

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

KDE did not add this; QT did.

Hmmmm...

[aerogems]

As long as it's just an option that CAN be used by individual developers to do something like ad supported apps you see on Android/iOS.... I suppose I can grudgingly accept it. I like free stuff as much as the next person, but I also don't begrudge developers wanting to get paid for the time and effort they put into apps and donations probably don't really amount to much for most apps. Now, if the group behind Qt starts using it to inject ads into people's apps simply by virtue of using Qt... then we have a rather large problem IMO.

Re:

[theshowmecanuck]

This is one of the best few rational comments on this topic I've seen.

Not good

[SuperDre]

This should not be part of the framework, if developers want it, they should use other libraries for that. But making it a part of the standard framework is just awful and says enough about the people who got it into the framework.

I like this idea

[DidgetMaster]

I use Qt for the admin tool for a data management system I have built (www.Didgets.com). The GUI provides a great way to display information, display content, and create graphs and charts. I don't have any ads currently, but if I wanted to it would be nice if the GUI provided support for it.

Programmers, just like musicians, actors, writers, and other content producers; want to be paid for their creations (in this case software). Either the end user needs to pay for their direct use, or they need to get someone else to pay for them (i.e. advertisers). Through television, radio, websites, and magazines the other providers have a way to give the consumer free access to the content in exchange for viewing, listening, or reading ads. What really irks users is when both methods are used (e.g. I pay for cable but every channel is still flooded with ads). I can see software developers doing the same thing. I pay for a software license or buy a subscription, but the software continues to show me ads!!!

Still it would be nice if I could offer potential customers a choice .. buy a license for ad-free use or use my software occasionally for free and let the advertisers pay me instead.

The moment an application interrupts me

[oldgraybeard]

with an ad it is gone.

Re:

[DidgetMaster]

... and if your use of the application fails to put a single penny in the pocket of the developer who wrote it, then I wonder if they really care if you delete it or not!

This sucks, but don't shoot the messenger

[chx496]

This sucks. But I don't think it's fair to blame the Qt Company for this -- the entire industry is unfortunately moving heavily in that direction. Windows ships with integrated ads, for crying out loud. And I bet that a lot of their paying customers have requested such a feature, and the Qt Company is only reacting to what the market wants. It has two options here: either they integrate something like that to stay relevant, or see more and more customers jump ship for new projects to other frameworks that support that out of the box. Sure, that won't happen over night, but that would definitely be a long-term issue.

If you want to criticize them for something, their decision to not release the LTS branches in their open source version a while back is much more problematic in my eyes. This directly affects distributions that want to provide support for Qt applications for more than a year or so, while the ad thing is just an optional module that developers must opt in to in order to use it (and probably pay for it), so it's not like all Qt-based apps will show ads in the near future. From looking at the documentation website [doc.qt.io], it does appear that it's not even part of the core set of add-ons to Qt, but rather listed under "additional libraries".

So its time to ...

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

... fork it.

Re:

[DidgetMaster]

Is it really that easy to fork a huge project like Qt? I don't know how many developers it has, but wouldn't the forked project require just as many to fix bugs, write documentation, add features, and do all the other stuff the main project would do? All because someone didn't like a single new feature.

Open Source

[Teun]

I don't see the link with KDE because it's based on the free version of QT.

All things making up a Linux (desktop) are open source, that includes the (QT) API's. So what is stopping an interested developer to remove the adware code?

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Fine

[John.Banister]

If that''s what The Qt Company [wikipedia.org] thinks they have to do to survive, that's fine. I don't see advertising living very long in anything open source. And, I don't see KDE for Linux not being open source.

Yet another reason .....

[big-giant-head]

to NOT use KDE

death blow

[Tom]

Apparently the KDE team got sick of the project and decided to suicide it.

NOBODY outside the ad industry wants ads. Everyone hates them. Having them on your DESKTOP is an invasion of a private space that I fear lots of ordinary users will just accept because they feel powerless with computers, but everyone who can will avoid.

There is pushback against invasive advertisement in both Europe and the USA, reaching the legislative level. And at this point in time Qt wants to embed ads? That's like signing up for

At last, a reason to use Gnome

[AntisocialNetworker]

This is just horrible - unless they also ship QtAddBlock in the next release.

Obviously Not a Good Thing

[Slicker]

I would be impressed if they (or someone) generates a technology to eliminate ads. For example, a graph database system in which products and services could be detailed on one side, needs/wants detailed on the other, and we could just tie the two together by queries.

This way, producers could merely query for what people are looking for and produce things that match those needs. Similarly, people could hunt down products and services based on details of interest, looking at differentiating factors only the

That's one way to pay the license fee

[RogueWarrior65]

Given Qt's license fee structure, a commercial app developer almost has to incorporate ads in order to pay for it.

If ads pop up I will not run any KDE apps

[jerryjnormandin]

Most of us use a Linux Desktop because we don't want to deal with this crap. It should be simple to block ads from popping up. What a friggin waste of bandwidth.