Open Motif
Encyclopedia
Open Motif is a source code release of the Motif
computer programming toolkit by The Open Group
, the current owners of Motif.
Open Motif has the same functionality and source code as Motif, but is offered under a more permissive license. Some have criticized the project's choice of name as it might mislead people to think the project is open source
or free software
, which it is not. The license allows royalty-free distribution of Open Motif if the platform
upon which it is used is Open Source
. This is in contrast to Motif, whose use and distribution requires the payment of royalties
.
The license of Open Motif, in other words, allows developers to replace Motif (which many
applications still depend on) with Open Motif and avoid the payment of royalties, if
the platform the application runs on is Open Source
. This includes popular platforms
such as Linux
and the various variants of BSD
.
Open Motif was released to make it easier for users of open source
platforms to
use applications that require the Motif toolkit to run (thus creating a greater
market for vendors of Motif applications).
The initial release of Open Motif was version 2.1.30 in May 2000. The current release that most Linux distributions ship is Open Motif 2.3. Open Motif 2.3 was released in June 2007, followed by a 2.3.1 bug fix release in September 2008 and a 2.3.2 bug fix release in March 2009.
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 by The Open Group
The Open Group
The Open Group is a vendor and technology-neutral industry consortium, currently with over three hundred member organizations. It was formed in 1996 when X/Open merged with the Open Software Foundation...
, the current owners of Motif.
Open Motif has the same functionality and source code as Motif, but is offered under a more permissive license. Some have criticized the project's choice of name as it might mislead people to think the project is open source
Open-source software
Open-source software is computer software that is available in source code form: the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license that permits users to study, change, improve and at times also to distribute the software.Open...
or 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...
, which it is not. The license allows royalty-free distribution of Open Motif if the platform
Platform (computing)
A computing platform includes some sort of hardware architecture and a software framework , where the combination allows software, particularly application software, to run...
upon which it is used is Open Source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
. This is in contrast to Motif, whose use and distribution requires 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...
.
The license of Open Motif, in other words, allows developers to replace Motif (which many
applications still depend on) with Open Motif and avoid the payment of royalties, if
the platform the application runs on is Open Source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
. This includes popular platforms
such as Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
and the various variants of BSD
Berkeley Software Distribution
Berkeley Software Distribution is a Unix operating system derivative developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group of the University of California, Berkeley, from 1977 to 1995...
.
Open Motif was released to make it easier for users of open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
platforms to
use applications that require the Motif toolkit to run (thus creating a greater
market for vendors of Motif applications).
The initial release of Open Motif was version 2.1.30 in May 2000. The current release that most Linux distributions ship is Open Motif 2.3. Open Motif 2.3 was released in June 2007, followed by a 2.3.1 bug fix release in September 2008 and a 2.3.2 bug fix release in March 2009.