2.2.3. Qt

The qt package provides the Qt (pronounced "cute") cross-platform application development framework used in the development of GUI programs. Aside from being a popular "widget toolkit", Qt is also used for developing non-GUI programs such as console tools and servers. Qt was used in the development of notable projects such as Google Earth, KDE, Opera, OPIE, VoxOx, Skype, VLC media player and VirtualBox. It is produced by Nokia's Qt Development Frameworks division, which came into being after Nokia's acquisition of the Norwegian company Trolltech, the original producer of Qt, on June 17, 2008.

Qt uses standard C++ but makes extensive use of a special pre-processor called the Meta Object Compiler (MOC) to enrich the language. Qt can also be used in other programming languages via language bindings. It runs on all major platforms and has extensive internationalization support. Non-GUI Qt features include SQL database access, XML parsing, thread management, network support, and a unified cross-platform API for file handling.

Distributed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License (among others), Qt is free and open source software. The Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 version of Qt supports a wide range of compilers, including the GCC C++ compiler and the Visual Studio suite.