gitoby

Yes, Desktop builds are on the roadmap. We don't have a fixed release date for those yet. An experimental macOS build is already available in the mainline repo.

If the app is open source (or at least the source code is accessible), the user would proceed to the source repo, clone it, open the Xcode project and relink to the framework version of their choice.

Others have pointed out how it could work with closed source apps. It's a bit more complicated, but it certainly is possible.

We have put a lot of effort into investigating and assessing different licensing options. There are two different perspectives on this: the user perspective where MIT of course seems to be among the most attractive ones at first glance. Then, there's the company perspective: what is the business model and how is development going to be sustainable in the long run?

We have come to the conclusion that LGPL is currently the best option to align both of these perspectives and provide the best value in the long run.

If GPL/LGPL isn't sufficient for you, we'll be offering a commercial license with fair terms as an alternative.

Please take the following with a grain of salt. I am not a legal expert, but we have competent US lawyers assessing this for us right now.

The main issue we see with the GPL is that your app has to be effectively licensed under the GPL too, which makes your app's license incompatible with the iOS App Store's terms of service.

This is apparently not the case with the LGPL. Yes, you will have to provide a way for users to relink your application to another version of Boden. As far as I can see (I am not a lawyer), this can happen outside of the iOS App Store.

Our US lawyers are currently investigating this. As soon as we get a reliable assessment from the legal experts, we'll add an LGPL option to Boden.

Sorry, I should have written "apps conforming to the terms of the LGPL" instead of "free". Of course it's still possible to sell apps based on Boden licensed under LGPL as long as you comply with the license terms.

I fixed the parent comment.

There is already an experimental macOSX port in boden. More desktop support is a future goal. The library is designed to support all types of operating systems.

Author here. We didn't expect so much attention and are happy about the feedback! Ask us anything.

With regard to the GPL licensing issues brought up here: We are aware that the GPL is not sufficient and we are in the process of adding an LGPL option. This will allow you to publish apps based on Boden on the iOS app store.

Author here. We are aware of the issues with the GPL. We are in the process of adding an LGPL licensing option.

Boden author here, a bit overwhelmed by the feedback. We are in the process of releasing a new version that will change the license to LGPL / Commercial.

For the first release we are sticking with Mobile, but Desktop is "next on the list". ( And there is rudimentary macOS support right now )