Qt framework - can I (legally) create a commercial app using qmake but not Qt?

Question

I am aware that using Qt attracts certain licensing restrictions under the LGPL licence - i.e. you must provide source code or at least object files so that people may link other versions of the Qt framework. I'm also aware that you can obtain a proprietary licence from Digia to overcome these restrictions - but I don't have the budget!

My question is this - if I use just qmake and the Qt Creator app, but don't include ANY Qt functionality in my app (so no linking whatsoever to Qt's libraries), and don't make use of MOC and none of the resource compilation stuff either, am I able to sell my app without a Qt commercial licence (effectively, I'm just using qmake as a build system and Qt Creator as an IDE)?

Answer 1

LGPL/GPL restrictions only apply to software linked to executable code that's covered by LGPL/GPL.

The qmake utility operates on, but is not directly linked to your source code and as such you can use it freely.