What about PyQt?
Nokia’s initial research into Python bindings for Qt involved speaking with Riverbank Computing, the makers of PyQt. We had several discussions with them to see if it was possible to use PyQt to achieve our goals. Unfortunately, a common agreement could not be found , so in the end we decided to proceed with PySide.

We will however maintain API compatibility with PyQt (you can use the same method names but can’t inter-operate with PyQt), at least for the initial release. To import PySide you have to use “import PySide” instead of “import PyQt4″.

What is the role of Nokia?
Work on PySide was initiated within the Maemo division of Nokia once the lack of suitably licensed Qt Python bindings became apparent. To encourage Qt application development on Python, the project was decided to be made available for the developer community under a permissive license.

Will PySide be open for community involvement?
Absolutely! While we plan on continuing to develop PySide, we are aware that it will be most successful if we can have additional community members joining in on the development and testing. PySide community resources can be found at this website.

Nokia provides developers for the project and will be initially leading it. That doesn’t say Nokia wouldn’t want to closely co-operate with the developer community, however!