What does QTM require to build?
Qt: You need the Qt development libraries. If you use a Unix-type operating system (like BSD or GNU/Linux), you can normally get it from the people who published your OS. If you are using Windows, Trolltech makes a download available here. Rather than using Visual Studio, this uses the MinGW development toolkit. Trolltech also makes a binary download available for the Mac here, but this is a 54-megabyte download and requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later. To use the system tray icon, which provides the QuickPost feature on version 0.4 and later, you need Qt v4.2.0 or later.
Failing that, you can get the source bundle from Trolltech and compile it yourself (start here). This takes hours, however.
CMake: You also need CMake, a cross-platform open-source configuration and build system. It replaces the GNU Autotools, the software behind the "configure" scripts found on many open-source downloads. The recommended version is the latest, version 2.4.6. Most operating system vendors supply one version or other of the software, which you can use to compile version 2.4.6; alternatively, you can download a Mac disk image or a generic Linux binary from the CMake homepage (see here).
Development tools: Finally, you need standard development tools like GNU Make and the GNU Compilers (specifically, the C/C++ compiler).
On Windows, when installing the open-source Qt package, you are given the option to download and install MinGW, an open-source programming toolkit. You should accept this. Qt is not supposed to work with Microsoft's or Borland's compilers for open source, although some have found ways to make it work.
On the Apple Mac, this means the XCode tools supplied with your Mac or your Mac OS X upgrade. If you are using another Unix-type OS, you should consult your OS's documentation; there is often a group for basic development tools. On Ubuntu, type this from a Konsole or Terminal window:
sudo aptitude install build-essential
This will install the basic development tools for you. You must also install the packages libqt4-core, libqt4-gui and libqt4-dev. These can also be installed with Aptitude.