Ubuntu KDE

[Matt Zimmerman]

On Sun, Jan 09, 2005 at 07:42:19AM +0100, ulrich steffens wrote:

> as i am not a developer, and so unable to tell what's possible and what's
> not, i would rather see the work that must be done for including kde in
> ubuntu goes into other projects. there are, in my opinion, better places
> to start working on.
>
> for example gnome is in dire need of an reasonable cd/dvd-burning
> application. gstreamer could need some help ;),... 
> wouldn't it be more reasonable to start working on things like that than
> starting to include a second DE which WILL break the simplicity-effort?

In contrast to traditional software development methods, open source
development doesn't generally work this way.  Volunteer developers will work
on projects which interest them, and they are not subject to any authority
which could allocate their resources differently.  No one can tell a
developer who wants to improve KDE to work on a GNOME application instead.

If there are motivated, competent volunteers who are willing to support KDE,
then I see no reason that we should reject their efforts, and on the
contrary, they deserve our support.

Note that this does not imply a great deal of change to the existing Ubuntu
distribution we know and love.  The primary difference that current users
will see is simply better support for KDE applications in Ubuntu.  The
desktop experience that you expect from Ubuntu isn't going anywhere!  Users
who are looking for the KDE experience, though, will have a place to go
within the Ubuntu community to find it.

The reality of the open source world is that different people are looking
for different things, and while one size may not fit all, you can get your
Ubuntu in your choice of size and color.  Some people prefer blue. :-) Of
course, we also want many of the same things, and in those areas we all win
when more people take an interest in making Ubuntu even better.

So relax, smile, and welcome our KDE cousins into the community.  They're
here to help!

-- 
 - mdz