There is so much that people don't understand about the continuing development of KDE 4, and it's causing a lot of fear and loathing. Although I just installed a KDE4 system for educational purposes, I'm essentially a KDE3 user, and I was just horrified about KDE4 for a long time, and the I read what I call "the article". This is the gospel. Uncle Aaron explains it all for you. It's a well-written article, and the news is good. Read it... and stop weeping!

http://aseigo.blogspot.com/2008/01/talking-bluntly.html

What is the future of 3.5?


This year, as with most years since KDE3 emerged, there have been huge deployments of KDE 3 based software. These deployments will not shift for years to come, no matter what KDE4 is. This is because large institutional deployments (government, corporate, educational, etc) typically have 3-7 year cycles (sometimes even longer) between major changes. Patches and security fixes? Sure. Major revamps? No. This alone ensures that KDE3 will remain supported for years. Why? Because there are users. That is how the open source dev model works: where there are users, there are developers; as one declines so does the other. The developers tend to be a step ahead of the users for software that is progressive, but you'll also find that they have a foot in the here and now too (as well as the past, often).

KDE3 is still open in our svn so that bug fixes, security fixes, etc. can continue to be made. KDE 3.5.x is a rather solid desktop system and really doesn't need a huge amount of work given what it is today; the work to move it to the next level is what we refer to as KDE4, of course. This means that the efforts needed to put into it aren't huge to keep it viable. However, efforts that do go into it are welcome.

While the core KDE team will continue to concentrate our work on KDE4 since that is the long term direction of things, it is fully expected that our partners (which include some KDE core team members as employees/members) will continue supporting and even developing on KDE3 issues. The central project will also be around to lend a helping hand with advice and what not; I did that for a person the week before I left for holidays in December, actually, so it's not wild hypothesis but solid theory.

For those familiar with the open source method, the above probably sounds .. well .. obvious. That's because it is .. for those familiar with the open source method. We will find in this blog entry that many of the concerns people raise come from not acknowledging how Free(dom) software is created via the open source method.

This puts the lie to the number one myth surrounding the advent of KDE4; that there is some planned cut-off date, that there are probably not going to to be any more KDE 3.5 releases. What we're being told here is that KDE 3 will be around as long as people want to use it, because that's how it works. For me, this was dramatically demonstrated when Kubuntu dropped KDE 3 entirely, and the first unofficial community repositories for using KDE 3 on *buntu started to appear within days of the release. I'm running KDE 3.5.10 on Intrepid right now. If the interest is there, the community will pick up the slack.

So KDE 3 users, stop getting mad, and stop ranting about how KDE4 sucks... from someone who's done his share of that. And KDE4 users, please don't bother trying to enlighten deranged KDE3 fans about the virtues of KDE4. Having been that crazy person, that patronizing "you'll come around" attitude only makes it worse. I'll bet that if all the KDE developers could get back all the time they wasted trying to justify their work, KDE4 would be practically finished by now.

KDE3 guys only want to hear one thing-- that as long as there are KDE3 guys, there will be a KDE3, and that's exactly how it is. So bookmark Aaron's article, show it around, and everybody chill.

KDE3.5 is now in maintenance mode... mostly bugfixes and security updates, not a lot of new features, I don't have a problem with that. If I didn't like KDE4 because it's different, and if I didn't like KDE 3 because it's the same, my problem wouldn't be software; it would be borderline personality disorder or something.



If there's a number two myth, I thank that might be the idea that we can look to the arrival of KDE3 for any kind of measure for how the KDE4 rollout is going to progress. This is much more ambitious project, and the community has changed, and the technology has changed.

Will there be some KDE3 guys who are never converted? I don't know the answer to that, but it is a possibility. KDE seems to have reached a kind of plateau. I don't know how much more you could do with KDE3. For some people, that's going to suggest breaking the mold, and a bold leap forward. For others, the natural thing to do is to stand still. I don't accept it as a given that I'm ever going to make the leap to full-time KDE4 user, but knowing that I can't be forced means that I can keep an open mind and support the developers in their important work. Maybe I'll never switch to KDE 4, and when KDE5 comes out, I'll be an early adopter! Free as in Freedom, baby!


Are they any other myths? Are there things about KDE 4 that KDE3 consistenty don't get? Anyone?

I think the problem with KDE3 vs KDE4, is that there are TWO generations involved. One generation started KDE and lovingly developed it, until we get the pinnacle of desktop evolution with KDE 3.5.10. But there's this younger generation who inherited the project and are taking it off in another direction. It's like junior taking over daddy's store and changing it from delicatessen to a gelato parlour.

Hey you damn kids, get off my lawn!

Brandybuck wrote:I think the problem with KDE3 vs KDE4, is that there are TWO generations involved. One generation started KDE and lovingly developed it, until we get the pinnacle of desktop evolution with KDE 3.5.10. But there's this younger generation who inherited the project and are taking it off in another direction. It's like junior taking over daddy's store and changing it from delicatessen to a gelato parlour.

Hey you damn kids, get off my lawn!

Yeah, but that's not really a problem, is it? Whichever KDE is your KDE, all you care about is being able to choose, right? People are afraid of not being able to choose, but that's not the way this works. For the foreseeable future, and perhaps for years, if you want KDE 3.5, that's not going to be a problem, because the userbase is considerable, and that means it'll be maintained.

When I'm posting irate flames at KDE 4 users it's not because I don't want you using KDE4, it's because I want to use KDE3, nad I'm afraid that's not going to be an option. But it will be an option. The truth is that everybody gets to use what they want. KDE 3 will be maintained as long as people want to use it, so if you want to see KDE 3 maintained, keep using it.

I'm a KDE3 guy, but I know that it's not good for anyone to expect the developers to keep going over KDE3 to the end of time. It's probably not even good for KDE3. KDE3 remains supported and alive, the absolute pinnacle of the old order, but when you've reached that point, there's nothing to do but break the mold and start fresh. I don't think KDE4 sucks, but even if it did, there's nothing wrong with sucking for a while, as part of the process of creating new paradigms. They may succeed or fail, but the old paradigms have already been developed, they're here for us to use. But even some people with the Kubuntu team don't seem to understand how the rollout process works. KDE3 is going to be around for years. as long as people want to use it, and lots and lots of people do. So do not be alarmed. When someone tells you that there aren't likely to be more releases of KDE3, that's the misinformation that's been making the rounds. Again, I refer you to Aaron's article, quoted and linked to above.


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