Just a curious question from a long time KDE user. I greatly respect Aaron Seigo's contributions to KDE so I am a bit confused about the relationship of his latest endeavor (spark tablet) to KDE?

As one who signed up to pre-order a spark tablet I'm wondering what I'll be getting, and the concept behind it?

So is plasma Active an obvious offshoot of KDE's plasma desktop? Are they companion products, sister products, distant cousins? You get the point.

What the heck is "Make-Play-Live?" is it simply a philosophy? We it also be driving KDE?

I am excited about the tablet but I wonder if development of it will cost the KDE community in terms of talent pool? I'm all for capitalism and the making of money on the tablet, but I'm not sure I understand the business model? I've read up on what has generally been posted...

Wondering if I'm getting my hopes up regarding a true linux experience on the tablet/mobile only to be slightly discouraged as I was regarding the Android system. Sure it's linux, but they certainly don't hype it.

Sorry for the rambling thoughts.
My hope is that Aaron Seigo might respond to my post.

Also, how is 'plasma active' different than 'plasma netbook?' Are they one in the same? Does KDE need 'netbook' if plasma active is going strong?

From the very highest levels, Plasma Active is another plasma interface, just like Plasma Desktop and Plasma Netbook are both plasma interfaces. Plasma Active is specifically designed for tablets (and possibly smartphones?). So it provides all of the facilities that you would expect - application launchers, plasmoids/widgets, activities, etc.
As for how it differs, my understanding (which is very superficial) is that it focuses a lot more on the activities and providing a dynamic work flow around what you want to get done.

Plasma Active is not intended to replace Plasma Netbook as they target different markets (tablets vs. netbooks/laptops). (though one could surmise that Plasma Active will indirectly replace Plasma Netbook as tablets replace netbooks, but that is another topic altogether)

I see the Spark tablet as the culmination of several very ambitious efforts, including the Plasma Active effort to make a KDE tablet interface, and the Open Hardware efforts (which I expect to extend well beyond the KDE community) to produce a completely open tablet device: Both the hardware and the software are (intended to be) completely open (currently there are still a couple of not-quite open drivers, but that's it). I would expect it to be a "success" if it stirs even a small amount of interest from the general public and other vendors start building devices (open hardware or not) with Plasma Active. If it generates enough interest to become a real contender in the tablet market with the likes of the ipad and the miriad android devices, then great!

This will definitely be a lot closer to the "true linux experience" as it should run all of your typical (kde) desktop applications (tailored to the tablet form-factor).

That said, I would love to hear Aaron's

I am a bit disappointed, too. I cant find any videos showing how applications work, how the touchscreen works etc.
The tablet will be released in two months and I dont know anything about it. I'm starting to regret that I prordered one.

Does anybody know how I can install plasma active 2 on my viewpad? The introduction of the community wiki is a bit cryptic for something I havnt done yet.