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List:       kde-devel
Subject:    Fundamental KDE Library Problem..
From:       Matthew Tedder <matthew () tedder ! com>
Date:       2002-07-02 13:57:12
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Question:

    Does anyone have an answer for the main dilema posed in this article, 
unfortunately he has a very good point and it's a question that I and other 
programmers I know have often asked:

http://www.linuxandmain.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=122

    By far the most difficult thing about KDE programming is the lack of 
backward compatibility.  This problem renders the costs of maintaining 
software very prohibitively high.  This is true for binary apps, but is also 
frustrating to program.  

    Many good programmers who have been enticed by the technically superior 
fundamentals of KDE.  However, few of those have stayed the course...  Most 
give up as soon as they discover how frequently changes occur breaking 
backward compatibility.  

    One of the best programmers I have ever known once determined that Open 
Source will never effectively work on the desktop, because it's far too 
unstable.  He meant that you can't meaningfully program for it without great 
cost in time/money to babysit the software for the constantly changing 
platform.  

    If KDE libraries were as developmentally stable as glibc, then KDE would 
have 5 times or more applications, developers, and refinement of older apps.  
This has killed real progress for both KDE and GNOME and rendered the 
platforms realistically unviable for most commercial enterprises.

    As for the article's praise of the GNOME Foundation, I totally disagree.  
Perhaps the KDE League needs a jumpstart but putting corporate executives in 
control of the future of KDE development would be a serious mistake. 

Matthew
 
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