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List:       kde-look
Subject:    Re: Worth reading...
From:       Derek <fountai () hursley ! ibm ! com>
Date:       1999-07-16 9:05:56
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> I wasn't trying to say anything so extreme as we shouldn't at least try to
> attract regular users.  You said "leave the hackers with a GNOME desktop",
> etc...  I don't think it needs to be that dichotomistic.

Yes, quite right. I didn't actually mean to suggest we dump all the
hackers. I was thinking more along the lines of putting more effort into
usability as opposed to spending time adding pointless bells and
whistles. Bells and whistles can go into GNOME: they seem good at that.
Features that attract users in their millions belong in KDE.

> Exactly... so you see why I'd be offended you'd suggest KDE abandon me to
> that ;)  So far KDE has done admirably well in being new-user friendly and
> still powerful.  I don't see why it wouldn't want to keep moving that way.

Right again. I suppose I was nervous that KDE could easily head in the
direction of GNOME if the developers get carried away with themselves.
The article (where all this started) pointed out that Linux (and UNIX)
badly needs a GUI which caters for the new user. That's the role I saw
KDE filling. That's not to say it can't fill others too.

> > ... What will
> > happen is that the likes of Corel or IBM will fork off KDE (possibly
> > GNOME) and turn it into something that users can use. (That is the
> > answer to your first question.)
> 
> Exactly.  People that are doing it for some other motivation -- if it's
> commercial, they'll do it for the money.  Nothing inherently wrong with
> that, but it sounds like we agree that we don't want it that way, if for
> different reasons.

My reasoning is that I want KDE and Linux to be used by millions of
people worldwide. This is partly ambition for KDE, and partly my wanting
to stuff MS. As long as KDE is not controlled (as in developed by) by
one of the big companies, we all get a say, and good ideas pour in.
That's open source development - and it's a bit different from merely
open source, as Netscape found out with Mozilla.

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