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List: kde-promo
Subject: Re: [kde-promo] [Campkde-organizers] Be Free contest judging
From: Justin Kirby <justin () neomantra ! org>
Date: 2009-12-25 15:58:27
Message-ID: 3ba8a280912250758q2d997003ibb75d830cf15fff2 () mail ! gmail ! com
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I vote for #2 as well. The contest asked people to describe how KDE has
made their computing lives more productive and this entry did a great job
explaining how they did that in his workplace. I agree the promotional value
of this entry is higher as well...it would be great to be able to use this
as a living example to sell other small businesses on switching to KDE
products.
Justin
On Fri, Dec 25, 2009 at 4:24 AM, Troy Unrau <troy.unrau@gmail.com> wrote:
> Here are the contest entries (with names removed, although they could
> be found by those on the campkde internal lists). I suggest that we
> have this sorted out by the 26th so that the e.V. can work their
> magic. I personally apologize for being so busy and doing such a poor
> job at promoting this contest. The fact that we only got three
> submissions is pretty much my fault alone.
>
> Entry #3 is officially withdrawn, but I figured I'd share it with you
> folks anyway. If there's any way we can get these people further
> involved in the community, then KDE wins. It's as Martin said: if you
> spend 45 minutes talking to someone and they end up contributing to
> KDE, then the time (and in this case, money) is well spent.
>
> I suggest we only recommend one flight to the e.V. board. My
> impression is that entry #2 might be more akin to the message we're
> trying to send to the north american audience. #1 seems to play to the
> geeks, and the geeks we can win through existing channels. #2 can be
> used as a case study, if we convince him to help us with some details.
> Ergo, I vote #2.
>
> On a related note, it looks like I won't be able to afford to attend
> the event myself. My tuition was due at the start of January, which
> leaves me unable to front the money for a flight. I will try to do my
> best with regard to marketing surrounding the event without being in
> attendance.
>
> Cheers
>
> Entry #1:
>
> Before KDE+Linux, I'd been a lifelong MacOS user, and I was happy using
> MacOS. I knew all the keyboard shortcuts, the obscure backend hacks,
> and I was efficient and comfortable. I first installed KDE over OS X,
> just curiously exploring a little free novelty.
>
> It didn't take long to notice that KDE was something different, unique,
> and powerful. Immediately, I was comfortable with KDE's astonishing
> level of integration; from one app to the next, there was a familiar
> layout and feel. After I'd learned something simple like KMail, I found
> I could learn any other KDE Application because the menus were laid out
> logically and predictably, the convention of tabs and toggled panels
> persisted through many different apps, the dialogue boxes and popup
> windows looked and acted the same from app to app. And as for the old
> keyboard shortcuts and conventions I'd grown accustomed to in Mac OS --
> I could re-implement them on my KDE Desktop! plus exciting new features
> that MacOS will never implement.
>
> As a freelance video editor and multimedia creator, Slackware+KDE have
> made my workflow simpler, more modular, efficient, and more intelligent.
> I utilize many KDE Applications in my work (Krita, Kdenlive, Qtractor,
> KOffice 2, Konqueror, KMail, etc...), but one of the most powerful parts
> of KDE is KDE Plasma Desktop with its contextual popup menus,
> customizable Dolphin views, powerful system tray, useful plasmoids, and
> its intuitive design, it makes a mere freelance artist like myself feel
> like a real computer nerd. In short, KDE's power lies with the power
> that it gives to the user. When the user is in control, the user can
> MAKE their environment efficient, rather than modifying their workflow
> to fit someone else's environment. That's KDE, that's the spirit of
> GNU+Linux, and it's why I'm a Linux geek today.
>
>
> Entry #2:
>
> Moving to KDE for Realestatepointe.com
>
> Realestatepointe.com is the company I work for, as Sales Director. We
> provide solutions for real estate Brokers and agents to get more
> property listings, showings, and sales.
>
> One of our biggest problems was that we had a core module,
> Showingpointe, that was written ahead of it's time as a web
> application tying mobile agents back to the call desk at the Broker's
> office(s). Unfortunately ShowingPointe could only be viewed via the
> dreaded IE. In comes KDE and free software to the rescue.
>
> Having experience with KDE via Kubuntu in my personal life, I was able
> to direct our technology department to look to alternatives via open
> standards to make sure our web solutions were deployable
> cross-platform. So we set about to make our office computers more open
> source friendly.
>
> We installed Kubuntu 9.04 with KDE SC 4 on our machines and evaluated
> ways to move our software on both the server-side and client-side to a
> more open and compliant architecture. What a disservice to have
> limited out clients to a Windows only, IE only solution!
>
> Our current goals:
>
> using Kubuntu on all of our employee's computers
> using open source solutions for our client's blogging tools (Drupal
> blog sites are standard for agents to host blogs on their homepage)
> Moving from Microsoft Exchange, which was causing headaches
> Encouraging the use of Konqueror or Firefox for web surfing at work
> and blogilo for blogging
>
> The acceptance levels have been very high! We are now much more
> efficient, much more compliant, and poised to adapt by providing
> netbook tools, mobile tools, and end-user tools much faster and for
> lower cost than we ever could have had we stayed trapped in a Windows
> environment.
>
> My experiences with the KDE community have also prompted me to blog
> about KDE at http://thebluemint.blogspot.com
>
>
> Entry #3 (withdrawn):
>
> I first was introduced to KDE in the fall of 2007, and despite the
> alpha state of KDE's software at the time, I was hooked. I love
> Plasma's use of widgets to create a modular and unified design,
> allowing me to customize my workspace to fit my needs in ways that
> proprietary desktops still can't, even with third-party hacks. The
> simple base applications (e.g. KCalc, KWrite) are made with thought
> and care, and are far more flexible and featureful than their
> relatively useless counterparts in proprietary operating systems. I
> like this, both because it shows the pride the KDE Community takes in
> its work, and because it means I don't have to go hunting for a
> third-party application to replace something that I already have.
> While KDevelop4 is still young, it already has features that blow the
> proverbial socks off of offerings from commercial vendors. Semantic
> highlighting greatly improves the readability of the code, allowing me
> to see things at a glance when quickly scanning down a file. I can
> tune every bit of it, from the editor shortcuts to the source code
> formatting settings. I've tried many other IDEs, including several
> proprietary programs during high school and university, and KDevelop
> is the first one that has truly been a pleasure to use. One of my
> favourite things about KDE's software in general, and what I feel is
> one of their strengths, is the attention to "the little things".
> Where proprietary operating systems and software are constrained by
> the vision of a few, the KDE community demonstrates their unfettered
> nature by continually implementing small features that greatly improve
> the user experience... just because somebody thought it would be
> useful, and were encouraged to make it a reality. In short, the KDE
> Software Compilation has freed me to make my computer work how *I*
> want it to, has saved me much time by letting me fit it to my personal
> workflow, and has shown a level of innovation that is nothing short of
> astounding.
>
> --
> Troy Unrau, B.Sc.G.Sc.(Hons.)
> Planetary sciences M.Sc. candidate - University of Western Ontario
> http://cpsx.es.uwo.ca
>
[Attachment #5 (text/html)]
I vote for #2 as well. The contest asked people to describe how KDE has made their \
computing lives more productive and this entry did a great job explaining how they \
did that in his workplace. I agree the promotional value of this entry is higher as \
well...it would be great to be able to use this as a living example to sell other \
small businesses on switching to KDE products.<br> <br>Justin<br><br><div \
class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Dec 25, 2009 at 4:24 AM, Troy Unrau <span \
dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:troy.unrau@gmail.com">troy.unrau@gmail.com</a>></span> \
wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, \
204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> Here are the contest entries \
(with names removed, although they could<br> be found by those on the campkde \
internal lists). I suggest that we<br> have this sorted out by the 26th so that the \
e.V. can work their<br> magic. I personally apologize for being so busy and doing \
such a poor<br> job at promoting this contest. The fact that we only got three<br>
submissions is pretty much my fault alone.<br>
<br>
Entry #3 is officially withdrawn, but I figured I'd share it with you<br>
folks anyway. If there's any way we can get these people further<br>
involved in the community, then KDE wins. It's as Martin said: if you<br>
spend 45 minutes talking to someone and they end up contributing to<br>
KDE, then the time (and in this case, money) is well spent.<br>
<br>
I suggest we only recommend one flight to the e.V. board. My<br>
impression is that entry #2 might be more akin to the message we're<br>
trying to send to the north american audience. #1 seems to play to the<br>
geeks, and the geeks we can win through existing channels. #2 can be<br>
used as a case study, if we convince him to help us with some details.<br>
Ergo, I vote #2.<br>
<br>
On a related note, it looks like I won't be able to afford to attend<br>
the event myself. My tuition was due at the start of January, which<br>
leaves me unable to front the money for a flight. I will try to do my<br>
best with regard to marketing surrounding the event without being in<br>
attendance.<br>
<br>
Cheers<br>
<br>
Entry #1:<br>
<br>
Before KDE+Linux, I'd been a lifelong MacOS user, and I was happy using<br>
MacOS. I knew all the keyboard shortcuts, the obscure backend hacks,<br>
and I was efficient and comfortable. I first installed KDE over OS X,<br>
just curiously exploring a little free novelty.<br>
<br>
It didn't take long to notice that KDE was something different, unique,<br>
and powerful. Immediately, I was comfortable with KDE's astonishing<br>
level of integration; from one app to the next, there was a familiar<br>
layout and feel. After I'd learned something simple like KMail, I found<br>
I could learn any other KDE Application because the menus were laid out<br>
logically and predictably, the convention of tabs and toggled panels<br>
persisted through many different apps, the dialogue boxes and popup<br>
windows looked and acted the same from app to app. And as for the old<br>
keyboard shortcuts and conventions I'd grown accustomed to in Mac OS --<br>
I could re-implement them on my KDE Desktop! plus exciting new features<br>
that MacOS will never implement.<br>
<br>
As a freelance video editor and multimedia creator, Slackware+KDE have<br>
made my workflow simpler, more modular, efficient, and more intelligent.<br>
I utilize many KDE Applications in my work (Krita, Kdenlive, Qtractor,<br>
KOffice 2, Konqueror, KMail, etc...), but one of the most powerful parts<br>
of KDE is KDE Plasma Desktop with its contextual popup menus,<br>
customizable Dolphin views, powerful system tray, useful plasmoids, and<br>
its intuitive design, it makes a mere freelance artist like myself feel<br>
like a real computer nerd. In short, KDE's power lies with the power<br>
that it gives to the user. When the user is in control, the user can<br>
MAKE their environment efficient, rather than modifying their workflow<br>
to fit someone else's environment. That's KDE, that's the spirit of<br>
GNU+Linux, and it's why I'm a Linux geek today.<br>
<br>
<br>
Entry #2:<br>
<br>
Moving to KDE for Realestatepointe.com<br>
<br>
Realestatepointe.com is the company I work for, as Sales Director. We<br>
provide solutions for real estate Brokers and agents to get more<br>
property listings, showings, and sales.<br>
<br>
One of our biggest problems was that we had a core module,<br>
Showingpointe, that was written ahead of it's time as a web<br>
application tying mobile agents back to the call desk at the Broker's<br>
office(s). Unfortunately ShowingPointe could only be viewed via the<br>
dreaded IE. In comes KDE and free software to the rescue.<br>
<br>
Having experience with KDE via Kubuntu in my personal life, I was able<br>
to direct our technology department to look to alternatives via open<br>
standards to make sure our web solutions were deployable<br>
cross-platform. So we set about to make our office computers more open<br>
source friendly.<br>
<br>
We installed Kubuntu 9.04 with KDE SC 4 on our machines and evaluated<br>
ways to move our software on both the server-side and client-side to a<br>
more open and compliant architecture. What a disservice to have<br>
limited out clients to a Windows only, IE only solution!<br>
<br>
Our current goals:<br>
<br>
using Kubuntu on all of our employee's computers<br>
using open source solutions for our client's blogging tools (Drupal<br>
blog sites are standard for agents to host blogs on their homepage)<br>
Moving from Microsoft Exchange, which was causing headaches<br>
Encouraging the use of Konqueror or Firefox for web surfing at work<br>
and blogilo for blogging<br>
<br>
The acceptance levels have been very high! We are now much more<br>
efficient, much more compliant, and poised to adapt by providing<br>
netbook tools, mobile tools, and end-user tools much faster and for<br>
lower cost than we ever could have had we stayed trapped in a Windows<br>
environment.<br>
<br>
My experiences with the KDE community have also prompted me to blog<br>
about KDE at <a href="http://thebluemint.blogspot.com" \
target="_blank">http://thebluemint.blogspot.com</a><br> <br>
<br>
Entry #3 (withdrawn):<br>
<br>
I first was introduced to KDE in the fall of 2007, and despite the<br>
alpha state of KDE's software at the time, I was hooked. I love<br>
Plasma's use of widgets to create a modular and unified design,<br>
allowing me to customize my workspace to fit my needs in ways that<br>
proprietary desktops still can't, even with third-party hacks. The<br>
simple base applications (e.g. KCalc, KWrite) are made with thought<br>
and care, and are far more flexible and featureful than their<br>
relatively useless counterparts in proprietary operating systems. I<br>
like this, both because it shows the pride the KDE Community takes in<br>
its work, and because it means I don't have to go hunting for a<br>
third-party application to replace something that I already have.<br>
While KDevelop4 is still young, it already has features that blow the<br>
proverbial socks off of offerings from commercial vendors. Semantic<br>
highlighting greatly improves the readability of the code, allowing me<br>
to see things at a glance when quickly scanning down a file. I can<br>
tune every bit of it, from the editor shortcuts to the source code<br>
formatting settings. I've tried many other IDEs, including several<br>
proprietary programs during high school and university, and KDevelop<br>
is the first one that has truly been a pleasure to use. One of my<br>
favourite things about KDE's software in general, and what I feel is<br>
one of their strengths, is the attention to "the little things".<br>
Where proprietary operating systems and software are constrained by<br>
the vision of a few, the KDE community demonstrates their unfettered<br>
nature by continually implementing small features that greatly improve<br>
the user experience... just because somebody thought it would be<br>
useful, and were encouraged to make it a reality. In short, the KDE<br>
Software Compilation has freed me to make my computer work how *I*<br>
want it to, has saved me much time by letting me fit it to my personal<br>
workflow, and has shown a level of innovation that is nothing short of<br>
astounding.<br>
<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
--<br>
Troy Unrau, B.Sc.G.Sc.(Hons.)<br>
Planetary sciences M.Sc. candidate - University of Western Ontario<br>
<a href="http://cpsx.es.uwo.ca" target="_blank">http://cpsx.es.uwo.ca</a><br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br>
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