

Dialog for the Dwarfed Freedom Edition Dialog for the Dwarfed Freedom Edition

KDE has enjoyed great success over the years and today marks another important step in the evolution of our growing community. Many years ago when KDE was just beginning we had a small user base and similar expectations of how the software should work. But with growth and success also comes new users and new expectations. As an effort to meet the growing demands of our user community KDE has identified 3 key areas in which we would like to better cater to users' needs. In order to achieve this it has been determined that there will be, going forward, 3 separate releases of each Software Compilation tailored to these areas.

Ultimate Freedom Edition

The first focus area is geared towards users who prefer the ultimate in customization. KDE has long been unmatched in its ability to give the user full control of their software and we would like to take that to the next level. Starting with KDE SC 5 we will be creating a KDE SC "Ultimate Freedom Edition". This compilation will include one hundred percent customization of every option, including full maintenance of backports of every feature ever supported by KDE back to v3.0. For quick access, all menu options will be provided on the toolbar and the settings screens have been enhanced with double, tripple and quadruple tabbars to make it contain more settings.

Dwarfed Freedom Edition

The second focus area is aimed at users who enjoy the freedom of open source, but prefer a simple set of default behavior from their software so that they are not bombarded with constant decision making and choices when setting up their software. This version of the KDE SC has been code named "Dwarfed Freedom Edition". This compilation will bring all of the normal KDE software you've come to love, but with scaled back numbers of options in all desktop environment and application menus so as to make life a little bit simpler for our users.



Initial modifications in KWrite to enable more customization. Initial modifications in KWrite to enable more customization.

Basic Freedom Edition

Last but not least, we would like to reach out to new users transitioning to KDE from outside the world of open source. We know that many people in this category could probably care less about messing with any options at all and want their computer to "just work". To better meet this group's needs we will be releasing KDE SC "Basic Freedom Edition". This compilation will focus on providing rock solid functionality without any customization that might impair their ability to operate the computer. For your protection this compilation will be closed source, not allow you to access root level functionality, and will fully enforce security through obscurity thanks to the "black box" development processes that will be used in creating this edition.

Conclusion

We are very excited to bring to you these great new compilations in the coming months and will continue to bring up to the minute coverage here on the Dot as the KDE community continues to drive software development into the future!

Meanwhile, IT-Wire has the scoop on another great move by the KDE community: KDE picks Kim Kardashian to promote next release. The Dot editors would like to publicly express their unhappiness about the fact they did not have the insider perspective here. Haven't we faithfully licked the right boots over the past few years?