Kevin Carmony: We have always used and supported KDE. We were one of the first sponsors of KDE League, at the highest level offered, back when it was formed. Some open source projects are easy to support financially, others are more difficult. KDE is a good example of one that because it's so dispersed, it's not like you can just write a check, sit back, and wait for it to get better. So yes, we've gotten a lot more involved in other ways lately. We think the biggest thing KDE needs is not necessarily in relationship to the desktop features, but more about KDE applications. This is why we wanted to sponsor KDE-apps.org and apps.kde.com. Look for a brand new KDE.com site to launch soon which we are backing, all with the hope of attracting more support to KDE application development. We are also working on a sizable bounty program to pay developers who work on certain KDE applications.
We are also working on some great KDE applications in house, which are open sourced and that we'll be sharing with the world when LindowsOS 5.0 comes out. Linux needs more and better applications to succeed. That is the area we are spending most of our time, energy and dollars right now.
10. What is your opinion on Gnome, the main adversary of KDE? Which were the reasons that Lindows.com chose KDE over Gnome?
Kevin Carmony: Given our target market, the average computer user, we knew it wouldn't be wise to present them with several choices for a desktop environment. We wanted to offer one desktop environment. We think there are a lot of great things about both KDE and GNOME. KDE was a little more comfortable in how it operated for our target audience, so we made that our default desktop. However, LindowsOS supports non-KDE apps in our OS, such as OpenOffice, Mozilla, GAIM, etc. This is another area we're trying to spend some time and energy, with the integration between all these different type of environments. Our target market will be confused by different print dialog boxes, for example. We're working to bring all these together, regardless if it's KDE, GNOME or anything else, but yes, our main thrust is with KDE.
11. What are your engineers working on for LindowsOS 5.0? What new features are to be expected on 5.0?
Kevin Carmony: LindowsOS 5.0 will be our most ambitious release to date. It will have KDE 3.2, the 2.6 Kernel, and the new Reiser4 "unbreakable" file system. It also has a new look, that Everaldo and Ingo are working on. It also has a new CNR client (click-n-run) which has been re-written from the ground up, giving us the infrastructure for many of the new products and services that we'll be introducing this year, such as LindowsOS Professional. We will also be introducing some NEW KDE applications, never before seen. Not to worry if you don't use LindowsOS, as these new KDE applications will be open source.
Normally we don't like talking about stuff before it comes out. Oops. ;-)
12. You recently announced that Lindows.com now goes after the business desktop too. Will that be a different distro version than your home version? Can your 40-50-employee company offer professional support to the demanding business market?
Kevin Carmony: LindowsOS Professional will be out later this year. It is a slightly different OS, but 90% of the changes are server side. One of the things you'll be able to do with LindowsOS Professional is deploy applications to desktops within an organization via any web browser, using our CNR technology. There will also be server-side features, such as data storage, syncing, groupware, etc. A company will also be able to co-mingle their own software library with our CNR Warehouse.
We have 65 employees and are growing. Yes, we're confident that we can offer a solid product for businesses. If you look at most new, disruptive technology, it's the small, new companies that innovates, not the "big boys." Amazon.com, Yahoo!, Google, eBay, Red Hat, and even Apple, AOL, Dell and Microsoft in their day, were all small, yet they each forged new industries. Big companies rarely innovate. When a company is already on top, they see no need to fix or change anything. So yes, the big boys will have their hands full with Lindows.com.
13. Anything else you'd like to add?
Kevin Carmony: Just a 'thank you' for letting me answer your questions. We have always had a super vibrant community among LindowsOS users, but we were so busy the last two years just building our product, we didn't do a very good job of communicating with the outside world. I think our lack of communication outside of our own community led to some misunderstandings about us. I have personally been trying to make myself more available to correct that. In the absence of hearing from Lindows.com directly, it's easy for misunderstandings to arise. So, thank you for helping us educate your readers with what we're trying to accomplish here at Lindows.com.
Related reading: DesktopOS.com's interview with Kevin Carmony.
- "Kevin Carmony interview, Page 1"
- "Kevin Carmony interview, Page 2"
- "Kevin Carmony interview, Page 3"
- "Kevin Carmony interview, Page 4"
