OSNews > Thread > "RE[5]: Unfortunate " by lemur2

Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 11th Jan 2008 12:00 UTC

KDE 4.0.0 has been released onto the world. "The KDE Community is thrilled to announce the immediate availability of KDE 4.0. This significant release marks both the end of the long and intensive development cycle leading up to KDE 4.0 and the beginning of the KDE 4 era." KDE 4.0 is the first release of "KDE 4", but take note that the developers have clearly stated that KDE 4.0 is not KDE 4, but more of a base release with all the underlying systems ready to go, but with still a lot of work to be done on the user-visible side. Download it from the KDE 4.0 info page. Update: Screenshots.

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RE[5]: Unfortunate

by lemur2 on Sat 12th Jan 2008 11:18 UTC in reply to "RE[4]: Unfortunate "

Member since:
2007-02-17

You can smell the palpable fear in the air..... ;-) The opposite of love is indifference. Go read up on how open source projects are developed as well, because this has been explained umpteen times. What are you going say when .5 or .6 is released, because this isn't really going to be all that far away?

Well, KDE 4.0.0 isn't going to "scare" anybody. It isn't really usable as a desktop yet. However, you do point out the development cycle of open source projects, so I presume you are aware that KDE 4.0.0 is not recommended for use in a "production environment". It is more like a "prototype model" new car ... you can drive it but don't think of using it on a public roadway just yet. Lets get the kinks out, first.

You might want to ask how those 'real world' file formats, codecs and IE-only web sites got there in the first place. If that's all that's propping up the software that you're using then, well, I would be worried.

This is interesting, too. The BBC is getting into trouble over its iPlayer foray into offering up to the public formats that are usable on only one platform:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7047381.stm

The latest on this front is that

"Yesterday, BBC Director General Mark Thompson and other BBC representatives appeared in front of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee. During the meeting, Dr John Pugh MP tackled him about the iPlayer."

"“The more fundamental issue is [iPlayer’s] failure to apply open standards and be sufficiently interoperable to work fully (stream and download) on more than one platform. The BBC is funded by licence players not all of whom have or chose to use a computer running Windows XP or Vista. By guaranteeing full functionality to the products of one software vendor it is as a public body handing a commercial advantage to that company - effectively illegal state aid!”

Read about it here:
http://www.openrightsgroup.org/2008/01/10/bbc-director-general-gril...

... and more along the same lines here:
http://www.openrightsgroup.org/2007/10/11/uk-government-accused-of-...

Directors being accused of providing "illegal state aid" when they implement something that is "Windows only" and not "cross-platform".

Interesting. If only this type of thing were to happen in America.

Anyway, there is some promise in pursuing such a theme ... certainly insofar as government departments are concerned. It may be possible (at least within sane countries, probably not in America) to force such an issue to the point where no government department can even consider using anything "Windows only" any more.

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