KDE4

[Kurt Wall]

On 05/21/2009 07:21:03 AM, Tony Alfrey wrote:
> Roger Oberholtzer wrote:
> 
> > 
> > Be sure to point out that openSUSE allows you to install either 
> 3.5,
> 4.x
> > or both, as well as xfce, fvwm and others as part of the original
> > install. Meaning that a newly installed openSUSE can just as easily
> only
> > have xcfe as the desktop. And that you can switch between them. Of
> > course, 3.5 is not going to be in the next release of openSUSE as a
> > desktop - 3.5 apps will still be available as apps. But by that
> time, I
> > think most of the real issues with 4.x will sorted. 
> 
> 
> I've thought about this for a bit and considered what I would do if
> *I* 
> released a product that received such brutal initial reactions.  I
> would 
> have taken a long hard look at my release strategy and my whole
> rational 
> to the design of the product.
> Many are simply saying that KDE4 and KDE3.5 are simply two different 
> products and that they want one and not the other.  Developers (or 
> perhaps marketers) are saying "we'll fix KED4".  Customers are saying 
> "Fine, go fix it all you like, but we don't want it."  I think this
> may 
> be closer to the heart of the issue.

Precisely. If $BIG_SOFTWARE_COMPANY released a product this way, people
would piss and moan and bitch and gripe. And rightly so. If developers
of free software expect to be taken seriously, they need to release 
stuff when it's ready and not strand their existing customers. At this
point, KDE have alienated a significant portion of their users. GNOME
is actually easier to use at this point. /That/, my friends, is saying
something.

Kurt