Developer Interview: KDE 4 on Fedora

KDE 4 is seen by many to be the next big step on the free software desktop, while others think releasing 4.0 in its current condition was misleading and a mistake. Either way, it’s an innovative release and inline with Fedora’s goal of providing the latest and greatest free software it is set to be the default KDE environment in the next major release of Fedora. We caught up with a few members of the KDE SIG to talk about the work they’re doing to get it ready for release, their own opinions on the software and what they think about the progress made by Fedora in getting over its GNOME centric reputation.

What more work is there to be done before you’re content with the shape of things for Fedora 9?

Sebastian Vahl: (I will mainly speak for the live images here:) The live images for the KDE spin should be in a pretty good shape. With the inclusion of KDE 4.0, the package list had to be reworked. The main problem here was to include the KDE 4.0 desktop and also some packages from KDE 3.5 which aren’t ported yet. This has increased the size and so some packages from KDE 3.5 had to go (I think some people will miss amarok but until it’s ported it seems like there is not enough space on the live images). But, if someone is missing an application on the live images: I’m always open to suggestions.

Rex Dieter: KDE 4.0 still has a lot of rough edges, which will require some work and feedback with upstream to iron out. Packaging polish will need to get better over time too.

Are you still comfortable with the decision to make KDE 4.0 the default for Fedora 9?

Sebastian Vahl: For the time being: yes. KDE 4.0 may lack some functionality in comparison to KDE 3.5. But on the other hand: The download count of the (unofficial) KDE 4.0.0 live image right after the release date shows that there is a lot of interest in KDE4 on Fedora. Sure, some people will prefer KDE 3.5 over KDE 4.0. But because Fedora supports the last two versions they can continue to use Fedora 8 until KDE 4.1 is released.

Rex Dieter: I have absolutely no doubt moving to KDE 4.0 was the right decision to make. KDE4 is all about innovation and new technologies, which aligns well with Fedora’s principles.
Read the rest of this interview at Fedora Project

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