Writing Guide

This page is aimed at anyone who wants to write or talk about KDE, be it for a blog, a magazine, or anything else. It gives you ready-to-use taglines and descriptions, our house style for naming KDE things correctly, and pointers to where to find more information.

Taglines

  • Tagline representing the goal of the KDE community: A world in which everyone has control over their digital life and enjoys freedom and privacy.
  • Tagline representing the essence of the Plasma Desktop: Simple by default, powerful when needed.

Descriptions

  1. Short, general description that can be used in social media profiles or other character-constrained media:

A worldwide technology community. 🌍 Creators of the Plasma desktop & a variety of Free and open source applications that let you control your digital life.

KDE is a diverse, worldwide technology community that creates the Plasma environment for desktop and mobile devices. We also offer a variety of Free and open source applications for multiple platforms that let you control your digital life.

  1. Technology-focused description, highlighting the development tools and approaches used by KDE:

The KDE codebase contains more than 6 million lines of code, contributed by its members throughout the years. Most KDE software is written in C++ using the Qt toolkit and KDE Frameworks. The Frameworks are a cross-platform, modular set of libraries that can be used by other Qt-based software while allowing dependencies to be kept at a minimum. As a development platform, KDE Frameworks also offer bindings for programming languages other than C++. All KDE software projects must be released under Free licensing terms.

  1. Community-focused description, highlighting the diversity and social values of KDE:

KDE is a worldwide community of contributors and users from all walks of life, committed to bringing free software to as many platforms and devices as possible. Every day, hundreds of artists, writers, translators, teachers, designers, bug testers, developers, and students contribute to KDE software using their unique, diverse skills. The community strives to create high-quality, inclusive, usable, and reliable software that respects your freedom and protects your privacy.

How to write about KDE

  1. When writing about KDE as a community of people who create software, it is acceptable to write "[the] KDE community" or just "KDE". It is not necessary to capitalize the word "community".

    Examples: KDE just released a new version of Plasma Desktop. / The KDE community members participated in this year's Google Summer of Code.

  2. When writing about software developed by members of the KDE community as standalone projects, or as products within a bigger project, it is acceptable to use the following forms: "KDE software", "KDE application", "Software made by KDE", "[Product name] by KDE".

    KDE Gear should be capitalized only when referring specifically to the whole set of applications released by KDE under that name. When writing about KDE software in the general sense, just use "application(s)" as a common noun. When writing about KDE neon, the word "neon" should not be capitalized.

    Examples: Dolphin is my favorite KDE application. / Okular by KDE is a great document viewer.

    When writing about the desktop environment, the following forms are acceptable: "Plasma Desktop", "Plasma Desktop by KDE", "KDE Plasma Desktop", "KDE Plasma". When referring to versions of the desktop environment prior to 5.0, it is acceptable to write only "KDE" followed by the version number, for example "KDE 1.0" or "KDE 3.5". When writing about new releases of KDE software, the following forms are acceptable: "New release of KDE software", "New release by KDE", "New release of [KDE] Plasma Desktop".

  3. When writing about GNU/Linux distributions that use the Plasma Desktop, it is acceptable to write "Distribution with [KDE] Plasma Desktop", or "Distribution based on [KDE] Plasma Desktop". It is not acceptable to write "The new release of KDE" or "Distribution based on KDE", because KDE as a standalone label signifies the community, not a particular software product.

  4. When writing about KDE e.V. as a whole, do not use the definite article before the name of the organization. If you are referring to KDE e.V. members or other particular bodies of the organization, it is acceptable to use articles as required. Always provide a link to ev.kde.org when mentioning KDE e.V. Never modify the capitalization of the organization name, or remove full stops from it: it should only be written as "KDE e.V.", not "KDE EV", "KDE e.v" or any other variation.

    Examples: The developer sprint was sponsored by KDE e.V. / The KDE e.V. Board of Directors met for three days in Berlin this week.

Generally, when writing about the KDE community, its products, and its accomplishments, try to keep in mind the following guidelines:

  • Highlight the defining features, rather than comparing KDE software to commercial products. Many people in the commercial world view Free and open source projects exclusively as replacements for their Windows equivalents. While some projects exist that do precisely this, the vast majority have unique features that help to identify the program. Focusing on what makes the program unique will produce a better response.
  • Play up collaboration, not division. The KDE community strives to maintain positive and productive relationships with other Free and open source communities. We're not "competitors" or "enemies" with any other community; on the contrary, we're all working towards the same goal, just in different ways.
  • Don't hesitate to contact the developers directly. Most developers are happy to answer press inquiries, or will redirect your questions to someone who can better deal with any specific topic.

Learn more about KDE

  • If you're looking for brief, clear descriptions of KDE applications, those can be found on the KDE Applications page. The applications are sorted into categories, and each application page contains links to the project website and the documentation.
  • Planet KDE aggregates blog posts from a large number of KDE community members: development sprint reports, release updates, news about plans and upcoming changes in KDE projects, and more.
  • Want to know when the next Plasma release is coming out? Check out the release schedules on the Community wiki.
  • The Glossary on KDE UserBase can help you understand some commonly used terminology in the KDE community, and KDE UserBase itself has tips and tutorials for KDE software.
  • Find out more about the KDE community's structure, projects, goals, and processes on the Community Wiki, and get familiar with the KDE Code of Conduct.
  • Learn how to extend KDE software and use it in your own projects on KDE TechBase.
  • The "20 Years of KDE" book provides an in-depth insight into the history of the KDE community, with personal experiences from some of the most prominent community members.
  • See all the ways in which you can become a part of the KDE community, and get involved today!

Conclusion

If you want to write about the KDE community or KDE software, it is often advisable to find a specific source of interest, as the whole of KDE is a lot to write about. Picking one of the technologies developed by KDE and writing an article about it is made easy by the huge amount of information available online. The above guide can help you quickly gather the basic information, and it tells you where you can find or ask about the current status.