Про KDE 

Що таке KDE?

KDE — це міжнародна спільнота, яка створює та розповсюджує безкоштовне програмне забезпечення з відкритим кодом для цифрових пристроїв [з 1996 року] (https://timeline.kde.org/). Будь-хто може використовувати програмне забезпечення KDE безкоштовно або допомогти в його створенні.

Що саме було побудовано KDE?

На сьогодні KDE найкраще відомий за своїми основними продуктами:

  • Плазма, графічне стільничне середовище для комп'ютерів
  • Krita, програма для цифрового малювання професійного рівня
  • Kdenlive, відеоредактор професійного рівня
  • Gcompris, навчальна гра, яку використовують у школах всього рівня

Ці та інші частини програмного забезпечення KDE використовуються провідними установами по всьому світу, включаючи, але не обмежуючись, NASA, NATO, CERN, Mercedes, Steam Deck, веббраузери Chrome та Safari (та їхні похідні), різні урядові установи по всій Європі, державні школи в Бразилії, Іспанії та Індії, а також збройні сили України.

Learn more about who KDE software is for. (hint: you)

KDE — це свобода

All the software that KDE produces is “free and open-source” (often called “FOSS” or “FLOSS”). This means that everyone has the freedom to use, study, change, and re-distribute it, free of charge. KDE software contains no ads, spyware, subscription services, forced updates, secret crypto-mining or AI training, or any other forms of user-hostile malware.

See KDE’s licensing policy for more information.

How does KDE make any money by giving everything away for free?

KDE is a voluntary community, not a for-profit company. The bulk of KDE contributors are either volunteers, or sponsored by companies or public institutions to work on KDE software.

Nevertheless, some contributors are employed by KDE e.V., the German non-profit organization that legally represents KDE. To fund these and other expenses (such as infrastructure, travel, and event hosting), KDE e.V. receives donations from individuals and companies making use of KDE software.

KDE e.V. also manages KDE’s relationship with the KDE Free Qt Foundation, which governs KDE’s legal arrangement with the Qt Group.

You can make an individual donation or become a corporate supporting member.

Is it hard to start volunteering for KDE?

Not at all! Every day more and more people join KDE’s ever-growing family of contributors. KDE has a strong network of resources and mentors, and participates in student-focused programs like Google Summer of Code and Season of KDE.

But most importantly, KDE offers the opportunity to join a software project with massive worldwide impact that doesn’t make ethical compromises or get bogged down by middle managers.

By volunteering with KDE, you’ll make friends around the world and hone professional skills in whatever you choose to get involved with — examples include software development, graphical and UI design, project management, promotion, and quality assurance.

Of course, it also helps to have a proactive attitude and a friendly personality. Get involved today!

What do the letters “K D E” stand for?

At one point, they stood for “Kool Desktop Environment”, the name of versions 1-3 of KDE’s flagship desktop environment.

The name was a riff on “CDE” (an abbreviation of “Common Desktop Environment”), which at the time was a popular graphical environment for UNIX workstations.

By 2009, the people working on KDE realized that their labors had produced much more than just a successful replacement for CDE; they had built an entire ecosystem of free software. Thus, they decided to re-brand and gave the name “KDE” to the community itself, with the graphical desktop environment being renamed to “Plasma.”

KDE itself stands for human flourishing through free, non-exploitative, non-monopolistic software, but today the letters themselves are not part of an acronym and don’t have a specific meaning.