Re: KDE/KDM
>
> From: <edwalter@students.wisc.edu>
> > Are there any plans to package KDE (www.kde.org) or any of it's
> > components?
>
> KDE will be packaged, and you will be able to use it, but Debian is
> most interested in 100% free desktop environments, so we have to be a
> bit careful with KDE. KDE itself is free, but the Qt toolkit upon which
> KDE is free _only_when_used_with_X_. I think that Toll Tech, the
> creators of Qt, made it free on X so that they could have lots of free
> software to sell with their non-free versions under Windows, NT, etc.
Just to correct possible mis-understanding of Bruce's statement...
You don't have to buy Qt in order to run free Qt based software for
Windows, NT, etc. Anyone can distribute Qt based software for any
platform that Qt supports. But someone would have to purchase a copy
of Qt in order to port or develop for Windows, NT, etc. And the Qt
library sources can't be freely distributed with the software.
> We would like to have the freedom to use major Debian components with
> other window systems than X (Berlin is one, but there are others on the
> horizon as well), and even other operating system than Linux (there's
> the Hurd, for example), which rules out the possibility that we would
> make the core of Debian _depend_ on KDE. You'll still be able to get
> KDE from the non-free directory and run it.
>
> Other interesting desktop projects include GnuStep
> (http://www.gnustep.org), and FSF's own desktop project "Teak", which
> doesn't seem to be going yet (http://www.fsf.org/software/teak). Then
> there's an entire replacement for X in Berlin
> (http://veda.synet.net/numan/berlin/), but of course they only have one
> component of that in Alpha-test so far.
>
> Thanks
>
> Bruce
> --
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> Bruce Perens K6BP Bruce@Pixar.com 510-215-3502
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>
--
Lee Olds
olds@eskimo.com
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