| Which Market
Dec 14 2004 on poll Why does KDE lack support from companies? |
I am not a developer and I am not pretending to be one on TV this week ;)
I have been using KDE on SuSE since 6.3, yes it is the default desktop there and has been. I have tried Gnome and a few of the other desktops, not extensively because I feel KDE is more usable and available for user customization.
User customization I think is an issue for corporate managers because it represents time not spent at work.
Gnome has a finished around the edges look by comparison to KDE, though the number of applications for it to me seems trivial by comparison to KDE. None the less, that bit of polish gives the air of confidence in an application, irregardless of many other factors. That superficial difference is a marketing chip KDE can't play at the moment.
Down and dirty, KDE is pretty clunky looking. But who cares really when the applications finally work. Still I think there is an expectation that a working application will be pushed further by others after initial functionality, and well they should be. KDE has many annoyances in it's usability. A simple example is the find file tool in Konqueror : the length of file location paths affects the entire width of the tool panel pushing control butons out of view. You find what you are looking for but you have to resize your window every time after your first long path.
I can't speak to development costs and licensing other than every thing costs something, at minimum, time and coffee, (personally I like a regular coffee better then a fru-fru latte.) It makes sense though that you need good terms in a large scale operation, like those described in the prior comment. But then what do you showcase to make your sale of the platform; sale as in a convincing argument, for starts.
KDE's best argument is the raw attrition of apps on it specificly the apps written originally for gnome or other platforms. But that is a somewhat invisible attribute and a self canceling liability of an asset.
Gnome was chosen because evolution can talk to exchange. Mail is still the killer app. As was pointed out gnome can be controlled to control the way it's users perceive the the os, or ignore it. Mac did the same thing with osX's GUI on FreeBSD.
I think the question should be what does KDE want to sell. Mac is selling iTunes and iPods, Novel is selling an alternative to Microsoft as an upgrade path.
Personally, I think KDE should put emphasis on an alternative to the Media Center application. It is a killer home use app. |
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