The People Behind KDE series is back from a long vacation thanks to overwhelming popular demand. In this first interview, KDE's ever so charming Tink gets back with Matthias Ettrich to see what has changed since the previous interview now more than three years ago.
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I can see it now.
I'm running KDE 4.0 for the first time. I click on the Konqueror icon. Suddenly, a dancing Konqi appears and says, "It looks like you're trying to access the Internet! Would you like help with your Web Browser settings?"
....AAAAAIIIEEE!!!!!
You're missing out on a lot of fun, According to my husband who took Konqi with him on board when he flew from Las Vegas to SF, Konqi is a giant CHICk magnet. ;-0 He never had so much female attention and offers as that night. ;-) So maybe you should try one and improve your social life. ;-)
Konqi will never move to the attic, on the contrary I have a much more prominent role for Konqi in mind that he had up till now.
--
Tink
>Konqi will never move to the attic, on the contrary I have a much more >prominent role for Konqi in mind that he had up till now.
The Konqi Dating Agency, managed by Madame Tink. Family oriented, good-looking Russian ladies, fluent in C++ are looking for sober lonely Dutch hackers and a way to escape frozen Siberia. Stuffed animals are our fantasy. A keen interest in Open Source is mandatory.
;-)
You are absolutely right Tink. I've had one of those 25cm Konqi's at FOSDEM this year and yes the few females who were at FOSDEM liked the little fellow :)
Ciao
Fab
There was females at FOSDEM this year!?!
I don't actually have a plush Konqui, but when females have seen him on screen he is an absolute babe magnet. I've got to get one!
Hi,
Konqui is just sitting close to the computer screen and likes to mention that
he never will move to attic, instead will light to flames every such suggestion he
is part of the KDE commmunity ;-)
You might have more respect for the dragon after taking a look at this:
(not my picture)
http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=367
Isn't that *so* much cooler than a foot?
Right, it's a well known fact that nothing screams "give me respect" more than an image of fondling boobs; oh, wait...
Please don't link to pornography from the dot.
I like the dragon. However, it is a few years old by now. Who created it? With what program? Where are the source files that were used? I guess it was created with a proprietary program in its day? Can it be ported and revived with free software today?
Konqui, at least the 3D model, was created 1999 by Stefan Spatz. The sources for 3D-Studio and Autocad are available in ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/devel/konqi_sdk.tar.bz2. If anyone could convert it to Povray or Blender or just produce new pictures of Konqui, that would be fantastic.
The dragon should be optional... it really takes away from the professional atmosphere which is conveyed by the rest of the KDE look. People ask me when tey use my computer..."What the heck is that dragon for?"
But hey, some people like it.
I think the dragon is a little bit out of place. It takes away from the professional look that KDE has acquired over the years. At least an option to change it in the KDE control center would be nice.
Why does "corporate" and "professional" mean that everything must be bland and boring? I would be willing to bet that most users of KDE (and of Linux in general) consist of geeks who are playing with their own computers while at home, not corporate lamers. ;o)
If being "professional" means that everyone has to exhibit a complete lack of personality, then why do big corporations such as Disney, Pixar, etc. all have their mascots (and other characters) at their work stations? (Look at most any DVD produced by those companies, in the special features sections. You'll see what I'm talking about.)
I came upon this board while looking for a reason why that cute little dragon had flown away from the KDE logout screen and it amazes me how many people have a lack of personality and sense of humor.I hate to tell those corporate-types out there this, but it is likely that your Linux distro was created by hundreds of geeks who were sitting in front of their computers, at home, playing with code while wearing old T-shirts, drinking soda (or beer), munching on Doritos and listening to grunge music... and they might even have had a few stuffed animals sitting on top of their monitors. I would love to have a plush Konqui sitting atop my monitor, looking over what I do! :)
(No offense was intended towards boring people anywhere. ;o)
If linux is for geeks, they would *probalbly* want to change everyting, including the logout screen...(as do I, being a geek)
Whoops, here is is (in my case) :
/usr/kde/3.3/share/apps/ksmserver/pics/shutdownkonq.png
Besides, I thought Linux was about choice. Doesn't that include the choice NOT to use something??
I think image needs updating.
What I don't like about the dragon is that it simply looks so... Well it is so angular and odd. It does not fit in KDE 3.x and I think it won't fit in KDE 4 even more.
Wouldn't it be better to redesign the poor old fellow? I mean look at those BSD devil guys. If I recall they have changed their mascot a bit, eh?
(google.... click click) :)
Check out what they came up with: http://logo-contest.freebsd.org/result/
and the old one was: http://logo-contest.freebsd.org/ (you can see it somewhere in the page).
So what I'm trying to say is that Konqui is a bit old fashioned and NEEDS polishing.
Regards,
Bartek
G'day,
Just a quickie from me. Look, I'm new to this Linux stuff, I think it looks great and workable. It appears stable. I just use it for the net and some other stuff and I like the corporate feel to the Simply-Mepis that I am using. But for this fool of a dragon that shows up at the end.
I JUST WANT TO P--- IT OFF!
For the love of bananas, cripes, I mean, come on! Fair dinkum!
It looks daggy and takes away from the rest of the system and it gets quite annoying to look at it.
Now ...
Can-someone-just-write-a-response-to-tell-how-to-get-rid-of-it!
I'm no geek (whatever that is), I don't particularly want to be, I just want to use the thing. And we need a 'Linux for Complete Idiots' like myself.
Looking forward to some help.
Be good.
Bye for now.
Well said Neil!
You are right, it looks daggy, and although I can understand there is some affection for it, I cannot myself see why this thread has been here for 4 years without it being solved. It is not a show stopper, but again, Konqui is an unwelcome intrusion for many. Come on guys, even if kde peeps think it should be there by default, it needs an option to get rid of it.
Well said Neil!
You are right, it looks daggy, and although I can understand there is some affection for it, I cannot myself see why this thread has been here for 4 years without it being solved. It is not a show stopper, but again, Konqui is an unwelcome intrusion for many. Come on guys, even if kde peeps think it should be there by default, it needs an option to get rid of it.
The write-up on this post doesn't make very much sense. The two interview links in this post are "this first interview" and then, later, "previous interview." So, which one is the new interview?
My first inclination is that it's the "this first interview" link because it's on the same host an the "The People Behind KDE" link, but that one is dated 2002-02-21 which seems old to me. I open up the "previous interview" link (which, when taken in context, appears to be over three years old) and there is no date on the actual linked page. So, we have an interview in 2002 and an interview in (2004 - 3 years) 2001. KDE.NEWS -- on the bleeding edge of KDE news. Heh.
I understand that not everyone's first language is en-US, but aren't there editors on this site?
Read the text around the link texts and you will understand.
Seriously, I have seen people freek out at applications and when they have seena nice friendly dragon those fears evaporate. Perhaps Konqui can have a role in the help section of applications. Konqui is too much in the background of KDE.
...as well as the fact that even on screen he has - shall we say - magnetism :). I thought I could pull until Konqui showed me the way.
I like the new interview better than the old ones! :) great job
real player ?