KDE.news 

KDE PIM Sprint in Toulouse

Monday, 12 October 2015  |  Jriddell
The KDE PIM spring sprint was held in Toulouse, France in March this year in Makina Corpus offices.

The sprint was very important, because the team needed to decide how to continue from the current situation. At the previous sprint in Munich in November when Christian Mollekopf and Aaron Seigo introduced their new concept for the next version of Akonadi it was decided to refocus all the efforts on working on that, which meant switching to maintenance mode of the Kontact Suite for a very long time and then coming back with a "big boom". In Toulouse this plan was re-evaluated and decided that it is not working for the team and that it will be much better for the project as well as the users if they continue active development of Kontact Suite instead of focusing exclusively on the “next big thing” and take the one-step-at-the-time approach.

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Season of KDE 2015 Now Open

Thursday, 8 October 2015  |  Jriddell
2 of last years students presenting at Akademy
2 of last years students presenting at Akademy
Season of KDE is a community outreach program, much like Google Summer of Code that has been hosted by the KDE community for seven years.
 
It is meant for people who could not get into Google Summer of Code for various reasons, or people who simply prefer a differently structured, somewhat less constrained program. Season of KDE is managed by the same team of admins and mentors that takes care of Google Summer of Code and Google Code-in matters for KDE, with the same level of quality and care.
 
Season of KDE 2015 is now open for applications. To apply head to season.kde.org register as a student and click "Submit a proposal".
 
FAQ Below
 
Who can take part?
Everyone can apply for Season of KDE. We give preference to those who have applied for Google Summer of Code and to students, but we will gladly consider applications from anybody interested in contributing to KDE.
 
What do I get out of this?
A great season working on a really cool KDE project and gaining valuable experience. If you complete your project successfully you also get a T-shirt, a certificate and maybe a few other goodies. Also a great project to boost your C.V. too!
 
What is the timeline?
Season of KDE is a flexible project to fit around school terms, work, and other commitments, and start and end dates can be discussed with your mentor. Projects should be completed before the deadline., A typical Season of KDE project should take around 4 months. This year, we are planning to host it in Autumn and Winter from October 7, 2015 to February29, 2016
  • Student application deadline: Oct 22 2015
  • Mentor application deadline: Oct31 2015
 
How do I apply?
First get in touch with a mentor about your ideas, and what projects they want to oversee.
Then head to season.kde.org and follow the instructions provided there.
 
Do I need to have a mentor before applying?
It is preferred. Ideally, you should contact a KDE subproject well before applying, ask for feedback on your idea if you have one, and request a mentor directly. A list of KDE subproject contacts is available on the Google Summer of Code 2015 ideas page. You can also apply without a mentor and we will try to find one for you.
 
Do I need to have a project idea before applying?
It is preferred. If you do not have one, we will try to find one for you! But generally for a successful project completion, a good proposal helps a lot! This way you can actually get to know a lot more about how your idea is going to be implemented.
Keep in mind that KDE is huge, so you should have an idea of which KDE subproject you wish to work on. You should visit the SoK 2015 ideas page [https://community.kde.org/SoK/Ideas/2015] too.
 
Do I need to write a proposal like in Google Summer of Code?
No, but we would like to see a brief project plan describing what you will be working on.
 
Is it only for coders like Google Summer of Code?
We are willing to consider non-coding projects as well including artwork and promotion, but you should definitely get in touch to figure out the details beforehand. The KDE Community Wiki describes ways to get involved with KDE that do not require coding.
 
I applied for a project in Google Summer of Code but another student got selected for it. Can I still work on it?
Maybe, but likely not. You should ask the mentor that was assigned to your idea. We can try to find something related for you if you want, or something completely different. Let us know what you wish and we will do our best to accommodate your request.
 
Is this an extension of Google Summer of Code or connected to Google?
No. While Season of KDE is in many ways modeled after Google Summer of Code and administered by the same members of the KDE Student Programs, it is completely independent from Google Summer of Code and has no connection to Google whatsoever.
 
What if I do not get a reply from a mentor within some days or have some other queries about SoK?
Feel free to join our IRC channel #kde-soc on freenode or email the admin team at kde-soc-mentor-owner@kde.org
 

KDE Signs the User Data Manifesto 2.0

Wednesday, 7 October 2015  |  Jriddell

KDE, through its legal body KDE e.V., is one of the launch partners and initial signatories of the User Data Manifesto 2.0. The User Data Manifesto defines basic rights for people to control their own data in the internet age:

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Down to Business with Major Deployments

Tuesday, 6 October 2015  |  David Edmundson
KDE software has been used in many large scale deployments, including universities, governments and countless companies.

One of these organizations suggested that KDE create a deployment forum so that others can benefit from their deployment experience. The forum would provide an opportunity for sysadmins and developers to ask questions and discuss problems/solutions related to deploying KDE software in large, complex environments.

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KDE Ships Plasma 5.4.2, bugfix Release for October

Tuesday, 6 October 2015  |  Jriddell

Today KDE releases a bugfix update to Plasma 5, versioned 5.4.2. Plasma 5.4 was released in August with many feature refinements and new modules to complete the desktop experience.

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Randa Report - unEyeCandy

Friday, 11 September 2015  |  Fuchs

Randa greetings from the VDG - Hahmulookin?
The Randa Meetings are happening now in the Swiss Alps. More than 50 people are giving their time to improve KDE software and innovate new value for users. The theme of this sixth edition of the Randa Meetings is Bring Touch to KDE, and the KDE Visual Design Group (VDG) is making their contributions to the look and feel of KDE technology. Visual appearance has been a primary consideration for KDE from the beginning—"users [should be able to] expect things to look, feel, and work consistently".

The Visual Design Group

The Visual Design Group is responsible for the User Experience, Usability, Design, Look and Feel of KDE software. The VDG has been working from a TODO list at the Randa Meetings. There has been good progress and still things the VDG wants to accomplish in Randa.

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Plasma 5.4.1 Bugfix Release for September

Tuesday, 8 September 2015  |  Jriddell
Plasma 5.4
Plasma 5.4

Tuesday, 08 September 2015. Today KDE releases a bugfix update to Plasma 5, versioned 5.4.1. Plasma 5.4 was released in August with many feature refinements and new modules to complete the desktop experience.

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KDE Sprints - who wins?

Friday, 28 August 2015  |  Kallecarl

We are raising money to support KDE sprints. People have asked legitimate questions about those funds—who gets the money? Who benefits?

To start with, KDE sprints are intensive sessions centered around coding. They take place in person over several days, during which time skillful developers eat, drink and sleep code. There are breaks to refresh and gain perspective, but mostly sprints involve hard, focused work. All of this developer time and effort is unpaid. However travel expenses for some developers are covered by KDE. KDE is a frugal organization with comparatively low administrative costs, and only one paid person who works part time. So the money donated for sprints goes to cover actual expenses. Who gets the money? Almost all of it goes to transportation companies.

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KDE Ships Plasma 5.4.0, Feature Release for August

Tuesday, 25 August 2015  |  Jriddell
Plasma 5.4
Plasma 5.4

Tuesday, 25 August 2015. Today KDE releases a feature release of the new version of Plasma 5.

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Another KDE success story - the Incubator - Part 4

Monday, 24 August 2015  |  Jpwhiting
Kdenlive is the leading video editor on Linux

To wrap up the KDE Incubator success stories, here's a bit from the Kdenlive folks.

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