KDE Publishes Manifesto

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday October 9, 2012 @08:38AM from the ok-i-guess dept.

Several readers sent word that KDE has published a manifesto. According to its official announcement, the KDE community's growth over the past 15 years has "created a need for clarity about what pulls us together as a community." It continues, "The KDE Manifesto is not intended to change the organization or the way it works. Its aim is only to describe how the KDE Community sees itself. What binds us together are certain values and their practical implications, without regard for who a person is or what background and skills they bring." The manifesto opens boldly, saying, "We are a community of technologists, designers, writers and advocates who work to ensure freedom for all people through our software." It comes along with more detailed descriptions of the benefits and principles of a KDE project.

58 comments

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Well, that's a good sign! by crazyjj · 2012-10-09 08:38 · Score: 4, Funny

Nothing forms the foundation of a bright future quite like issuing a manifesto.

--
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
1. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by ledow · 2012-10-09 08:55 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  I was just thinking to myself:
  How much code could have been written for the same amount of effort as this piece of content-less puffery?
2. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by MrEricSir · 2012-10-09 09:08 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Nothing forms the foundation of a bright future quite like issuing a manifesto.
  Considering how much flack Gnome has gotten for not having any discernible goals or performance metrics, a manifesto seems like a reasonable place to start if you want to avoid Headless Chicken Syndrome.
  
  --
  There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
3. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 09:11 · Score: 0
  
  Thank you, Oscar Schindler.
4. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by MightyMartian · 2012-10-09 09:16 · Score: 1
  
  "There's nothing in the street
  Looks any different to me
  And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
  And the parting on the left
  Is now the parting on the right
  And the beards have all grown longer overnight"
  
  --
  The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
5. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by the_B0fh · 2012-10-09 09:19 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  seriously? Having a document saying what the project stands for is a bad thing?
6. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by ledow · 2012-10-09 09:40 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Yep. If you have to state it, it means that the people within the group don't know it, that it's reached a state where management of it is required, and where people outside the group would be expected not to know the motivation for the project. Otherwise you wouldn't need to state it.
  It's nothing more than a company mission statement. Who cares about a company mission statement from, say, Google, or Microsoft, or your local bakery, or any company of any scale whatsoever apart from the people who write it? No-one.
  When you've crossed from "we're writing some desktop environment software" to needing a manifesto, bureaucracy has taken over to the point where you've already lost sight of the goal.
7. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by hydrofix · 2012-10-09 09:47 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  I would like to counter that point with a reference to the Debian Manifesto. It was published in 1994, and Debian, in addition to becoming one of the most popular distributions by itself, came to form the basis behind products like Ubuntu, Mint, Nokia Maemo, Knoppix and Mepis. So for them it seems to have worked.
8. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by horza · 2012-10-09 09:53 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  It's like those people that waste their time on documentation. How much code could they write instead of describing the APIs or providing tutorials? And don't get me started on those profligate programmers that use multi-character variable names...
  Phillip.
  
  --
  Property for sale in Nice, France
9. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 10:02 · Score: 0
  
  Issuing a manifesto might sound scary or aggressive, so to soften the shock they should rename themselves to something friendly like the Kde Komputer Klub
10. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by MrHanky · 2012-10-09 10:17 · Score: 1
  
  That would depend on who wrote it, obviously. How much effort did you put into that idiotic question?
11. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by poet · 2012-10-09 10:32 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  This is entirely untrue. A manifesto isn't for existing members it is for new and potential members. So they know up front what they are getting into, very similar to a mission statement.
  
  --
  Get your PostgreSQL here: http://www.commandprompt.com/
12. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by Kjella · 2012-10-09 11:20 · Score: 2
  
  I would like to counter that point with a reference to the Debian Manifesto. It was published in 1994, and Debian, in addition to becoming one of the most popular distributions by itself, came to form the basis behind products like Ubuntu, Mint, Nokia Maemo, Knoppix and Mepis. So for them it seems to have worked.
  Except the Debian Manifesto is pretty to the point about WHAT they want to build, WHY and HOW. The KDE manifesto is more a fluffy value statement that pretty much wraps being a community-driven open source project in pretty words. It reminds me of certain corporate value statements, like saying we have 7 values and they are honesty, boldness, trust, freedom, team spirit, modesty and fun. Great, but do you have any fogging idea where they're going with that? Or even what line of business they're in? Well okay buzzword bingo isn't that far off, it's a consulting company. The point is that if you cover over "KDE" I haven't got a clue whose manifesto this is, it could be practically any open source project. There's nothing here about who they are or where they're going.
  
  --
  Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
13. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 13:58 · Score: 0
  
  Granted it's not as funny to read as the GG Allin Manifesto, but it's a start.
14. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by TehZorroness · 2012-10-09 15:56 · Score: 1
  
  It's nothing more than a company mission statement. Who cares about a company mission statement from, say, Google, or Microsoft, or your local bakery, or any company of any scale whatsoever apart from the people who write it? No-one.
  While this is most likely true, I would say that the company's mission statement certainly still does have an impact on the customer through it's implementation.
15. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by unixisc · 2012-10-09 16:43 · Score: 1
  
  You mean, like 'Kommunist Manifesto'?
16. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by CodeBuster · 2012-10-09 16:58 · Score: 1
  
  Nothing forms the foundation of a bright future quite like issuing a manifesto.
  It must also be rambling, or else it's not a true manifesto because all true manifestos are always rambling and go on rambling for many pages because that is what true manifestos do, they ramble until the manifesto is true because rambling is what they do.
17. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by CodeBuster · 2012-10-09 17:00 · Score: 1
  
  How much code could have been written for the same amount of effort as this piece of content-less puffery?
  Surely enough to write a license. That's what this manifesto needs, it's own license. They should license the manifesto too.
18. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by serviscope_minor · 2012-10-09 22:06 · Score: 1
  
  Considering how much flack Gnome has gotten for not having any discernible goals
  Really? I thought the goal of Gnome was to remove features and break shit.
  or performance metrics,
  Or, you know, the number of features removed or broken during the previous development cycle. A good surrogate metric is tha amount of swearing which goes on in the forum in threads relating to missing features.
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
19. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by Razgorov+Prikazka · 2012-10-09 23:35 · Score: 1
  
  I think that is true, no-one cares. NO ONE! If you're a tie, your job is (amongst many other things of course) making sure the people underneath you can rattle out the mission statement at your command. If you are working for a company and you earn a penny or two above minimum wage, you do what you are requested. That is:"Do your job and memorise the mission statement" so that if a tie is coming to you asking about it you are able to drone-it-up". You keep the tie happy, who in turn keeps the boss happy, you keep your job, everyone wins. And the mission statement? That is a statement like any other. Like:
  Stop cancer now
  Make love not war
  Do no evil
  Is this helping the company? (office space, the only film never seen by bosses it seems, or they did and they have their own:"is this pissing off my staff enough?")
  
  To dissect the mission statement and stay on-topic:
  1 > Open Governance & Free Software
  Isn't that what one can expect from a FOSS project? Really, is this news?
  2 > Inclusivity and innovation
  That is inherent to FOSS imho, If you want something and it isn't there, you either make it yourself or ask the community. Big chance that you're not the only one wanting this, and so people help out other people.
  3 > Common Ownership.
  GNU / GPL it is all there, we dont need this statement for that.
  4 > End-User Focus to ensure our work is useful to all people.
  GOTO 2
  
  And yes I have combined some, a technique I borrowed from George Carlin discussing the 10 commandments.
  Actually now I think about it, there is a nice mission statement that people who think up mission statement's should use:"DON'T!!!"
  
  --
  rm -rf --no-preserve-root / ...and let /dev/null sort them out...
20. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by tilante · 2012-10-10 01:02 · Score: 1
  
  Really? I thought the goal of Gnome was to remove features and break shit.
  No, no, you're misunderstanding completely - the goal of Gnome is to add shit and break features!
21. Re:Well, that's a good sign! by socrplayr813 · 2012-10-10 03:17 · Score: 1
  
  Probably true, and it looks great on the surface.
  But lots of companies don't work anything like their mission statements would suggest. While I'm not a fan of KDE myself, it would be a shame if they are going in that direction.
  
  --
  The confidence of ignorance will always overcome the indecision of knowledge.
What the Manifesto Means to You, as a User by eldavojohn · 2012-10-09 08:38 · Score: 5, Funny

Open Governance to ensure engagement in our leadership and decision processes;
We have ensured that this is the most open governance possible. Why, as we speak, KDE death squads are being dispatched to move door to door to force you into a leadership and/or decision process for KDE. Should you fail or should said squads find Gnome in your household ... well, let's just concentrate on the positives of the Manifesto. We here at KDE put the "FEST" in "Manifesto!"

Free Software to ensure the result of our work is available to all people;
We have recently employed Liam Neeson and a team of investigators working around the clock to tie names and individuals to credit cards and paypal accounts after turning over all our donation transactions to them. If you do not accept our software as free, you will be paid a visit by Liam Neeson who has, shall we say, developed a particularly forceful skill set in working at our returns department! Don't thank us, thank you for using KDE -- please we cannot emphasize this enough: it will be free or there will be blood.

Inclusivity to ensure that people of all origins are welcome to join us and participate;
In an effort to include everyone, we have actually started up cloning chambers with the DNA of Neanderthals. No origins, past or present, will be left un-KDE'd in our quest to excel in inclusivity past those dirty gnome users.

Innovation to ensure that new ideas constantly emerge to better serve people;
Ah yes, our innovation measures have become quite extreme. So extreme that you can feel them in the pit of your stomach. Not literally, of course -- the literal pit of innovation is behind our headquarters where we've trapped the world's leading scientists and patent lawyers while we spray them with a hose if they don't meet our patent quotas to out-innovate the gnome team!

Common Ownership to ensure that we stay united;
This one is simple! Any forks will be auspiciously repressed! Not repressed like emotional feelings but instead like tanks in Tienanmen Square. Of course, this is open source, you're free to fork whenever you want and we're free to ensure that everyone stays united. It's open source + united people = united open source people!

End-User Focus to ensure our work is useful to all people.
Is your Klan rally missing that flame? Is your Neo-Nazi newsletter not so neo? Is your jihad turning out to be a junker? Well, submit a feature request to KDE to ensure you can meet all of your needs with our software. We don't discriminate -- that is unless you want us to! *wink* *wink*

In all seriousness though, I know it doesn't mean this but am I the only person that imagines someone with crazy eyes smiling uncontrollably at you when you hear the word 'manifesto'?

--
My work here is dung.
1. Re:What the Manifesto Means to You, as a User by Forty+Two+Tenfold · 2012-10-09 09:09 · Score: 1
  
  My work here is dung.
  Indeed.
  
  --
  Upward mobility is a slippery slope - the higher you climb the more you show your ass.
2. Re:What the Manifesto Means to You, as a User by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 09:11 · Score: 0
  
  SG 550
  Most indeedily.
3. Re:What the Manifesto Means to You, as a User by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 09:39 · Score: 0
  
  Is that you, Cave Johnson?
4. Re:What the Manifesto Means to You, as a User by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 09:57 · Score: 0
  
  Well, you screwed up the difference between gratis and libre. You know the drill. Yes, that's right the 1/4 inch bit. Right at the temple.
Doesn't suprise me a bit... by santax · 2012-10-09 08:42 · Score: 2

I mean, Ted had one, Breivik had one, and they also killed a lot of good things. Anyway, I for one, welcome our new KDE-overlord manifesto. I'm gonna put this one in my blackbox.
1. Re:Doesn't suprise me a bit... by Barsteward · 2012-10-09 09:28 · Score: 1
  
  " I'm gonna put this one in my blackbox." - whats this on slashdot? ASCII Ebony porn?
  
  --
  "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
2. Re:Doesn't suprise me a bit... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 11:42 · Score: 0
  
  Yeah, but with their manifestos, you knew why they killed. Say what you will about the tenets of their ideologies listed in their respective manifestos, at least each had a discernable ethos. Dude.
Summary by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 08:45 · Score: 0

Produce Krap for the Masses!
Aww, shucks by Antipater · 2012-10-09 08:47 · Score: 0

I thought for a minute that we were getting more hilarious news out of the Kentucky Department of Education.

--
Everything is better with chainsaws.
"Just a Phase" by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 08:55 · Score: 1

KDE wouldn't be the first 15 year old that published a manifesto...
1. Re:"Just a Phase" by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 10:19 · Score: 0
  
  I didn't know slashdot had a manifesto published ...
Horray for the TLA by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 08:56 · Score: 0

I love TLAs, they mean whatever you want them to mean.
I have decided KDE means "Kill, Destroy, Exterminate!"
Kinda like the Dalek slogan.
I for one welcome our new KDE overlords. by Picass0 · 2012-10-09 08:57 · Score: 1, Interesting

... or at least I did for a while.
I switched to KDE after Gnome decided to suck. I liked most of what's in KDE (or at least I've become used to it) but it's not as stable as Gnome was.
So recently I switched to Mint. It's an adjustment again, but the crashes are gone.
1. Re:I for one welcome our new KDE overlords. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 09:19 · Score: 0
  
  There's Mint. Where's the Libre spammer?
2. Re:I for one welcome our new KDE overlords. by blackpaw · 2012-10-09 09:50 · Score: 1
  
  Mint What?
  KDE is a desktop env, Mint is a distro. The two are not comparable.
3. Re:I for one welcome our new KDE overlords. by Enderandrew · 2012-10-09 09:54 · Score: 1
  
  Were you running KDE in Ubuntu perhaps? Their packages suck.
  KDE in openSUSE, Fedora, Arch, etc. is much more stable.
  
  --
  http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
4. Re:I for one welcome our new KDE overlords. by Picass0 · 2012-10-09 11:45 · Score: 1
  
  I meant to say Mate desktop. Mate is the default desktop for the Mint distro, so I brainfarted.
5. Re:I for one welcome our new KDE overlords. by blackpaw · 2012-10-09 13:47 · Score: 1
  
  I meant to say Mate desktop. Mate is the default desktop for the Mint distro
  Ah! that makes more sense. Quite fond of Mate myself, but I'm addicted to Kontact, despite all its issues. It does keep improving.
  
  so I brainfarted.
  Meh, farts happen.
6. Re:I for one welcome our new KDE overlords. by unixisc · 2012-10-09 16:47 · Score: 1
  
  Did you find the KDE edition of Mint just as unstable?
Manifesto? by tilante · 2012-10-09 09:05 · Score: 2

Calling something that could fit on a business card without much squeezing a "manifesto" feels like stretching it to me... but I guess "mission statement" would sound too corporate. I was expecting something more on the scale of the GNU Manifesto.
1. Re:Manifesto? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 11:16 · Score: 0
  
  Unless it is published in the NY Times, it is not a manifesto.
"Don't be GNOME" by BumpyCarrot · 2012-10-09 09:23 · Score: 2

There, saved you some time!

In all seriousness, if I needed a serious WM on Linux, KDE was my first choice. GNOME is just confused, in my opinion. It's like it went more OSX than OSX (and I'm even an OSX user).

--
Do you see what I did there?
It's not cool! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 09:36 · Score: 0

It's commie bullshit!
After more than 12 years of relationship... by Delifisek · 2012-10-09 09:59 · Score: 0

here my song for both of you
Die die die my darling
Don't utter a single word
Die die die my darling
Just shut your pretty eyes
I'll be seeing you again
Yeah I'll be seeing you in hell
So don't cry to me oh baby
Your future's in an oblong box
Don't cry to me oh baby
You should have seen it a comin' on
Don't cry to me oh baby
Had to know it was in your power
Don't cry to me oh baby
Dead end goal for a dead end girl
Don't cry to me oh baby
And now your life drains on that floor
Don't cry to me oh baby
Die, die, die my darling
Don't utter a single word
Die, die, die my darling
Just shut your pretty mouth
I'll be seeing you again
I'll be seeing you in hell
Don't cry to me oh baby
Your future's in an oblong box
Don't cry to me oh baby
You should have seen it a-comin' on
Don't cry to me oh baby
Had to know it was in your power
Don't cry to me oh baby
Dead-end goal for a dead-end girl
Don't cry to me oh baby
Now your life drains on that floor
Don't cry to me oh baby
Die, die, die my darling
Don't utter a single word
Die, die, die my darling
Shut your pretty mouth
I'll be seeing you again
I'll be seeing you in hell
Die, die, die
Die, die, die
Die, die, die
Die..

--
[My english is better than most other people's Turkish, so please point out mistakes politely. Thank you.]
I'll ignore it. by Yuff · 2012-10-09 10:04 · Score: 0

KDE is a bloated mess.
Inaccurate story title by Maniacal · 2012-10-09 10:44 · Score: 1

They would have never produced a manifesto. They produced a kmanifesto.

--
MG
Manifestos by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 10:58 · Score: 0

Manifestos: The, often rambling and incoherent, utterings of lunatics, terrorists, losers and projects facing eminent failure.
Not a good sign for KDE.
Qt universe by unixisc · 2012-10-09 16:53 · Score: 1

The book featured on KDE's website calls it 'The KDE Developer's Beginner's Guide'. Doesn't sound anything like the manifestos of Kazynski, Marx or anyone else. Although it would have been better had this been a Qt manifesto, covering KDE, Razor-qt and all other Qt based apps.
1. Re:Qt universe by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-10 02:55 · Score: 0
  
  The book featured on KDE's website calls it 'The KDE Developer's Beginner's Guide'.
  So if you are a KDE Developer you get to own your personal Beginner? Sounds attractive.
Bland, but innocuous by v.+Konigsmann · 2012-10-09 17:17 · Score: 1

Mission statements are rather praiseworthy but uninteresting; despite my love of KDE I used the time profitably by imagining Microsoft enunciating those six principles.
Qt DEs in different sizes by unixisc · 2012-10-09 18:37 · Score: 1

There is always Razor-qt, if one thinks that KDE is too big or too much. My suggestion - for 32-bit, use Razor-qt, and for 64-bit, use KDE
End-User Focus? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 22:37 · Score: 0

"End-User Focus to ensure our work is useful to all people"
Is this supposed to be a joke? From what I've read from KDE developers they don't even care whether KDE is useful to large parts of their former KDE3 users. Instead, constructive criticism was met with hostility and long time KDE users were told to go elsewhere if they are too stupid to understand how KDE4 is so much better and modern than KDE3 in every way.
Just don't mess KDE up!!! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 23:31 · Score: 0

All the Manifesto has to say is:
DO NOT MESS KDE UP!!!
With Gnome 3 and Unity, plus Windows 8, the desktop environment is suffering from one of the worst periods since Windows 1.0's tiled windows. Even the abominally hard to use OS/2 Warp workplace shell was never this bad. These alternate desktop environments have become useless for people who want to get actual work done and who have their own workflow set up. KDE is about all that's left for professional developers.
KDE needs to focus on not messing up their desktop environment, and they'll be fine.
Henry V by ThatsNotPudding · 2012-10-09 23:48 · Score: 1

"From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of Desktops"