KDE Blogs 

So, in the last days there have been several things which made me think "This rocks !". Wanna know what ? So here we go, without any special order. Sun releases Java under the GPL ! You know what ? This rocks ! I have never been especially fond of Java. If you want fast code, write it in a language which is compiled to machine code, like, well, C++ or C. Additionally I always had the impression that Java is almost like C++, just that you cannot do everything with it you can do with C++ (templates, operator overloading, multiple inheritance, ...). But OTOH if you don't care that much about execution speed but things like reduced development time and portability (without recompiling), then why stop halfway instead of going the whole way and use a scripting language (preferably one that rocks ;-), to stay on-topic) like, let me think a minute, like Ruby ? You get even shorter development times, you get dont-compile-run-everywhere and you can do things with the introspection features you can't do with any compiled language I know of. Ok, said that, I think releasing Java under the GPL is really great from Sun. You know, there is something called Mono, which is a free implementation of the attempt from Microsoft to push Java out of the market with C# and its CLI. So, if we want a free bytecode-compiled language, Java had the issue that it wasn't really free, only free-as-in-beer. And Mono has to play catchup with the stuff MS develops, and there's the potential that it might carry patent problems. So, now that Java is free, what has changed ? We have a free bytecode-compiled language, maintained by the main development team, i.e. no clone or fork, and since these guys released it theirselves under the GPL they probably won't sue anybody for violating any patents. So, who still needs Mono since November 13th, 2006 ? Read More

Yeah, the Title of this blog sounds like a job opportunity... but that's intentional. I am proposing a job opportunity -- in the FOSS style :-) When discussing with Aaron Seigo tonight about some old functions in KApplication that we wanted to move or remove from KDE4, we came up with the conclusion that we instead needed a new class. We've called it KAutoSaveFile and its purpose is to allow application writers to easily: Read More

On the final night of our Ubuntu Developer Summits we usually go into town for a posh dinner followed by revelling and merryness. So who was the greatest dancer on the dance floor? You decide... Read More

Quote (incomplete): "For Novell to make this deal shows a profound disregard for the relationship that they have with the Free Software community. We are, in essence, their suppliers, and Novell should know that they have no right to make self serving deals on behalf of others which run contrary to the goals and ideals of the Free Software community." For complete statement, visit http://news.samba.org/announcements/team_to_novell/. Read More

It's this time of the year again: Tomorrow, it's World Usability Day, that means many events about usability all around the world. In Berlin, there is an event at Meistersaal close to Potsdamer Platz. Read More

Application which do not "belong" to any of the free desktop projects, i.e. which do not use their respective development platform, are usually lacking integration features. However, most of have options to configure helper applications for certain tasks, e.g. handling HTTP URLs, opening files of certain MIME types, etc. Read More

I've made it to my second lot of annual leave this year, so I've bought a nice shiny new digital SLR (the Sony a100) and am going to Japan for two weeks for a holiday. Read More

...finally. And no, I'm not talking about their dealings with Novell. Last month Microsoft finally figured out how to work with open standards: Microsoft enhances Interoperability with Ecma Office Open XML Formats (Oct 25, 2006) Microsoft is applying the Open Specification Promise (OSP) to Ecma Office Open XML to further enable the implementation of these document formats, by anyone, forever. Microsoft already offered an irrevocable covenant not to sue (CNS) to anyone wishing to implement the formats, and now implementers have the option to use the OSP or the CNS. See the OSP FAQ for details. Read More

Since Ellen's wish is my command, I'm happy to report that as of yesterday I can be considered a bonafide Berliner, having received the keys to our lovely new apartment in what is rapidly becoming the KDE capital of the world. My wife and I are looking much forward to having about twice as much space as before, 17 million times as many decent food and coffee places, galleries, bookstores, concert venues, clubs, and friends and KDE hackers within walking and biking distance. Of course there's the actual move to take care of first, which is about as much fun as debugging random memory corruptions without valgrind. It is for the greater good, though, and the prospect of spending my working days at the brand new KDAB office in Berlin soon, with a bunch of friends (most of them fellow KDE hackers, yes, we're hiring ;)), is an exciting one. Good times. :)

Our first OpenUsability sponsored student project is making good progress: Last weekend I participated in a meeting to collect use scenarios for the GIMP, which was part of the student project offered by Peter Sikking. Read More