[dot] Trolltech Sponsors Major KDE Contributor

[Dot Stories]

URL: http://dot.kde.org/1123198410/

From: Aaron J. Seigo <aseigo at kde.org>
Dept: elder-brother-of-moses
Date: Thursday 04/Aug/2005, @18:33

Trolltech Sponsors Major KDE Contributor
========================================

     Trolltech [http://www.trolltech.com], makers of the Qt application
development framework [http://www.trolltech.com/products/qt/index.html]
used by KDE and the  Qtopia
[http://www.trolltech.com/products/qtopia/index.html] application
development platform for embedded Linux devices, is proud to announce
their full-time sponsorship of KDE [http://www.kde.org] developer Aaron
Seigo [http://aseigo.bddf.ca]. This arrangement will enable Aaron to
devote his full time and attention to KDE software projects such as
Plasma [http://plasma.kde.org], which aims to reshape the desktop, as
well as to engage in greater Open Source community participation and
support.


     "It's amazing to be given the opportunity to concentrate on KDE,
especially  with KDE4 approaching," said Aaron Seigo, "This certainly
underlines  Trolltech's commitment to the Open Source community, and I
really couldn't ask for a better group of people to have as a partner
for such a project."

     Matthias Ettrich, VP of Engineering at Trolltech and KDE's Founder,
added, "KDE is more than just a showcase for Trolltech. It brings Linux
to the desktop, and thus it is a major day-to-day working environment at
Trolltech. Aaron is a long-term and well-known KDE contributor. He has a
vision, he does great work, and he can become a figure that leads the
KDE desktop experience to a higher level. I'm happy that we can help him
work on KDE full-time."


  I. ABOUT PLASMA

     Since the introduction of the Mac in 1984, mainstream environments
have treated the desktop as a file manager view. The user is allowed to
put icons there but it's pretty much a world of its own separate from
the rest of the desktop, and is often obscured by windows.

     The goal and mandate of Plasma: to take the desktop as we know it
and make it relevant again. Breathtaking beauty, workflow driven design
and fresh ideas are key ingredients. "It is time that the desktop caught
up with modern computing practices and once again made our lives easier
and more interesting when sitting in front of the computer," says Seigo.


 II. ABOUT AARON J. SEIGO

     Aaron J. Seigo began developing software for the UNIX platform in
1991 and  eventually found his way into the Open Source world via Linux.
With  additional experience in business management, event coordination
and project  management, Aaron joined the KDE project in 2001 as a
software developer but  quickly found areas to apply his non-technical
skills within the project.  Today Aaron is a KDE core developer and
community leader who works full time  on KDE and KDE-related endeavors.