[kde-community] finding a clear vision for KDE - an alternative draft for discussion

[Alexander Neundorf]

Hi everyone,

as Lydia already wrote earlier today, there have been activities in the KDE 
community to come up with a vision for the KDE project for the next years, so 
we can better work together to achieve our goals as a community.

Additionally to the team presented by Lydia, an additional team formed 
beginning of this year and produced an alternative draft for a vision for KDE, 
which we hope can guide KDE into a successful future.

The following people worked on or provided input to this draft:
Alexander Dymo
Alex Neundorf
David Edmundson
Jaroslaw Staniek
Mirko Böhme
Pau Garcia i Quiles


Coordinated with the team presented by Lydia we post our draft also today 
here. The original is at https://community.kde.org/KDE/VisionDraftA .
So here we go:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

KDE is an end-user focused, openly governed community of free software 
enthusiasts that strives to provide graphical user interfaces and applications 
for end-users for all types of computers across the device spectrum: desktops 
PCs, laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc.

We believe that software should be free and respectful of the privacy of our 
users. Our values are stated in the KDE Manifesto.

To achieve our goals we work on:

1) A complete set of cross-platform end-user applications

We want to offer a complete set of end-user applications running on all major 
operating systems (Linux, OSX, Windows, Android, etc.). This way we enable 
end-users to manage their "digital life" using free software no matter on 
which operating system. The set of applications covers internet, office, 
communication, multimedia, games and many other. They provide the familiar and 
consistent KDE user experience while fully integrating into the host operating 
system. This is reached by following common guidelines and using common 
technologies.

2) A modern desktop environment for UNIX operating systems

We provide a classical desktop environment for computers and devices running 
Linux or any other UNIX-compatible operating system (as known from KDE 3 and 
Plasma). It delivers a polished user experience, is easy to use and flexible. 
It contains the essentials of a desktop and basic applications like a file 
manager and a web browser, etc..

3) A user interface for mobile/embedded Linux systems

We want KDE to offer the most advanced "desktop" for "mobile Linux", like 
tablets, smartphones or embedded systems.

4) A cross-platform Software Development Kit

We support the development of end-user desktop and applications by developing 
reusable software frameworks. We build on top of the cross-platform Qt 
framework and provide an extensive set of add-on libraries and components to 
do the tasks above. Our libraries are cross-platform, stable, and provide 
source and binary compatibility guarantees. They are licensed under Free 
Software licenses which allow commercial use.

------------------------------

This probably doesn't fit the definition of what a "vision statement" should 
be, it's too long for that, maybe it's a mixture of a vision and a mission, 
but more importantly, after reading it, people (hopefully) know what KDE is 
about.


So, now that you have seen this draft and the one posted by Lydia, make up 
your mind about where you would like to see KDE go in the next years for 
yourself.

We are happy to get comments or any other feedback on this draft, and we are 
looking forward to a lively and constructive discussion about the future of 
KDE.

Let's make KDE rule the world of free GUI software ! :-)
Alex D, Alex N., Jaroslaw, Mirko