Happy 20th Birthday, KDE!

[Eike Hein]

I'm proud of:

* Collectively making tons of software that has real users. I consider
my profession as an engineer to be a tool-maker who enables others; our
line of operation is to build civilization and facilitate culture.
Making and shipping software that people use is the most concrete way we
do this, though not the only one.

* Doing it in the open. Source code is a powerful way to write down
knowledge in a form that's not just readable but also executable by
those it's given to. It's a way to communicate ideas in a form that,
unlike with plain communication, enables testing the idea, building on
it and re-testing it. Code is one of the richest forms of communication
humans have come up with to date, and we're at the forefront of helping
us realize this and reap the advantages.

* Providing hundreds of engineers, designers, artists, writers,
organizers and many others an environment in which to do interesting and
relevant work, safe with the knowledge that their work can't be hidden
and won't screw anyone over.

* Helping everyone who comes into contact with our community to increase
their knowledge and hone their skills, and apply those gains to bigger
problems both in KDE and elsewhere.

* Having a strong effect on the industry we're part of through licensing
choices, exemplary workflow and tooling choices.

* Figuring out how to make all of these effects last; scaling not just
in size, but across time. Having achieved a multi-generational community.


As always, what I'm most excited about is the stuff I'm working on right
now, and how it will make the thing it's a part of better than before :).


Cheers,
Eike