KDE Edu & KDE4

[Torsten Rahn]

Am Donnerstag, 11. August 2005 19:36 schrieb Michael Nottebrock:
> On Thursday, 11. August 2005 11:37, Torsten Rahn wrote:
> I'm really not meaning to troll here, but: How exactly has it been
> successful, and how do you measure its success?

Just ask people about educational software for Linux. Most people _will_ 
mention KDE-EDU as a whole or at least a few KDE-EDU applications first. This 
is a critical success for KDE.

This means that in those "highly specialized" entities called "schools" where 
people seriously evaluate to use Linux (or even migrate to it) KDE will 
appear on the radar _very_ early. This means that in most cases KDE-EDU gets 
picked very early and KDE as a whole as well - no matter whether they are 
using such "highly specialized" distributions as SkoleLinux, Arktur, 
Edubuntu, K12LTSP or just the major distributions. 

I consider it very important that KDE appeals to the educational sector 
because:

- it makes it evident in the general perception that KDE is not just a hacker 
desktop but a desktop for _everyone_. If kids can use this desktop then 
everyone can do it ;-)

- On one hand schools are a critical part in terms of migrations with a 
significant number of workstations involved. While we like to see those in 
general there's a special benefit in this case: We have the chance to attract 
pupils and students which feel attracted to KDE and join our project.

> I've just written a few days ago that my perception of kdeedu (and
> kdegames) is the complete opposite of yours - that it does NOT give KDE
> much of a competitive edge, but binds a lot of developer resources.

Sorry, but that's just hideous. 

> Is there some kind of data available that we could use to determine the
> success/usefulness of kdeedu more objectively?

If you'd deal with KDE promotion seriously (like joining fairs) you probably 
wouldn't ask such questions ...

-- 
Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Kind regards,

        Torsten Rahn