KDE SC 4
    The Good
    Innovative features and unique solutions.


    The Bad
    Questionable fundamental design decisions.


    The Broken
    Longstanding and often-reported bugs.
What is KDE SC 4
        SC: Software Collection
        The KDE Community's main product. It includes
        all software created by the community.


        Plasma Desktop
        The core environment including the workspace
        and panels.


        Key Applications
        Software suites and programs which provide
        key functionality.
    KDE 4: The Good
Innovative features and unique solutions

                     Plasma Desktop
                     Configurable widgets on the panel and on the
                     desktop.


                     Dolphin File Manager
                     Simple, powerful, configurable. Includes split
                     view, sorting and preview options, and a
                     built-in terminal emulator.


                     Okular Document Viewer
                     Supports many innovative features to redefine
                     how we interact with electronic documents.
      KDE 4: The Bad
Questionable fundamental design decisions

                      Disregard for feature stability and
                      users' needs
                      Seemingly no regression testing is performed
                      for either Plasma or key applications.


                      Experimental and incomplete
                      software in major releases
                      Core features of key applications are removed
                      between "x.N" releases.


                      Misleading versioning scheme
                      Hijacking of the "x.0" paradigm to release
                      developer-preview software.
 KDE 4: The Broken
Longstanding and often-reported bugs

                   Wrong timestamp on files copied
                   to fish protocol
                   Reported in 2003 as bug #55804.


                   "System Settings" does not
                   change the system's settings
                   Several bugs dating to 2004 (bug #82009) and
                   possibly earlier.


                   Proxy settings are not followed
                   Introduced in KDE 4.0 as bug #155707.
The Good: Okular Document Viewer
    Simple to use, yet many innovative features

                           Trim Margins
                           Fit more content onto the page without
                           horizontal scrollbars.


                           Continuous pan
                           Files continue to pan even when the mouse
                           leaves the screen edge.


                           Accessibility options
                           Convert to black & white, change background
                           colour.
The Bad: Misleading versioning
Ignoring FOSS versioning conventions misleads packagers

                            Usage of "x.0" version numbers
                            The "x.0" moniker is an accepted and long-
                            standing convention for a stable software
                            release. Hijacking that convention and
                            appending a "Developer Preview" subtitle does
                            not change the implied stability of such a
                            release.


                            KDE SC Software which has
                            used "x.0" version numbers for
                            incomplete software
                            * KDE
                            * Amarok
                            * Koffice
The Broken: "System Settings" simply isn't
The misleading name is a common source of user frustration

                              Despite the name, "System
                              Settings" affects only KDE
                              settings.
                              This causes confusion when non-KDE apps do
                              not behave as expected.


                              Even when the app was called
                              Kcontrol there were requests to
                              write configuration changes as
                              system-wide
                              Bug #82009 was opened in 2004, other bugs
                              requesting similar functionality may have been
                              filed even earlier.
More Information
        KDE SC Users
        http://kde.org
        http://userbase.kde.org
        http://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde


        KDE SC Developers
        http://kde.org
        http://bugs.kde.org
        http://techbase.kde.org
        http://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-devel


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