Date: Tue, 3 Feb 1998 16:15:07 +0000 (GMT)
From: Richard Moore <moorer@cs.man.ac.uk>
Subject: Linux Weekly News
To: lwn@eklektix.com

Hi, just in case you haven't seen this, here's the announcement for
KDE beta 3.

Rich.

                       
                     
                               
           T H E   K   D E S K T O P   E N V I R O N M E N T

                          http://www.kde.org

                                Beta 3
                           February 1, 1998


    An integrated Desktop Environment for the Unix Operating System


  We  are  pleased  to  announce the availability of the third public
  beta "Huesten" of the K Desktop Environment.

  KDE is a powerful graphical desktop environment for  Unix  worksta-
  tions.   The  KDE desktop aims to combine ease of use, contemporary
  functionality and outstanding graphical design with the technologi-
  cal superiority of the Unix operating system.

  KDE  is  a  completely  new desktop, incorporating a large suite of
  applications for Unix workstations. While  KDE  includes  a  window
  manager,  file manager, panel, control center and many other compo-
  nents that one would expect to be part of  a  contemporary  desktop
  environment, the true strength of this exceptional environment lies
  in the interoperability of its components.


  Beta 3 highlights:

        o KDE now actively supports 18 different languages.

        o A number of new exciting applications where  added  to  the
          base packages.

        o Automatic  integration of legacy applications by means of
          kappfinder.

        o Improved proxy support.

        o Bug fixes.



  Key KDE features:


        o Transparent Network Access:

          Most KDE components are inherently  Internet  aware.  KDE's
          folder  windows are in fact web browsers. You can open URLs
          and view HTML pages, download files by dragging  them  from
          the  folder  windows  onto your desktop or even edit remote
          documents by simply dragging them from a remote site opened
          in a folder onto KDE's editor.


        o Session management:

          KDE  supports  elaborate  session management. You can leave
          documents and applications open when you log out  and  ses-
          sion  management  aware  applications  will  be restored to
          their previous state on your next log in. KDE offers pseudo
          session management for legacy X11 applications.


        o Configurability:

          Most,  if  not  all settings are configurable through intu-
          itive GUI dialogs rather then the traditional cryptic  con-
          figuration  files.   The  configuration files are of course
          human readable.


        o Vast pool of KDE applications:

          A great number of applications have  already  been  written
          for  the KDE project. Some are supplied with the base pack-
          ages available for download from http://www.kde.org, others
          can be found in the 'apps' directory on ftp.kde.org and its
          many mirrors.  We proudly offer applications ranging from a
          postscript  viewer  to a CD player, a calculator to a sound
          system, and even a finite element analysis application.  We
          are confident you will be pleasantly surprised by the broad
          spectrum of applications available today.


        o Internationalization:

          Most of KDE's core components and many of the KDE  applica-
          tions  are internationalized. That is, they will operate in
          many languages.  We consider this a key feature in  gaining
          acceptance  among  a  wide audience. In fact, at present we
          support already as many as 18  languages.  Please  consider
          helping  us  translate  more  of  our  applications.  Visit
          http://www.kde.org/i18n.html for more  information  on  the
          internationalization project.



  Screen Shots:

          Screen  shots  of  a typical K desktop and some of its core
          components can  be  found  at:

                     http://www.kde.org/kscreenshots.html 

          We are certain you will like what you see.


  Where to get KDE:

          You    can    download   the   KDE   base   packages   from
          ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde  or  one  of  its  many  mirrors.
          Please  visit  our  web site at http://www.kde.org for more
          info. The precise locations of the beta 3 packages are:

       ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/Beta3/distribution/tgz/binary
       ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/Beta3/distribution/tgz/source
       ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/Beta3/distribution/rpm/binary
       ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/Beta3/distribution/rpm/source
       ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/Beta3/distribution/deb/binary
       ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/Beta3/distribution/deb/source


  Supported platforms:

          KDE was primarily developed under the Linux variant of  the
          Unix operating system. However it is known to compile with-
          out, or with very few, problems on most Unix variants.

          At the moment we explicitely support  Linux (Intel , Alpha,
          Sparc)  and Solaris (Sparc) and we have success reports for
          FreeBSD, IRIX, OSF, SunOS, HP-UX. and others.


  KDE Development:

          KDE was developed by a world-wide  network  of  programmers
          during the past 14 months. In fact the release of the first
          beta coincided roughly with KDE's first  birthday,  October
          16th 1997.

          KDE  development is open to everyone. Please consider join-
          ing the KDE project. If  you  are  a  programmer,  consider
          writing  applications  for  the  KDE  project. If you are a
          graphical design artist consider creating icon sets,  color
          schemes, sound schemes, logo's and other supporting art. If
          you enjoy writing, you are invited to join  our  documenta-
          tion  project and help creating help documentation, tutori-
          als and other supporting documentation in the K  documenta-
          tion  project  (KDP). Please visit our web site for further
          information on how you can help make  KDE  an  even  better
          environment than it already is.

          To the expert:

          KDE's  development  model differs deliberately from that of
          other known desktop projects in that it  does  not  try  to
          follow  preconceived  handed-down  specifications.  We have
          recognized the availablilty of an existing and usable desk-
          top  at  all stages of development as paramount to the suc-
          cess of the project. Only in this fashion we  are  able  to
          attract the large number of developers necessary for a pro-
          ject of this enormous scale.  KDE  improves  on  an  almost
          daily  basis in an iterative cycle of design, coding, test-
          ing, revision, redesign, leading   to  constant  excitement
          and  concrete  tangible  results  at any given time. We are
          convinced that we have chosen the right  development  model
          prerequisite  to running a successful Internet project, and
          accommodating  the special circumstances arising  from  the
          fact  that  all development is done on a strictly volunteer
          basis. Please give KDE a try, we believe that  the  results
          speak for themselves.


  Licensing:

          The KDE libraries are licensed under the LGPL, to allow for
          the development of commercial  applications  for  KDE.  KDE
          applications  are  licensed under the GPL.  KDE is based on
          the Qt GUI library which is free for the X  Window  System,
          provided  the  applications  developed with it are released
          under a free license such as  the  GPL.   More  information
          about Qt may be found at http://www.troll.no


  What does the 'K' stand for?

          Nothing.  It is simply named the "K Desktop Environment".


  Lastly: KDE is NOT a Window Manager

          KDE  is  not  just another window manager trying to imitate
          the look of an existing desktop environment, but rather  an
          integrated environment of which the window manager provided
          with KDE is only a small part. In fact if you so desire you
          can continue to use your favorite window manger, however we
          strongly encourage you to use the KDE  window  manager  and
          enjoy the functionality afforded by the interoperability of
          the KDE components. The KDE window manger provides all  the
          functionality you need and more.

          Additionally,  KDE  is  not  a  CDE, Windows or OS/2 clone.
          While some ideas may have originated  from  these  systems,
          KDE  is unique and we have no intentions of cloning another
          system.


  Bug Reports:

          Please submit your bug reports at http://buglist.kde.org  .
          Consider  subscribing to our mailing lists in order to stay
          in contact with the latest developments.


  Mailing Lists:

           kde-announce   (announcements)
           kde            (general discussion)
           kde-devel      (development issues)
           kde-look       (look and feel issues)
           kde-licensing  (licensing issues)
           kde-user       (end user discussion)
           kde-patches    (daily patches)

          To subscribe (unsubscribe), send mail to

                  [list]-request@fiwi02.wiwi.uni-tuebingen.de
          with:

                 subscribe (unsubscribe) [your-email-address]

          in the Subject: line of the message. A mailing list archive
          is provided at:

                    http://www.itm.mu-luebeck.de/~coolo/kde/

  Thanks:

          We  would  like  to thank Troll Tech AS http://www.troll.no
          for creating Qt  and  our  sponsors  for  making   KDE  ONE
          http://www.kde.org/kde-one.html in Arnsberg, Germany possi-
          ble.

  Epilogue:

          We sincerely believe that we have initiated a new  era  for
          the  Unix  operating  system  and  hope  you will share our
          excitement. We hope that KDE will allow  you  to  get  your
          work  done  faster  and  more efficiently than ever. Please
          consider joining and supporting the project.



  The KDE Core Team



  APPENDIX:


  Mirrors:

          As during previous beta releases, expect ftp.kde.org to  be
          rather  busy.   Please  take  note of the following list of
          official mirrors of ftp.kde.org.


               ftp://gd.tuwien.ac.at/hci/kde
               ftp://ftp.nllgg.nl/pub1/ftp.kde.org/pub/kde
               ftp://ftp.shadowcom.org/pub/Systems/UNIX/X11/kde
               ftp://ftp.tuniv.szczecin.pl/pub/kde
               ftp://ftp.mouk.s-jaani.ee/pub/kde
               ftp://beer.stampede.org/ftp.kde.org
               ftp://ftp1.change-espace.fr/pub/Linux/kde
               ftp://ftp.tsc.uvigo.es/pub/linux/kde
               ftp://bromo.ptf.hro.nl/pub/mirrors/kde
               ftp://ftp.cised.unina.it/pub/kde
               ftp://ftp.sw.com.sg/pub/kde
               ftp://ftp.netlab.is.tsukuba.ac.jp/pub/X/KDE
               ftp://ftp.arpanet.ch/pub/mirrors/kde/
               ftp://ftp.fu-berlin.de/pub/unix/X11/gui/kde/
               ftp://ftp.funet.fi/mirrors/ftp.kde.org/pub/kde
               ftp://ftp.net.lut.ac.uk/kde
               ftp://ftp.nvg.unit.no/pub/linux/kde
               ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/Incoming
               ftp://linux.unipv.it/pub/linux/kde
               ftp://sunsite.icm.edu.pl/pub/unix/kde
               ftp://ftp.chialpha.org/pub/kde
               ftp://ftp.blaze.net.au/pub/kde
               ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/x11/kde/
               ftp://ops.linux.co.za/pub/Linux/kde
               ftp://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/Linux/MIRROR.KDE
               ftp://ftp.dataplus.se/pub/linux/kde
               ftp://ftp.tvnet.hu/pub/kde
               ftp://canine.resnet.gatech.edu/pub/kde
               ftp://ftp.fh-heilbronn.de/pub/mirrors/kde
               ftp://ftp.appl-opt.physik.uni-essen.de/pub/linux/kde
               ftp://ftp.dsnet.it/pub/internet/unix/Linux/kde
               ftp://sunsite.mff.cuni.cz/X11/Desktops/KDE
               ftp://sunsite.icm.edu.pl/pub/unix/kde/
               ftp://ftp.caldera.com/pub/mirrors/kde
               ftp://ftp.fh-dortmund.de/pub/unix/kde.mirror
               ftp://kde.flash.net/pub/unix/kde/
               ftp://ftp.cs.us.es/pub/Linux/kde/
               ftp://ftp.isis.nsu.ru/mirrors/kde/
               ftp://belief.unix.cslab.tuwien.ac.at/pub/kde
               ftp://clio.unice.fr/
               ftp://ftp.iinet.net.au/pub/kde/
               ftp://ftp.lbi.ro/pub/Linux/KDE
               ftp://ftp.linux.org.au/pub/linux/kde/
               ftp://ftp.kreonet.re.kr/pub/tools/X11/kde/
               ftp://sundog.v-wave.com/pub/kde/
               ftp://sunsite.bilkent.edu.tr/pub/linux/kde
               ftp://ftp.fisica.ist.utl.pt/pub/mirrors/kde
               ftp://ftp.tuniv.szczecin.pl/pub/kde
               ftp://ftp.linux.org.au/pub/linux/kde/


          The packages will also be uploaded to:

               ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/Incoming/
               ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/Incoming

          Expect the usual delays before all packages  are  available
          at all ftp sites.



 _______________________________________________________________________ 
| Richard Moore                         | Email: richard@cs.man.ac.uk   |
| IT301, Computer Science dept.,        |           rich@kde.org        |
| University of Manchester, Oxford Rd., | Phone: (0161) 438 0038 (home) |
| Manchester, M13 9PL                   |        (0161) 275 6270 (work) |
| UK                                    |        (0161) 275 6280 (fax)  |
|_______________________________________|_______________________________|