K Desktop Environment 1

{{multiple image

| width = 200

| footer = K Desktop Environment, version 0.1 from February 1997

| image1 = Screenshot of KDE 0.1 A.jpg

| image2 = Screenshot of KDE 0.1 B.jpg

}}

The development started right after Matthias Ettrich's announcement on 1996-10-14 to found the Kool Desktop Environment.Matthias Ettrich: [http://groups.google.com/group/de.comp.os.linux.misc/msg/cb4b2d67ffc3ffce?dmode=source New Project: Kool Desktop Environment. Programmers wanted!] on Usenet, {{Start date|df=yes|1996|10|14}} The word Kool was dropped shortly afterward and the name became simply K Desktop Environment.{{cite web |url=http://archive.arstechnica.com/linux/reviews/1q99/kde-1.html |title=Ars Technica: The K Desktop Environment – Page 1 (3/99) |publisher=Archive.arstechnica.com |access-date=28 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140724015250/http://archive.arstechnica.com/linux/reviews/1q99/kde-1.html |archive-date=24 July 2014 |url-status=dead }}

In the beginning, all components were released to the developer community separately without any coordinated timeframe throughout the overall project. First communication of KDE via mailing list, that was called kde@fiwi02.wiwi.uni-Tubingen.de.{{cite web

|url = http://events.kde.org/info/kastle/presentations/kastle-history/index.html

|title = History of the KDE project

|date = August 2003

|access-date = 18 November 2010

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101031170448/http://events.kde.org/info/kastle/presentations/kastle-history/index.html

|archive-date = 31 October 2010

|df = dmy-all

}}

The first coordinated release was Beta 1 on {{Start date|df=yes|1997|10|20}} – almost exactly one year after the original announcement.{{cite web | url=http://kde.org/announcements/beta1announce.php | title=KDE 1.0-beta1 Release Announcement | date=20 October 1997 | access-date=26 May 2010}} Three additional Betas followed {{Start date|df=yes|1997|11|23}}, {{Start date|df=yes|1998|02|01}}, and {{Start date|df=yes|1998|04|19}}.

{{Clear}}

{{multiple image

| width = 200

| image1 = Screenshot of KDE 1 alpha.png

| caption1 = K Desktop Environment,
alpha version from July 1997

| image2 = KDE Beta3.png

| caption2 = K Desktop Environment Beta 3

}}

On 12 July 1998 the finished version 1.0 of K Desktop Environments was released:

{{cquote|KDE is a network transparent, contemporary desktop environment for UNIX workstations. KDE seeks to fill the need for an easy to use desktop for Unix workstations, similar to the desktop environments found under the MacOS or {{sic|Window95/NT}}. We believe that the UNIX operating system is the best operating system available today. In fact UNIX has been the undisputed choice of the information technology professional for many years. When it comes to stability, scalability and openness there is no competition to UNIX. However, the lack of an easy to use contemporary desktop environment for UNIX has prevented UNIX from finding its way onto the desktops of the typical computer user in offices and homes.

With KDE there is now an easy to use, contemporary desktop environment available for UNIX. Together with a free implementation of UNIX such as Linux, UNIX/KDE constitutes a completely free and open computing platform available to anyone free of charge including its source code for anyone to modify. While there will always be room for improvement we believe to have delivered a viable alternative to some of the more commonly found and commercial operating systems/desktops combinations available today. It is our hope that the combination UNIX/KDE will finally bring open, reliable, stable and monopoly free computing to the average computer.|author=KDE 1.0 Release Announcement{{cite web | url = http://www.kde.org/announcements/announce-1.0.php | title = KDE 1.0 Release Announcement | date = 12 July 1998 | access-date = 27 March 2008 }}}}

This version received mixed reception. Many criticized the use of the Qt software framework – back then under the Qt Free Edition License{{cite web|url=https://quickgit.kde.org/?p=qt1.git&a=blob&h=2b98366d82a95f66988a7206290120e8c698ea40&f=LICENSE&o=plain|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014010101/https://quickgit.kde.org/?p%3Dqt1.git%26a%3Dblob%26h%3D2b98366d82a95f66988a7206290120e8c698ea40%26f%3DLICENSE%26o%3Dplain|title=Qt Free Edition License|year=1992|publisher=Trolltech|access-date=14 October 2016|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 October 2016}} which was claimed to not be compatible with free software{{cite web|url=http://www.kde.org/whatiskde/qt.html |title=The Qt issue |publisher=KDE |date=3 December 1998 |access-date=28 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981203011800/http://www.kde.org/whatiskde/qt.html |archive-date=3 December 1998}}{{cite web |url=http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reports/2269/1/ |title=Trolltech to Release Qt Under GPL – Decision Alters Linux GUI Landscape |publisher=LinuxPlanet |date=4 September 2000 |access-date=8 May 2013 |archive-date=24 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324223759/http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reports/2269/1/ |url-status=dead }} – and advised the use of Motif or LessTif instead. Despite that criticism, KDE was well received by many users and made its way into the first Linux distributions.{{cite web|url=http://archive.arstechnica.com/linux/reviews/1q99/suse-4.html |title=Ars Technica: SuSE 6.0 Review – Page 4 (3/99) |publisher=ArsTechnica |access-date=28 May 2013 }}

File:KDE 1.1.jpg

An update, K Desktop Environment 1.1, was faster, more stable and included many small improvements. It also included a new set of icons, backgrounds and textures. Among this overhauled artwork was a new KDE logo by Torsten Rahn consisting of the letter K in front of a gear{{cite web|url=http://www.kde.org/announcements/changelogs/changelog1_0to1_1.php |title=1.0 to 1.1 Changelog |publisher=KDE |date=6 February 1999 |access-date=28 May 2013}} which is used in revised form to this day.

Some components received more far-reaching updates, such as the Konqueror predecessor kfm, the application launcher kpanel, and the KWin predecessor kwm. Newly introduced were e. g. kab, a software library for address management, and a rewrite of KMail, called kmail2, which was installed as alpha version in parallel to the classic KMail version. kmail2, however, never left alpha state and development was ended in favor of updating classic KMail.

K Desktop Environment 1.1 was well received among critics.

At the same time Trolltech prepared version 2.0 of Qt which was released as beta on 1999-01-28.{{cite web|url=http://lists.kde.org/?l=kde-announce&m=91754742427089&w=2 |title=ANNOUNCE: Beta versions of Qt 2.0 released |publisher=Lists.kde.org |date=28 January 1999 |access-date=28 May 2013}} Consequently, no bigger upgrades for KDE 1 based on Qt 1 were developed. Instead only bugfixes were released: version 1.1.1 on 1999-05-03{{cite web |url=http://kde.org/announcements/announce-BW-1.1.1.php |title=1.1.1 Release Announcement |publisher=KDE |date=3 May 1999 |access-date=28 May 2013 |archive-date=25 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180325045807/http://kde.org/announcements/announce-BW-1.1.1.php |url-status=dead }} and version 1.1.2 on 1999-09-13.{{cite web|url=http://kde.org/announcements/announce-1.1.2.php |title=1.1.2 Release Announcement |publisher=KDE |date=13 September 1999 |access-date=28 May 2013}}

A more profound upgrade along with a port to Qt 2 was in development as K Desktop Environment 2.

To celebrate KDE's 20th birthday, KDE and Fedora contributor Helio Chissini de Castro re-released 1.1.2 on 2016-10-14.{{cite web|url=http://www.heliocastro.info/?p=291|title=KDE Project releases KDE 1 !|date=13 October 2016|access-date=14 October 2016|archive-date=13 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190613103644/http://www.heliocastro.info/?p=291|url-status=bot: unknown}}{{cite web|url=http://www.heliocastro.info/?p=291|title=KDE Project releases KDE 1 !|date=13 October 2016}}

That re-release incorporates several changes required for compatibility with modern Linux variants. Work on that project started one month earlier at QtCon, a conference for Qt developers, in Berlin. There Castro showcased Qt 1.45 compiling on a modern Linux system.{{cite web|url=https://plus.google.com/+SebastianK%C3%BCgler/posts/Qkku5bhAgDH|title=Helio compiling Qt 1.45 at #QtCon, the clean build takes about 1.5 minutes on his five-year old laptop.|last=Kügler|first=Sebastian|date=2016-09-04|publisher=Google+|access-date=14 October 2016|location=Berlin}}

• Linux on the desktop

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{{KDE}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}

Category:1998 software

Category:Desktop environments

Category:KDE Software Compilation

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