Matthias Ettrich
{{Short description|German programmer, founder of the KDE project}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Matthias Ettrich
| image = Matthias Ettrich LinuxTag 2005-06-23.jpg
| caption = Matthias Ettrich at LinuxTag, 23 May 2005
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1972|6|14}}
| birth_place = Bietigheim-Bissingen, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
| nationality = German
| employer = Here
| occupation = Software engineer
| spouse =
| networth =
}}
Matthias Ettrich (born 14 June 1972) is a German computer scientist and founder of the KDE and LyX projects.
Early life
Ettrich was born in Bietigheim-Bissingen, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany, and went to school in Beilstein while living with his parents in Oberstenfeld. He passed the Abitur in 1991. Ettrich studied for his MSc in Computer Science at the Wilhelm Schickard Institute for Computer Science at the University of Tübingen.
Career
He currently resides in Berlin, Germany. He is currently focused on advising start-ups and corporations on digital transformation and in sound technical decision-making.{{cite web|url=http://www.linkedin.com/pub/matthias-ettrich/28/9b0/aa8|title=Matthias Ettrich | publisher = LinkedIn}}
Free software projects
Ettrich founded and furthered the LyX project in 1995, initially conceived as a university term project. LyX is a graphical frontend to LaTeX.
Since LyX's main target platform was Linux, he started exploring different ways to improve the graphical user interface, ultimately leading him to the KDE project. Ettrich founded KDE in 1996 when he proposed on Usenet a "consistent, nice looking free desktop environment" {{sic}} for Unix-like systems using Qt as its widget toolkit.{{cite newsgroup
| title = New Project: Kool Desktop Environment (KDE)
| url=http://groups.google.com/group/de.comp.os.linux.misc/msg/cb4b2d67ffc3ffce
| first= Matthias
| last=Ettrich
| newsgroup= de.comp.os.linux.misc
| message-id=53tkvv$b4j@newsserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de
| date=14 October 1996
| access-date=4 December 2010}}{{cite news
| url = http://www.efytimes.com/e1/fullnews.asp?edid=25412
| title = Matthias Ettrich: The KDE-Man!
| agency = EFY Times.com
| publisher = EFY Enterprises Pvt. Ltd.
| date = 15 March 2008
| access-date = 30 April 2011
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151030124536/http://www.efytimes.com/e1/fullnews.asp?edid=25412
| archive-date = 30 October 2015
| url-status = dead
}}
On 6 November 2009, Ettrich was decorated with the Federal Cross of Merit for his contributions to free software.{{cite web|url=http://www.itwire.com/opinion-and-analysis/open-sauce/29166-kde-founder-ettrich-receives-german-award|title=KDE founder Ettrich receives German award}}{{cite news
| url =http://dot.kde.org/2009/11/06/matthias-ettrich-receives-german-federal-cross-merit
| title=Matthias Ettrich Receives German Federal Cross of Merit
| last=Boehm
| first=Mirko
| agency = KDE.NEWS
| publisher = KDE
| date = 6 November 2009
| access-date = 30 April 2011}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
- [http://www.behindkde.org/node/7 The People Behind KDE: Interview with Matthias Ettrich (2000)]
- [http://www.behindkde.org/node/433 The People Behind KDE: Interview with Matthias Ettrich (2004)]
{{KDE}}
{{Linux people}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ettrich, Matthias}}
Category:Free software programmers
Category:German computer scientists
Category:People from Bietigheim-Bissingen
Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
{{Germany-compu-bio-stub}}