KDE.news

The Dot is closed. Long live KDE Planet!

Wed, 25 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

As KDE grows, so does the interest in each of its projects. Gathering all KDE news in one place no longer works. The volume of updates coming from the KDE community as a whole has become too large to cover in its entirety on the Dot. With this in mind, we are archiving the Dot, but keeping its content accessible for historical reasons.

The news coming out of the community was curated and edited for the Dot. The current rate of news items being published today would've not only made that impractical, but would have also led to things being unjustly left out, giving only a partial view of what was going on.

But we are not leaving you without your source of KDE news! We have figured out something better: we have worked with KDE webmasters to set up a blogging system for contributors. You can now access Announcements, Akademy, the Association news, and the news from your favorite projects directly, unfiltered, unedited, straight from the source.

Or... If you want to keep up with what is going on in ALL KDE projects and news on a daily (often hourly) basis, use the Planet! Access it on the web or add an RSS feed to your reader. You can also follow KDE news as it happens in our Discuss forums and talk about it live with the rest of the community. You can even follow @planet.kde.org@rss-parrot.net on Mastodon to stay up to date.

If you just want the highlights, check out our social media:

Akademy 2024 Call for Hosts

Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

One of the biggest things you can do for KDE (that does not involve coding) is helping us organize Akademy.

Now is your chance to become KDE champions and help make Akademy 2024 happen! We are looking to host Akademy 2024 during the months of June, July, August, and September. Download the Call for Hosts guide, and submit a proposal to host Akademy in your city to akademy-proposals@kde.org by October 1, 2023.

Do not hesitate to send us your questions and concerns! We are here to help you organize a successful event and you can reach out at any time for advice, guidance, or any assistance you may need. We will support you and help you make Akademy 2024 an event to remember.

Calling All Artists! - The Plasma 6 Wallpaper Contest

Mon, 14 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Plasma 6 release day is getting closer... and we still have no wallpaper to use! But we're going to change that with your help and this contest! We are calling on all artists to submit their original wallpaper designs and compete for the chance to win a brand-new laptop (see below). The contest will be open for three months, starting now!

The Contest

The winning entry will be used as the default wallpaper for KDE Plasma 6.0. Learn more about Plasma.

Theme

Wallpaper entries should somehow suggest the following themes:

Trustworthy (i.e. reliable, stable, dependable)
"A reflection of me" (i.e. personalized, familiar, comfortable, "fits like a glove")
Personal growth (i.e. independence, level mindedness, critical thinking)

You should not feel constrained by the themes. Quite the contrary: The goal is for them to inspire your design and maybe help evoke these feelings/thoughts in the viewer, but you should take the abstract nature of the ideas as a way to freely express your creativity in your design.

Style

KDE Plasma 6 is a whole new Plasma! Be bold with your design, and don't feel like you have to adhere to the visual style of Plasma 5 wallpapers. A unique style is fine, even more so if it can start a design trend for the following Plasma 6 versions!
Lean on the abstract. Representational and literal elements should be used sparingly.
We'd recommend avoiding text elements in your wallpaper, such as "Plasma" or even "6". However, this is not a strict rule: if it works with your style, then it works!
Similarly, we would recommend avoiding logos overlaid on top of the wallpaper; if you do decide to include a logo, it should integrate with the design and not be used for quick identification.

Some examples from past Plasma releases.

Rules

The wallpaper must be original, created specifically for this contest, and released under the CC-BY-SA-4.0 license. Therefore no submissions using AI art will be accepted.
The minimum required size for wallpapers is 3840x2160, though 5120x2880 is preferred. Vertical wallpapers should be at least 1080x2280.
You are allowed to submit up to 3 wallpapers. Entries can be made in public at in this Discuss category, but you can also submit them in private to niccolo.venerandi@kde.org
Each submission should include the following:

The wallpaper
The name of the wallpaper
A dark mode version of the wallpaper (not mandatory, but recommended)
A vertical version of the wallpaper (not mandatory, but recommended)

If asked, you should be able to provide the source files used to create the wallpaper in a non-proprietary format, like an Inkscape-compatible SVG, .blend, .kra, .xcf, etc.
Any submission containing racist, sexist, demeaning, or any other inappropriate content will be removed and disqualified immediately.
The organizers will be accepting submissions up to 11:59 pm of November 14, 2023.

Selection process

Judges for the competition will be selected from the KDE Visual Design Group and other esteemed community members. Wallpapers will be judged based on artistic merit, originality, and adherence to the design themes mentioned earlier. At the end of the submission period, six finalists will be selected for a second round.

Artists who make it to this stage will receive a small prize (e.g. a KDE t-shirt!) and actionable feedback from the judges. The artists will be able to upload different variations addressing the feedback. This stage will take between one and three weeks. At the end of it, a winner will be selected and announced. The winner will get a Framework Laptop 13!

While there will only be one winning selection, other submissions may be included as optional wallpapers in Plasma 6, or used in future releases. The judges' decision is final.

The Prize

The winner of the contest will receive a Framework Laptop 13 DIY Edition, featuring a 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1340P. This laptop has a modular design and can easily be wholly disassembled and rebuilt, allowing you to replace any part or upgrade key components anytime.

The Framework Laptop 13 also features an Expansion Card system that lets you choose exactly the ports you want and where you want them; there are four available slots and a great variety of cards: USB-C, USB-A, HDMI, DisplayPort, MicroSD, Ethernet, Audio, ultra-fast storage, and more.

Of course, compatibility was tested with the most popular Linux distributions and Framework offers many step-by-step setup guides for them.

Join the competition here!

MBition Becomes KDE's Newest Patron

Mon, 07 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

MBition becomes a KDE patron and supports the work of the KDE community with its generous sponsorship.

MBition designs and implements the infotainment system for future generations of Mercedes-Benz cars and relies on KDE's technology and know-how for its products.

"After multiple years of collaboration across domains, we feel that becoming a patron of KDE e.V is the next step in deepening our partnership and furthering our open-source strategy“ says Marcus Mennemeier, Chief of Technology at MBition.

"We are delighted to welcome MBition as a Patron," says Lydia Pintscher, Vice President of KDE e.V. "MBition has been contributing to KDE software and the stack we build on it for some time now. This is a great step to bring us even closer together and support the KDE community, and further demonstrates the robustness and hardware readiness of KDE's software products."

MBition joins KDE e.V.'s other patrons: Blue Systems, Canonical, g10 Code, Google, Kubuntu Focus, Slimbook, SUSE, The Qt Company and TUXEDO Computers, who support free open source software and KDE development through KDE e.V.