Re: Sad to see Quanta go.

Hi all,

 i didn't follow the mailing list, nor I wrote Quanta code for a long 
time...

This sometimes makes me sad as well, and what is actually sad is the fact 
that when Quanta was actively developed, we didn't have a large enough 
developer community to secure its future in long term. It was not a problem 
in that time, and I wasn't worried really, as we had some developers, we had 
ideas, we even started to work on them. The userbase was big, we had lots of 
ideas, the project looked healthy. I'm still amazed about the demand from 
users for Quanta, and hats off for those who still keep using it and asking 
for new versions.
 Then when things changed and I decided to change jobs and gave up full-time 
KDE development, the change was at a so bad timing, when also the other most 
active developer left, the project founder was very busy with his own 
business and KDE and KDevelop was in a transition period. 
 Some KDevelop guys picked up from time to time Quanta and parts of it is 
inside KDevelop (PHP support is the one that works fine afaik) and there is 
a proof-of-concept (X)HTML support as well in KDevelop. I can't blame them 
on not spending more time on Quanta port, as they are also busy with non-KDE 
life and KDevelop itself needs a lot of development time.
 So what can I say about is future? I don't see it being bright, although it 
still has a chance. Due to the nice users the name, brand and mindshare is 
still there, at least partially. But it needs developers. Maybe users can 
help here? Talk with your developer friends, talk with developers 
writing/contributing to other KDE projects (KDevelop would be a good point 
to start ;-) ), talk with fellow web developers who also know C++. Maybe you 
find someone who is interested in it to pick up. Bring it up on forums, 
local user groups, etc. I have to tell I didn't succeed when it was clear I 
can't continue on Quanta, but I might be a bad recruiter.
 KDE is growing, but writing an IDE is not the most rewarding thing at firts 
sight. Maybe not at the second sight. But it is if you see the feedback from 
the users.

 I know this mail adds no real value, but I have to write down, especially 
my feelings when I saw that there is actual traffic on the list, not just 
spam waiting to be filtered.
 
Andras