RE: [Lsb-desktop] KDE representation

Hi Olaf,
	Yes, restarting the toolkit wars or dividing the community is
the last thing LSB wants to do.=20

Let me try to summarize our discussion in yesterday's plenary session:
There are few options we can consider:
1. Trolltech changing their licensing=20
2. LSB changing their licensing criteria
3. All Qt applications to link statically if interested to get LSB
certification.

Also note, LSB being an apolitical body and does not take any sides nor
defines new standards, I don't think it should drop a library since some
other library does not match licensing criteria. So dropping GTK
certainly should not be considered as an option (which does NOT mean LSB
prefers one library over another).

As we decided, we will continue this conversation going forward during
the LSB desktop conference calls (9am every Tuesday).=20

Also note, it is too early to talk about higher level libraries like
gnome and KDE as we do not have any requirements analysis done.=20

Thanks,

-Rajesh



> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected] [mailto:lsb-desktop-
> [email protected]] On Behalf Of Olaf Schmidt
> Sent: Sunday, August 07, 2005 4:23 PM
> To: [email protected]; lsb-
> [email protected]; [email protected]
> Cc: Eric Laffoon
> Subject: [Lsb-desktop] KDE representation
>=20
> Hi!
>=20
> Today I subscribed to three of the LSB mailing lists as one of
probably
> two
> people representing KDE in the LSB.
>=20
> My name is Olaf Schmidt. I am a member of  KDE e.V., co-maintainer of
the
> KDE
> Accessibility Project and founder of the freedesktop.org accessibility
> initiative. I participate in the FSG accessibility working group,
working
> closely together with the Gnome Accessibility Projects to define
common
> standards for accessibility.
>=20
> I live in Europe, so it will be difficult for me to attend meetings
and
> phone
> conferences, but I hope that I can contribute via email.
>=20
> When will the desktop topics be discussed at the LSB Plenary Meeting
> tomorrow?
> The problem is that the meeting will be from midnight to 4am (German
> time).
> If the desktop is discussed at the beginning of the meeting, then I
will
> call
> in. Otherwise I hope my email comments are of help to you.
>=20
> I am especially interested in giving feedback to the plan to include a
> single
> toolkit in the next version of the standard. The reaction to this has
been
> very negative in the KDE community.
>=20
> I am aware of the libQt FAQ. I understand that the reasons not to
include
> Qt
> are political objections the copyleft idea and not opposition to KDE
for
> its
> own good. My impression is, however, that the LSB is not fully aware
of
> the
> results that the political decision to standardise only a single
toolkit
> would have.
>=20
> By including a single toolkit in the next version of the standard, the
LSB
> would make itself a very strong force in the KDE/Gnome debate. It
would
> alienate itself from large parts of the Linux desktop commmunity, and
turn
> itself into a powerful weapon of toolkit zealots. It would destroy
much of
> its credibility.
>=20
> My suggestion is to include no toolkit in the next version of the LSB
> standard. Instead we should only standardise libraries and protocols
that
> are
> used for interoperability between the desktops. This would give us
time to
> work out a better solution and prevent danger to the LSB's
credibility.
>=20
> Cooperation between the KDE and Gnome projects vastly improved in
recent
> years. My impression is that the toolkit wars are over, and that both
KDE
> and
> Gnome will play important roles in the Linux desktop of the future. I
> don't
> want this spirit of good cooperation to be poisened, as would happen
> if the LSB restarts the desktop wars by siding with one of the two
popular
> Linux toolkits.
>=20
>=20
> Olaf Schmidt
>=20
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