The state of KDE4

Kicking a software release out the door is always a chaotic time; the developers never feel like the software is ready while project management is trying to put a box around something that can be shipped. KDE 4, which is the first major K Desktop Environment release since KDE 3.5 in 2005, is currently in this stage. Questions are being asked about changing deadlines, beta versus alpha quality software, whether a stable release can be delivered on time, and so on. The questions reflect an underlying concern for the quality of the final release.

Part of the problem, it seems, is that earlier beta versions of KDE 4 did not get widespread use. There were enough fundamental problems that users, even those expecting a rough ride, were unable to get things going enough to start filing bugs. Torsten Rahn reported on some feedback he received at a show:

It is a difficult problem, a beta must be usable enough for people to work with it. But if it worked correctly all the time, it would already be released. For KDE 4, part of the difficulty is that the platform and underlying libraries are in pretty good shape, "release candidate" worthy, but the workspace (Plasma) and applications have lagged. Those are things that users see first, of course; fundamental bugs will turn them away from testing further.

One project that is helping get more beta testers is the KDE Four Live CD which is an openSUSE-based live distribution with KDE 4 as the desktop. Beta testers will not have to build everything from source, nor have to install anything on their machines. Screenshots from the Beta 4 release version of the live CD accompany this article.

There were some discussions on the kde-core-devel mailing list regarding whether to call things release candidates, betas, or alphas, with some advocating recognizing the quality of the code and sticking with a beta label. In response, Aaron Seigo makes a good point about the difference between software releases in the volunteer-driven free software world as opposed to paid developers in more traditional development shops:

The distinction is not quite as stark as Seigo paints it, "lines in the sand" are important tools for any project, volunteer or otherwise. It is the tension between getting it right and getting it into the hands of users that cause these conflicts as releases approach. There are an awful lot of "I can deal with that later" problems that come due. Determining which are critical and which can be deferred further is difficult and error-prone. It is much easier for developers to decide that they are all critical and the release needs to slip.

Sticking to previously established schedules can help by forcing things out the door, even if they aren't quite ready. Betas and release candidates are meant to be used, regardless of what they are called – they are also expected to have bugs. The flip side, of course, is that if a release is unusable, it will be largely ignored. This is what the early betas of KDE 4 seem to have run into.

In a casual test drive of the Beta 4 release, there were plenty of problems to be found, but, by and large, it worked. It doesn't seem ready to run as a day-to-day desktop, yet, but testers and others interested should be able to assist in finding and tracking down bugs. The existence of a live CD should help, as will integration with existing installations; imagine being able to boot the live CD and have it work with the existing users, preferences, filesystems, etc. on the underlying system. If a showstopping bug comes along, reboot to the installed OS and file a bug. Perhaps KDE Four Live does some of this integration with an installed openSUSE, but it did not with the Kubuntu installed on the test machine.

Conflicts in the development process often come to a head when a release is imminent, KDE 4 is hardly alone in seeing these kinds of disagreements. Software is difficult to develop and is even harder to release, opinions will differ on the best approach. In general, though, everyone has an interest in the same end result – a solid, working final release – keeping that in mind can help defuse things. The release of KDE 4 is planned for December 2007, we look forward to seeing it.