Interview: Aaron Seigo, KDE Project Lead (Sirius)

> GTK+ with freedesktop.org technologies *is* their desktop stack 

so ... which fd.o technology maps to phonon? solid? sonnet? threadweaver? ... for decibel
there is the tapioca stuff in gnome, but the kde and gnome works are based on a common spec
not just commond (let alone a cross platform integrated one), so it's a little like saying a
html widget is at the same level due to HTML being a w3c spec.

really what it comes down to is putting the APIs in front a developer and seeing what works
together, are coherent, deliver powerful desktop service integration, etc... this is one area
where KDE4 really shines already (and will do even more so with each passing release as
features continue to be added and bugs squashed in each of these frameworks). 

> Gnome-vfs libraries were made obsolete by gio/gvfs which lives in GLib.  

yes, this is a nice step, very similar in several ways to kio.

> So, to make a big distinction between Gnome applications and
> GTK+ applications is a bit of an anachronism these days. 

it's not about making a distinction between "gnome" and "gtk+" apps. it's about making a
distinction between "function that exists and is natively cross platform" and "function that
doesn't exist". i'm not making odd divisions here, but simply outlining some real differences
in features.

because unless i missed it (and who knows, maybe i did, feel free to point me to them) but i
haven't seen things like these frameworks elsewhere in the free software world presented as a
coherent, cross platform set.and that includes GNOME. 

this really shouldn't be a huge surprise since, just as with kio and the gvfs stuff, KDE is
often first out of the gate with various features. not always (see my comment below regarding
PolicyKit, for example) but often. to deny that is to ignore the actual history and timelines
of both projects. that isn't a knock on GNOME, btw; they have slightly different aims and
goals and their own interpretation of how to achieve them.

> universal APIs for which platform-native backends do the heavy lifting

only in part. this is mostly true for solid, much less true for phonon, threadweaver, sonnet
(which all add considerable value) and not accurate at all for decibel, akonadi, etc. which
implement things pretty much from the ground up.

> Solid, Phonon, and Decibel backends

solid, no; the rest, yes. people are working on the solid backends. 

> scrutiny of advocacy is also a good thing.

scrutiny is fine indeed. let's just keep it informed and civil. your comment here is a good
example of both qualities, so thanks for that =)

i *do* wish people could make positive statements that are factually accurate about free
software projects without other free software projects dragging them own. i do like how pgsql
and mysql, e.g., get along these days even though adherents of each feel their choice is
superior to the other. unfortunately in other areas such as the desktop or high level
languages (e.g. python vs ruby) it's all a bit "crabs in the bucket" at times.

for the record, i dislike it when kde supporters are similarly counter productive over efforts
in other teams. to the point where i have actually talked with some such people in person in
the past to sort things out. i'm fully prepared to not only learn from others but recognize
their successes, and i'd like to think others are capable of the same. =)