The countdown to the release of Kubuntu Intrepid Ibex and the automatic change-over to KDE 4 is heating up! What should the user expect? What will be different? What has changed? What is to consider? How can I make the transition? Shall I wait?

To answer these questions we call for participation and we will reward it! Lots of users around kubuntu-de.org got their experience with KDE 4 on Hardy and some may have tested pre-versions of Intrepid Ibex, too. We call on those and every one interested: write an (or more than one if you like) article in the wiki to one of many proposed topics and get the chance to win a T-Shirt, a mug or a mouse pad from KDE. For each finished article, a piece of news on the portal will be published.

On this year's August 23rd and 24th the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University for Applied Sciences hosted "FrOSCon" for the third time in a row, a convention about all topics related to free software. Once again Kubuntu-de.org was there this year to represent the German Kubuntu community as well as Kubuntu itself. The first batch of our team already arrived on Friday, prior to the opening, to set everything up and make preparations. Dinner with the folks from KDE and Amarok at the Asian restaurant adjacent to the hotel and the subsequent informal meeting in the hotel's bar helped us get in the mood for the convention weekend.

Saturday

Early the next day the event itself began and just like the year before Kubuntu was thematically placed in between Amarok and KDE. Both projects presented brand new software, like an up to date development snapshot of KDE4 or the just released first beta version of the popular music player Amarok 2.

Sebastian Kügler interviewed by kubuntu-de.org and Radio Tux

The date for the release of KDE 4.1, the 29th of July 2008, is approaching fast. Therefore we want to dare a look at the new version of this desktop environment. So we used our chance on the LinuxTag 2008 and asked Sebastian Kügler (a.k.a. sebas) for an interview to get answers to some questions regarding KDE development, the current state and his work in the project.

Sebastian is a member of the board of management of the KDE organisation and a member of the release team. He studies at the Radbound University of Nijmegen. As a member of the marketing working group he is responsible for strategic decisions regarding the project.

The interview was produced together with Radio Tux. They did the first part. Radio Tux broadcast live at the LinuxTag in Berlin. From the 28th to the 31st of May they broadcast interviews, background information and free music.

LinuxTag 2008 in Berlin is over. 11,600 people from 31 countries attended it - more than the year before. The concurrent International Aeronautic Exhibition (Internationale Luftfahrtausstellung, ILA) was a strong competitor, as was the weather. At 30°C many people opted for the lakes rather than the air-conditioned halls.

The following chronological account shows the Linuxtag from the perspective of Kubuntu. We can only mention a small selection of the exhibitors, lectures and workshops. But we will tell you about the evenings after the exposition closed, which we spent mostly with Amarok and KDE.

In the tradition of 10 years, the Chemnitzer Linux-Tage were held on the first March weekend. The Chemnitzer Linux-Tage is an event for everybody all around Linux and Open Source. In the same way as last year, Kubuntu was represented by Kubuntu-de.org. This meant that the visitors were able to see Kubuntu first hand.

           

More than 2400 visitors, 750 online-listeners, 87 presentations, 58 exhibitors, 13 workshops and many, many volunteers participated. A unique program was offered to all of them.

kubuntu-de.org in conversation with Tobias König

Tobias König is a Computer Science student and one of the core developers of Akonadi, one of the innovative technologies that will be implemented in KDE4. Akonadi will be a platform independent innovative storage solution for personal data. In this interview, Tobias König shares his impressions about the integration into the KDE desktop environment and Akonadi's development and features.

kubuntu-de.org: You are deeply integrated into the development of KDE. What kinds of things do you spend time on when you do not work on that?

Tobias König: I study Computer Science at the HTW Dresden while I am not busy with developing KDE. I also work as a freelancer for credativ GmbH.

Apachelogger interviewed by kubuntu-de.org

Harald Sitter, also known as apachelogger, was promoted to Kubuntu MOTU not too long ago. He also works as a volunteer project manager for the Amarok project. We spoke with him about Amarok 2 and what can be expected from KDE 4 in Kubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron.

kubuntu-de.org: Can you briefly describe who you are and in which areas of Kubuntu you are participate?
Harald: My name is Harald Sitter. I am a 19 years old Austrian citizen. I am one of the Kubuntu MOTUs who are responsible for the maintenance of the biggest packets archive for Ubuntu.

kubuntu-de.org: What is the meaning of MOTU? For which projects are you active?
Harald: MOTU is an abbreviation for Master Of The Universe (these are the VIPs ;-). Additionally, I am the project manager of Amarok and also work on KDE.

A Vision Becomes Reality

Today, the KDE developers have as planned the first stable version of KDE 4.0 released. This release marks the start of the KDE 4 era. The desktop environment was given groundbreaking changes and improvements. More about this will be mentioned later in this article. The Kubuntu developers have made available packages for the releases 7.04 Gutsy Gibbons and 8.04 Hardy Heron.

After years of intensive development and with several month delay, the dream of the KDE community has become reality: KDE 4.0 has finally been released. The demands put on the entirely redesigned desktop are very high: All in all a revolution in the desktop area has been aimed for. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to expect too much from the newly released Version 4.0 due to the fact that several exciting features for the desktop environment have not been fully implemented yet. Therefore, it must be stressed that KDE 4.0 is not KDE 4 as the developer Stephan Binner aka beineri writes in his blog, but it is rather the beginning of a yearlong continuing set of release cycle interations.

Saturday morning, the second annual FrOSCon commenced. FrOSCon is a conference that takes place at the Fachhochschule (Polytechnic College) Bonn-Rhein-Sieg in St. Augustin near Bonn. Obviously, after the success at the latest exhibitions, it would have been unacceptable not to represent Kubuntu with its own booth. Consequently, early in the morning, the first of us gathered in order to build up the booth. Fortunately, we were located right next to KDE and Amorak. This gave us the opportunity to jointly present the highlights from the Qt community. Another group we welcomed in our section of the building was the musical project Jad. Hence, our presentation was accompanied by nice background music, taking into account one or the other erratic feedback.

The surroundings of the exhibition location has apparently quite a lot of Open Source Software users. Two of our volunteers are living close to it and therefore we had very good contacts to the event organisers. Many thanks to Thomas Erdmann (datten) and Sven Herfs (motti) for the contributions before and during the exhibition.