KDE Software Compilation
Encyclopedia
The KDE Software Compilation (KDE SC) is a desktop environment
and an associated range of KDE Applications produced by KDE
. Prior to version 4.4, released in February 2010, the Software Compilation was known as KDE, which used to stand for K Desktop Environment until November 2009. The KDE SC includes only applications whose development teams choose to follow the Software Compilation's release schedule; as a result, many popular KDE applications, such as Amarok and Digikam
, are not part of the Software Compilation. To date there have been four series of releases.
, who was then a student at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen
. At the time, he was troubled by certain aspects of the Unix
desktop. Among his qualms was that none of the applications
looked, felt, or worked alike. He proposed the formation of not only a set of applications, but, rather, a desktop environment
, in which users could expect things to look, feel, and work consistently. He also wanted to make this desktop easy to use; one of his complaints with desktop applications of the time was that his girlfriend could not use them. His initial Usenet
post spurred a lot of interest, and the KDE project was born.
Ettrich chose to use Trolltech’s Qt framework for the KDE project. Other programmers quickly started developing KDE/Qt applications, and by early 1997, a few applications were being released.
On 12 July 1998, K Desktop Environment 1.0 was released. In November 1998, the Qt toolkit was dual-licensed under the free/open source Q Public License
(QPL) and a proprietary license for proprietary software developers. Debate continued about compatibility with the GNU General Public License
(GPL), so in September 2000, Trolltech made the Unix version of the Qt libraries available under the GPL, in addition to the QPL. Trolltech continued to require licenses for developing proprietary software
with Qt. The core libraries of KDE are collectively licensed under the GNU LGPL, but the only way for proprietary software to make use of them was to be developed under the terms of the Qt proprietary license.
The second series of releases, K Desktop Environment 2, introduced significant technological improvements. These included DCOP
(Desktop COmmunication Protocol), KIO
(an application I/O library), KParts (a component object model
, which allows an application to embed another within itself), and KHTML
(an HTML
rendering and drawing engine).
project began porting the GPL licensed Qt/X11 code base to Windows.
KDE SC 4 includes many new technologies and technical changes. The centerpiece is a redesigned desktop and panels collectively called Plasma
, which replaces Kicker
, KDesktop
, and SuperKaramba
by integrating their functionality into one piece of technology; Plasma is intended to be more configurable for those wanting to update the decades-old desktop metaphor
. There are a number of new frameworks, including Phonon
(a new multimedia interface making KDE independent of any one specific media backend) Solid
(an API for network and portable devices), and Decibel
(a new communication framework to integrate all communication protocols into the desktop). Also featured is a metadata and search framework, incorporating Strigi
as a full-text file indexing service, and NEPOMUK
with KDE integration.
Starting with Qt 4.5, Qt was also made available under the LGPL version 2.1, a major step for KDE adoption in corporate and proprietary environments, as the LGPL permits proprietary applications to link to libraries licensed under the LGPL.
with configure scripts, which are compiled by operating system vendors and integrated with the rest of their systems before distribution. Most vendors use only stable and tested versions of KDE SC, providing it in the form of easily installable, pre-compiled packages. The source code of every stable and development version of KDE SC is stored in the KDE source code repository, using Git
. KDE Platform
is licensed under the LGPL, BSD license, MIT license
, or X11 license. Applications also allow GPL. Documentation also allow FDL
. CMake
modules must be licensed under the BSD licence.
The KDE team releases new versions on a regular basis.
& ABI
). This means, for instance, that software that was developed for KDE 3.0 will work on all (future) KDE 3 releases; however, an application developed for KDE 2 is not guaranteed to be able to make use of the KDE 3 libraries. KDE major version numbers follow the Qt release cycle, meaning that KDE SC 4 is based on Qt 4, while KDE 3 was based on Qt 3.
Major releases (with two version numbers, for example 3.5) contain new features. As soon as a major release is ready and announced, work on the next major release starts. A major release needs several months to be finished and many bugs that are fixed during this time are backported to the stable branch, meaning that these fixes are incorporated into the last stable release by maintenance releases. Starting with the KDE SC 4 series, KDE SC has a major release roughly every six months.
Maintenance release
s have three version numbers, e.g. KDE 1.1.1, and focus on fixing bugs, minor glitches, and making small usability improvements. Maintenance releases in general do not allow new features, although some releases include small enhancements. A shortened release schedule is used. Starting with the KDE SC 4 series, KDE SC has a maintenance release roughly every month, except during the month of a major release.
Major applications by KDE Software Compilation include:
For more applications, see list of KDE applications.
Desktop environment
In graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface derived from the desktop metaphor that is seen on most modern personal computers. These GUIs help the user in easily accessing, configuring, and modifying many important and frequently accessed...
and an associated range of KDE Applications produced by KDE
KDE
KDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
. Prior to version 4.4, released in February 2010, the Software Compilation was known as KDE, which used to stand for K Desktop Environment until November 2009. The KDE SC includes only applications whose development teams choose to follow the Software Compilation's release schedule; as a result, many popular KDE applications, such as Amarok and Digikam
DigiKam
digiKam is an image organizer and editor using KDE Platform. It runs on most known desktop environments and window managers if the required libraries are installed. It supports all major image file formats, and can organize collections of photographs in directory-based albums, or dynamic albums by...
, are not part of the Software Compilation. To date there have been four series of releases.
Origins
KDE was founded in 1996 by Matthias EttrichMatthias Ettrich
Matthias Ettrich is a German computer scientist known for his contributions to the KDE and LyX projects.- School :...
, who was then a student at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen
Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen
Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen is a public university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of Germany's oldest universities, internationally noted in medicine, natural sciences and the humanities. In the area of German Studies it has been ranked first among...
. At the time, he was troubled by certain aspects of the Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
desktop. Among his qualms was that none of the applications
Application software
Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
looked, felt, or worked alike. He proposed the formation of not only a set of applications, but, rather, a desktop environment
Desktop environment
In graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface derived from the desktop metaphor that is seen on most modern personal computers. These GUIs help the user in easily accessing, configuring, and modifying many important and frequently accessed...
, in which users could expect things to look, feel, and work consistently. He also wanted to make this desktop easy to use; one of his complaints with desktop applications of the time was that his girlfriend could not use them. His initial Usenet
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
post spurred a lot of interest, and the KDE project was born.
Ettrich chose to use Trolltech’s Qt framework for the KDE project. Other programmers quickly started developing KDE/Qt applications, and by early 1997, a few applications were being released.
First series
Q Public License
The Q Public License is a non-copyleft license, created by Trolltech for its free edition of the Qt. It was used until Qt 3.0, as Trolltech toolkit version 4.0 was released under GPL version 2...
(QPL) and a proprietary license for proprietary software developers. Debate continued about compatibility with the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
(GPL), so in September 2000, Trolltech made the Unix version of the Qt libraries available under the GPL, in addition to the QPL. Trolltech continued to require licenses for developing proprietary software
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
with Qt. The core libraries of KDE are collectively licensed under the GNU LGPL, but the only way for proprietary software to make use of them was to be developed under the terms of the Qt proprietary license.
Second series
DCOP
DCOP, which stands for Desktop COmmunication Protocol, is a light-weight interprocess and software componentry communication system. The main point of this system is to allow applications to interoperate, and to share complex tasks...
(Desktop COmmunication Protocol), KIO
KIO
KIO is part of the KDE architecture. It provides access to files, web sites and other resources through a single consistent API. Applications, such as Konqueror which are written using this framework can operate on files stored on remote servers in exactly the same way as they operate on those...
(an application I/O library), KParts (a component object model
Component Object Model
Component Object Model is a binary-interface standard for software componentry introduced by Microsoft in 1993. It is used to enable interprocess communication and dynamic object creation in a large range of programming languages...
, which allows an application to embed another within itself), and KHTML
KHTML
KHTML is the HTML layout engine developed by the KDE project. It is the engine used by the Konqueror web browser. A forked version of KHTML called WebKit is used by several web browsers, among them Safari and Google Chrome...
(an HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
rendering and drawing engine).
Third series
The third series was much larger than previous series, consisting of six major releases. The API changes between K Desktop Environment 2 and K Desktop Environment 3 were comparatively minor, meaning that the KDE 3 can be seen as largely a continuation of the K Desktop Environment 2 series. All releases of K Desktop Environment 3 were built upon Qt 3, which was only released under the GPL for Linux and Unix-like operating systems, including Mac OS X. It is marked stable running on Mac OS X since 2008. Unlike KDE SC 4, however, it requires an X11 server to operate. In 2002, members of the KDE on CygwinKDE on Cygwin
KDE on Cygwin is the port of the Qt toolkit and the KDE desktop environment to the Windows Operating System by using Cygwin, a POSIX emulation layer....
project began porting the GPL licensed Qt/X11 code base to Windows.
Fourth series
KDE Software Compilation 4 is based on Qt 4, which is also released under the GPL for Windows and Mac OS X. Therefore KDE SC 4 applications can be compiled and run natively on these operating systems as well. KDE Software Compilation 4 on Mac OS X is currently considered beta, while on Windows it is not in the final state, so applications can be unsuitable for day to day use.KDE SC 4 includes many new technologies and technical changes. The centerpiece is a redesigned desktop and panels collectively called Plasma
Plasma (KDE)
Plasma Workspaces is the umbrella term for all graphical environments provided by KDE.Three Plasma sub-projects are currently being developed: Plasma Desktop for traditional desktop PCs and notebooks, Plasma Netbook for netbooks, and Plasma Active for Tablet PCs, Nokia N900 style smartphones and...
, which replaces Kicker
Kicker (KDE)
Kicker is the main panel used in K Desktop Environment 3 and earlier. It can be customized by the user. By default, it has the K Menu, a Desktop Access button, a Home button, a Konqueror button, a Kontact button, and a Help button...
, KDesktop
KDesktop
KDesktop is the component of the K Desktop Environment that provides a virtual background window to draw icons or other graphics on prior to KDE SC 4.It was replaced by Plasma in KDE SC 4....
, and SuperKaramba
SuperKaramba
SuperKaramba is a tool that allows one to easily create functionality enhancement modules on a KDE desktop. Currently, only Linux is officially supported, although it also works well on FreeBSD and NetBSD...
by integrating their functionality into one piece of technology; Plasma is intended to be more configurable for those wanting to update the decades-old desktop metaphor
Desktop metaphor
The desktop metaphor is an interface metaphor which is a set of unifying concepts used by graphical user interfaces to help users more easily interact with the computer. The desktop metaphor treats the monitor of a computer as if it is the user's desktop, upon which objects such as documents and...
. There are a number of new frameworks, including Phonon
Phonon (KDE)
Phonon is the multimedia API provided by Qt and is the standard abstraction for handling multimedia streams within the KDE Software Compilation 4....
(a new multimedia interface making KDE independent of any one specific media backend) Solid
Solid (KDE)
KDE Platform is a set of frameworks by KDE that serve as technological foundation for all KDE applications. Ever since KDE’s brand repositioning the Platform is released as separate product in sync with KDE’s Plasma Workspaces as part of the KDE Software Compilation 4...
(an API for network and portable devices), and Decibel
Decibel (KDE)
Decibel is a new communication framework for KDE Software Compilation 4, the current major release of the KDE desktop environment. Decibel aims to integrate all communication protocols into the desktop. As of now users have all their contacts in different applications: AOL, MSN, E-mail, Skype, etc...
(a new communication framework to integrate all communication protocols into the desktop). Also featured is a metadata and search framework, incorporating Strigi
Strigi
Strigi is a desktop search daemon, which is operating system-independent and desktop-independent. Strigi was initiated by Jos van den Oever. Strigi's goals are to be fast, use a small amount of RAM, and use flexible backends and plug-ins. A benchmark as of January 2007 showed that Strigi is faster...
as a full-text file indexing service, and NEPOMUK
NEPOMUK (framework)
NEPOMUK is an open-source software specification that is concerned with the development of a social semantic desktop that enriches and interconnects data from different desktop applications using semantic metadata stored as RDF...
with KDE integration.
Starting with Qt 4.5, Qt was also made available under the LGPL version 2.1, a major step for KDE adoption in corporate and proprietary environments, as the LGPL permits proprietary applications to link to libraries licensed under the LGPL.
Source code
KDE SC releases are made to the KDE FTP server in the form of source codeSource code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
with configure scripts, which are compiled by operating system vendors and integrated with the rest of their systems before distribution. Most vendors use only stable and tested versions of KDE SC, providing it in the form of easily installable, pre-compiled packages. The source code of every stable and development version of KDE SC is stored in the KDE source code repository, using Git
Git (software)
Git is a distributed revision control system with an emphasis on speed. Git was initially designed and developed by Linus Torvalds for Linux kernel development. Every Git working directory is a full-fledged repository with complete history and full revision tracking capabilities, not dependent on...
. KDE Platform
KDE Platform
KDE Platform is a set of frameworks by KDE that serve as technological foundation for all KDE applications. Ever since KDE’s brand repositioning the Platform is released as separate product in sync with KDE’s Plasma Workspaces as part of the KDE Software Compilation 4...
is licensed under the LGPL, BSD license, MIT license
MIT License
The MIT License is a free software license originating at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . It is a permissive license, meaning that it permits reuse within proprietary software provided all copies of the licensed software include a copy of the MIT License terms...
, or X11 license. Applications also allow GPL. Documentation also allow FDL
GNU Free Documentation License
The GNU Free Documentation License is a copyleft license for free documentation, designed by the Free Software Foundation for the GNU Project. It is similar to the GNU General Public License, giving readers the rights to copy, redistribute, and modify a work and requires all copies and...
. CMake
CMake
CMake is a cross-platform, open-source system for managing the build process of software using a compiler-independent method. It is designed to support directory hierarchies and applications that depend on multiple libraries, and for use in conjunction with native build environments such as Make,...
modules must be licensed under the BSD licence.
Release cycle
| Timeline of major releases | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Release | LoC |
| 14 October 1996 | Project announced by Matthias Ettrich Matthias Ettrich Matthias Ettrich is a German computer scientist known for his contributions to the KDE and LyX projects.- School :... |
|
| KDE 1 KDE 1 K Desktop Environment 1 was the inaugural series of releases of the K Desktop Environment . There were two major releases in this series.-Pre-Release:... |
||
| 12 July 1998 | KDE 1.0 released | |
| 6 February 1999 | KDE 1.1 released | |
| KDE 2 KDE 2 K Desktop Environment 2 was the second series of releases of the K Desktop Environment . There were three major releases in this series.-Major updates:... |
||
| 23 October 2000 | KDE 2.0 released | |
| 26 February 2001 | KDE 2.1 released | |
| 15 August 2001 | KDE 2.2 released | |
| KDE 3 KDE 3 K Desktop Environment 3 was the third series of releases of the K Desktop Environment . There were six major releases in this series.-K Desktop Environment 3.0:... |
||
| 3 April 2002 | KDE 3.0 released | |
| 28 January 2003 | KDE 3.1 released | |
| 3 February 2004 | KDE 3.2 released | |
| 19 August 2004 | KDE 3.3 released | |
| 16 March 2005 | KDE 3.4 released | |
| 29 November 2005 | KDE 3.5 released | |
| KDE SC 4 | ||
| 11 January 2008 | KDE 4.0 released | |
| 29 July 2008 | KDE 4.1 released | |
| 27 January 2009 | KDE 4.2 released | |
| 4 August 2009 | KDE 4.3 released | |
| 9 February 2010 | KDE SC 4.4 released | |
| 10 August 2010 | KDE SC 4.5 released | |
| 26 January 2011 | KDE SC 4.6 released | |
| 27 July 2011 | KDE SC 4.7 released | |
The KDE team releases new versions on a regular basis.
Platform releases
Platform releases are major releases that begin a series (version number X.0). These releases are allowed to break both binary and source code compatibility with the predecessor, or to put it differently, all following releases (X.1, X.2, ...) will guarantee source & binary compatibility (APIApplication programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
& ABI
Application binary interface
In computer software, an application binary interface describes the low-level interface between an application program and the operating system or another application.- Description :...
). This means, for instance, that software that was developed for KDE 3.0 will work on all (future) KDE 3 releases; however, an application developed for KDE 2 is not guaranteed to be able to make use of the KDE 3 libraries. KDE major version numbers follow the Qt release cycle, meaning that KDE SC 4 is based on Qt 4, while KDE 3 was based on Qt 3.
Standard releases
There are two main types of releases: major releases and maintenance releases.Major releases (with two version numbers, for example 3.5) contain new features. As soon as a major release is ready and announced, work on the next major release starts. A major release needs several months to be finished and many bugs that are fixed during this time are backported to the stable branch, meaning that these fixes are incorporated into the last stable release by maintenance releases. Starting with the KDE SC 4 series, KDE SC has a major release roughly every six months.
Maintenance release
Maintenance release
A maintenance release is a release of a product that does not add new features or content. For instance, in computer software, maintenance releases are typically intended to solve minor problems, typically "bugs" or security issues....
s have three version numbers, e.g. KDE 1.1.1, and focus on fixing bugs, minor glitches, and making small usability improvements. Maintenance releases in general do not allow new features, although some releases include small enhancements. A shortened release schedule is used. Starting with the KDE SC 4 series, KDE SC has a maintenance release roughly every month, except during the month of a major release.
Packages
The Software Compilation consists of the following packages:- KDE-Libs: A collection of librariesLibrary (computer science)In computer science, a library is a collection of resources used to develop software. These may include pre-written code and subroutines, classes, values or type specifications....
that provides frameworksSoftware frameworkIn computer programming, a software framework is an abstraction in which software providing generic functionality can be selectively changed by user code, thus providing application specific software...
and functionality for developersSoftware developerA software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
. - KDE-Base: The base set of files, libraries and programs needed by the Software Compilation. KDE-Base is divided into three parts:
- Applications: Containing the applications that form the KDE desktop, like Konqueror, Dolphin, KWrite, and Konsole.
- Runtime: Applications required by KDE apps to function properly at runtime.
- Workspace: Provides the graphical environments.
- KDE-Plasma-Addons: Additional Plasma widgets.
- KDE-NetworkKdenetwork- List of Software :* Filesharing - It provide some System Settings module of network file sharing* kdnssd* kfile-plugins - It provide KFile plug* KGet - Download manager* Kopete - Instant messaging* KPPP - Internet Dial-Up Tool...
- KDE-Pim
- KDE-GraphicsKdegraphicskdegraphics is a KDE software package to work with graphics.- List of software :* Gwenview : an image viewer.* kamera : digital camera io_slave for Konqueror.* kfile-plugins : provide meta information for graphic files....
- KDE-MultimediaKdemultimediakdemultimedia is a KDE software package to work with multimedia.- List of components :* Dragon Player - A simple and usability-focused multimedia player * JuK - Jukebox and music manager* kio_audiocd* KMix - Sound Mixer...
- PhononPhonon (KDE)Phonon is the multimedia API provided by Qt and is the standard abstraction for handling multimedia streams within the KDE Software Compilation 4....
- KDE-AccessibilityKDE Accessibility ProjectThe goal of the KDE Accessibility Project is to ensure that the KDE Software Compilation is accessible to all users, including those with physical handicaps...
: Accessibility applications. - KDE-UtilitiesKdeutilsKdeutils is a KDE software package that contains utils.- List of component :* Ark - Archiving tool* KCalc - Calculator* KCharSelect - Character tool* KDELirc* KDiskFree - Disk space information* KFloppy- Floppy Formatter...
- KDE-EduKDE Education ProjectThe KDE Education Project develops free educational software based on the KDE technologies.- History :The KDE Education project was started in July 2001.- List of software :This software is bundled in the kdeedu package.- Languages :...
- KDE-GamesKdegamesThe kdegames package contains games written for the KDE. kdegames provides games in a number of genres including card games, arcade games and board games.- Arcade :*KBlocks - A Tetris clone*KBounce - A JezzBall clone for KDE...
- KDE-Toys
- KDE-Artwork: Additional icons, styles, etc.
- KDE-AdminKdeadminkdeadmin is a KDE package that contains administrative tools.- List of software :*KCron - Crontab editor*KDat - Tar-based tape archiver*knetworkconf*KPackage - Package manager*KControl - Centralized settings manager*ksystemlog...
- KDE-SDKKdesdkKdesdk is a KDE software package to work with software development.- List of component :* Cervisia - CVS Frontend* KAppTemplate - KDE Template Generator* Kate - Advanced Text editor for programmers* KBugBuster - KDE Bug Management...
- KDE-BindingsKdebindingsKdebindings is a module of programming language bindings. Kdebindings contains the bindings of Qt, bindings of KDE and plugins of Kross.- List of component :...
Applications
- Ark - Archiving tool
- Dragon Player - Media player.
- DolphinDolphin (software)Dolphin is a free and open source software file manager for and part of the KDE Software Compilation. It is the default file manager in the current version, KDE Software Compilation 4, and can be optionally installed on K Desktop Environment 3...
– File managerFile managerA file manager or file browser is a computer program that provides a user interface to work with file systems. The most common operations performed on files or groups of files are: create, open, edit, view, print, play, rename, move, copy, delete, search/find, and modify file attributes, properties... - GwenviewGwenviewGwenview is an image viewer for the KDE Software Compilation desktop environment. The current maintainer is Aurélien Gâteau. The word "Gwen" means "white" in the Breton language and is commonly used as a first name....
- KateKate (text editor)In computing, Kate is a text editor by KDE. The name Kate is an acronym for KDE Advanced Text Editor.-History:Kate has been part of KDE Software Compilation since release 2.2 in 2001. Because of the KParts technology, it is possible to embed Kate as an editing component in other KDE applications...
/ KWriteKWriteKWrite is a lightweight text editor for the KDE Software Compilation.- Features :* Export to HTML, PDF, PostScript* Block selection mode * Code folding* Bookmarks* Syntax highlighting* Encoding selection...
– Text editorText editorA text editor is a type of program used for editing plain text files.Text editors are often provided with operating systems or software development packages, and can be used to change configuration files and programming language source code.... - KonsoleKonsoleKonsole is a free terminal emulator which is part of KDE Software Compilation. Konsole was originally written by Lars Doelle.The KDE applications Konqueror, Krusader, Kate, Konversation, Dolphin and KDevelop use Konsole to provide embedded terminal functionality.- Features :* Tabbed terminals...
– Terminal emulatorTerminal emulatorA terminal emulator, terminal application, term, or tty for short, is a program that emulates a video terminal within some other display architecture.... - KontactKontactKMail supports folders, filtering, viewing HTML mail, and international character sets. It can handle IMAP, IMAP IDLE, dIMAP, POP3, and local mailboxes for incoming mail. It can send mail via SMTP or sendmail...
– Personal information managerPersonal information managerA personal information manager is a type of application software that functions as a personal organizer. The acronym PIM is now, more commonly, used in reference to Personal information management as a field of study...
featuring an e-mail clientE-mail clientAn email client, email reader, or more formally mail user agent , is a computer program used to manage a user's email.The term can refer to any system capable of accessing the user's email mailbox, regardless of it being a mail user agent, a relaying server, or a human typing on a terminal...
, a news clientNews clientA newsreader is an application program that reads articles on Usenet . Newsreaders act as clients which connect to a news server, via the Network News Transfer Protocol , to download articles and post new articles...
, a feed aggregator, to-do lists, etc. - KonquerorKonquerorNot to be confused with the Conqueror web browser.Konqueror is a web browser and file manager that provides file-viewer functionality for file systems such as local files, files on a remote ftp server and files in a disk image. It is a core part of the KDE desktop environment...
– Web browserWeb browserA web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
and File managerFile managerA file manager or file browser is a computer program that provides a user interface to work with file systems. The most common operations performed on files or groups of files are: create, open, edit, view, print, play, rename, move, copy, delete, search/find, and modify file attributes, properties... - KopeteKopeteKopete is a multi-protocol, free software instant messaging client. Although it can run in numerous environments, it was designed for and integrates with the KDE desktop environment...
– Instant messaging client
For more applications, see list of KDE applications.
Base technologies
- KHTMLKHTMLKHTML is the HTML layout engine developed by the KDE project. It is the engine used by the Konqueror web browser. A forked version of KHTML called WebKit is used by several web browsers, among them Safari and Google Chrome...
– HTML rendering engineWeb browser engineA web browser engine, , is a software component that takes marked up content and formatting information and displays the formatted content on the screen. It "paints" on the content area of a window, which is displayed on a monitor or a printer... - KJSKJS (KDE)KJS is KDE's ECMAScript/JavaScript engine that was originally developed for the KDE project's Konqueror web browser by Harri Porten in 2000.On June 13, 2002, Maciej Stachowiak announced on a mailing list that Apple was releasing JavaScriptCore, a framework for Mac OS X that was based on KJS...
- JavaScript engineJavaScript engineA JavaScript engine is specialized computer software which interprets and executes JavaScript . Although there are several uses for a JavaScript engine, it is most commonly used in web browsers.-History:... - KIOKIOKIO is part of the KDE architecture. It provides access to files, web sites and other resources through a single consistent API. Applications, such as Konqueror which are written using this framework can operate on files stored on remote servers in exactly the same way as they operate on those...
– Extensible network-transparent file access - KioskKiosk (KDE)Kiosk is a framework that allows a user to restrict the capabilities of the KDE environment. It was originally designed for computer kiosks. Kiosks require a very stripped down and controlled environment to prevent users from doing anything harmful...
– Allows disabling features within KDE to create a more controlled environment - KParts – Lightweight in-process graphical component framework
- KWinKWinKWin is a window manager for the X Window System. It is an integral part of the KDE Software Compilation, although it can be used on its own or with other desktop environments.- History :- Look and feel :...
– Window managerWindow managerA window manager is system software that controls the placement and appearance of windows within a windowing system in a graphical user interface. Most window managers are designed to help provide a desktop environment... - XMLGUIXMLGUIXMLGUI is a KDE framework for designing the user interface of an application using XML, using the idea of actions.In this framework, the programmer designs various actions that his application can implement, with several actions defined for the programmer by the KDE framework, such as opening a...
– Allows defining UI elements, such as menus and toolbars via XMLXMLExtensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
files - PhononPhonon (KDE)Phonon is the multimedia API provided by Qt and is the standard abstraction for handling multimedia streams within the KDE Software Compilation 4....
– Multimedia frameworkMultimedia frameworkA multimedia framework is a software framework that handles media on a computer and through a network. A good multimedia framework offers an intuitive API and a modular architecture to easily add support for new audio, video and container formats and transmission protocols... - Plasma – Desktop and panel widget engineWidget engineIn computer software, a widget engine is a software service available to users for running and displaying applets on a graphical user interface, such as that of the desktop.The widget model in widget engines is attractive because of ease of development...
- SolidSolid (KDE)KDE Platform is a set of frameworks by KDE that serve as technological foundation for all KDE applications. Ever since KDE’s brand repositioning the Platform is released as separate product in sync with KDE’s Plasma Workspaces as part of the KDE Software Compilation 4...
– Device integration framework - SonnetSonnet (KDE)In KDE Software Compilation 4, Sonnet is a multilingual spell check program. Sonnet replaces kspell2 that was created for KDE3. The two main goals for Sonnet's development were a simpler API, wider language support and performance. Notable improvements in Sonnet over kspell2 are*Automatic language...
– Spell checkerSpell checkerIn computing, a spell checker is an application program that flags words in a document that may not be spelled correctly. Spell checkers may be stand-alone capable of operating on a block of text, or as part of a larger application, such as a word processor, email client, electronic dictionary,... - ThreadWeaverThreadWeaverThreadWeaver is a programming library developed for KDE 4 by Mirko Boehm that allows developers to easily take advantage of multi-core processors. In ThreadWeaver the workload is divided into individual jobs, then relationship between jobs ; from that ThreadWeaver will work out the most efficient...
– Library to use multiprocessorMultiprocessingMultiprocessing is the use of two or more central processing units within a single computer system. The term also refers to the ability of a system to support more than one processor and/or the ability to allocate tasks between them...
systems more effectively
External links
- The KDE website
- KDE.News, news announcements
- KDE community forums, the official forum board
- Planet KDE, blog aggregate
- KDE wikis
- KDE Localization
- KDE-Apps, KDE and Qt software repository
- KDE-Look
- KDE-Files