OpenDesktop.org
Encyclopedia
The website openDesktop.org is a social networking site
with main focus on the open source community. It centers on sharing of user generated contents such as applications and artwork with social components. openDesktop.org is one of the biggest online communities, social network
s and portals for the free software movement
with more than 90 million page impressions per month. It's a home for more than 100.000 user generated contents and also a place where developers, artists and users can come together.
Social network functionalities were integrated over time to increase the communication between users and developers. According to the project site providing the social network functionality and a well communicated community
is necessary to improve the acceptance of open source
and to grow market share
of the Linux Desktop
.
or GNOME
specific. Other users are able to appraise each upload, can comment on them and ask questions. If they like an upload, they can become a fan of an artwork, or an application and subscribe to it to get informed for updates and new releases.
Every registered user is free to launch new events e.g. an open source conference in London, a developer meeting in Berlin or a Linux User Group
Party to see each other in life. Each event gets listed in the event database so other users can 'join' the event. Other sites can import the event RSS feed and can embed them in their sites.
New participants can be for an event can be invited to take part, friends get automatically informed via the friend newsfeed that some of their friends go to an event. The date, a short description and a location are necessary to start a new event. Locations get directly displayed via an OpenStreetMap
applet provided by the free wiki world map on each event page.
. It's directly integrated in the site, the RSS feeds and many million system email.
openDesktop.org is the main inventor and creator of the so-called Social Desktop
. Backend of the Social Desktop
is the Open Collaboration Services API
which was developed by openDesktop.org. It got certified as a freedesktop.org
standard. As a first website openDesktop.org has integrated the Open Collaboration Services
and serves as a provider for the social components in KDE SC 4 and other KDE
-based applications. The protocol is also used for the MeeGo
App Store.
s traffic per month. 2,5 million unique visitors come every month on openDesktop.org.
. Shortly many similar sites with focus on other open source
themes such as GNOME
were launched. Today, more than 35 community sites are available. In 2007 the openDesktop.org got established as an umbrella page for the whole network
that summarizes the content from the sites such as KDE-Look.org, KDE-Apps.org, GTK-Apps.org, GNOME-Look.org.
Nowaday openDesktop.org is a global meeting place for open source
and Linux
enthusiasts from different countries. The websites get maintained by the h i v e 01 GmbH, based in Stuttgart
, Germany. Frank Karlitschek
is the majority owner of h i v e 01 GmbH.
Social network service
A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, who, for example, share interests and/or activities. A social network service consists of a representation of each user , his/her social...
with main focus on the open source community. It centers on sharing of user generated contents such as applications and artwork with social components. openDesktop.org is one of the biggest online communities, social network
Social network
A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...
s and portals for the free software movement
Free software movement
The free software movement is a social and political movement with the goal of ensuring software users' four basic freedoms: the freedom to run their software, to study and change their software, and to redistribute copies with or without changes. The alternative terms "software libre", "open...
with more than 90 million page impressions per month. It's a home for more than 100.000 user generated contents and also a place where developers, artists and users can come together.
Social network functionalities were integrated over time to increase the communication between users and developers. According to the project site providing the social network functionality and a well communicated community
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
is necessary to improve the acceptance of open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
and to grow market share
Market share
Market share is the percentage of a market accounted for by a specific entity. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 67 percent responded that they found the "dollar market share" metric very useful, while 61% found "unit market share" very useful.Marketers need to be able to...
of the Linux Desktop
Linux adoption
Linux adoption refers to new use of the Linux computer operating system by homes, organizations, companies, and governments, while Linux migration refers to the change from using other operating systems to using Linux....
.
Applications
Every visitor of openDesktop.org is allowed to download the digital content listed on the site, but only registered users are able to upload self-created artwork, applications, and little scripts. These programs can be for example KDEKDE
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...
or GNOME
GNOME
GNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
specific. Other users are able to appraise each upload, can comment on them and ask questions. If they like an upload, they can become a fan of an artwork, or an application and subscribe to it to get informed for updates and new releases.
Artwork
Sharing wallpapers, new desktop icons, and themes, and much more artistic stuff is also possible.People and Groups
Becoming friends with other free software users and/or developers, creating groups where everyone can meet interested people sharing the same passion and where they can discuss new changes and developments is possible. micro-blogging features and a personalised newsfeed for each user help to stay tuned with events in each circle of friends.Events
Linux User Group
A Linux User Group or Linux Users' Group or GNU/Linux User Group is a private, generally non-profit or not-for-profit organization that provides support and/or education for Linux users, particularly for inexperienced users...
Party to see each other in life. Each event gets listed in the event database so other users can 'join' the event. Other sites can import the event RSS feed and can embed them in their sites.
New participants can be for an event can be invited to take part, friends get automatically informed via the friend newsfeed that some of their friends go to an event. The date, a short description and a location are necessary to start a new event. Locations get directly displayed via an OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap is a collaborative project to create a free editable map of the world. Two major driving forces behind the establishment and growth of OSM have been restrictions on use or availability of map information across much of the world and the advent of inexpensive portable GPS devices.The...
applet provided by the free wiki world map on each event page.
Jobs
Since March 2009 it's also possible to post and to scan through job offers. Everyone is able to post new job searches and can upload his own cvCV
CV, Cv, or cv may refer to:*Curriculum vitae, a summary of academic and professional history and achievements-Engineering, mathematics, and science:* Calorific value, the amount of heat released during the combustion of a substance...
. It's directly integrated in the site, the RSS feeds and many million system email.
Knowledge Base
Questions concerning applications and artwork can be posted and their responds are viewable for everyone. Tips and tricks and short guidances from project owners or users can be posted.Social Desktop
openDesktop.org is the main inventor and creator of the so-called Social Desktop
Social Desktop
The Social Desktop idea describes how online communities and web collaborations can be integrated into desktop environments such as KDE and GNOME and how they could directly be accessed by desktop applications such as a Plasmoids....
. Backend of the Social Desktop
Social Desktop
The Social Desktop idea describes how online communities and web collaborations can be integrated into desktop environments such as KDE and GNOME and how they could directly be accessed by desktop applications such as a Plasmoids....
is the Open Collaboration Services API
Open Collaboration Services
The Open Collaboration Services is an open and vendor independent modern REST based API for integration of web communities and web based services into desktop and mobile applications. It allows to exchange relevant data from a Social Network between the site and clients such as other websites and...
which was developed by openDesktop.org. It got certified as a freedesktop.org
Freedesktop.org
freedesktop.org is a project to work on interoperability and shared base technology for free software desktop environments for the X Window System on Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. It was founded by Havoc Pennington from Red Hat in March 2000.The organisation focuses on the user....
standard. As a first website openDesktop.org has integrated the Open Collaboration Services
Open Collaboration Services
The Open Collaboration Services is an open and vendor independent modern REST based API for integration of web communities and web based services into desktop and mobile applications. It allows to exchange relevant data from a Social Network between the site and clients such as other websites and...
and serves as a provider for the social components in KDE SC 4 and other 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...
-based applications. The protocol is also used for the MeeGo
MeeGo
MeeGo is a Linux-based open source mobile operating system project. Primarily targeted at mobile devices and information appliances in the consumer electronics market, MeeGo is designed to act as an operating system for hardware platforms such as netbooks, entry-level desktops, nettops, tablet...
App Store.
Statistics
In December 2001, 2000 users were registered on the sites. About 0.8 million page impressions per month were made. A year later, in 2002 there were 6000 registered users and 3 million page impressions. Heavy growth for more than 8 years lead to more than 130.000 registered users in a greater extant than 100 countries in June 2009. Over 90 million page impressions per month are reached with more than 6 TerabyteTerabyte
The terabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. The prefix tera means 1012 in the International System of Units , and therefore 1 terabyte is , or 1 trillion bytes, or 1000 gigabytes. 1 terabyte in binary prefixes is 0.9095 tebibytes, or 931.32 gibibytes...
s traffic per month. 2,5 million unique visitors come every month on openDesktop.org.
History
The first website of the portal, KDE-Look.org, was started in the year 2001 by Frank KarlitschekFrank Karlitschek
Frank Karlitschek is a German open source software developer. He was born in Reutlingen but lives in Stuttgart, Germany.- Free software :...
. Shortly many similar sites with focus on other open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
themes such as GNOME
GNOME
GNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
were launched. Today, more than 35 community sites are available. In 2007 the openDesktop.org got established as an umbrella page for the whole network
Social network
A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...
that summarizes the content from the sites such as KDE-Look.org, KDE-Apps.org, GTK-Apps.org, GNOME-Look.org.
Nowaday openDesktop.org is a global meeting place for open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
and Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
enthusiasts from different countries. The websites get maintained by the h i v e 01 GmbH, based in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, Germany. Frank Karlitschek
Frank Karlitschek
Frank Karlitschek is a German open source software developer. He was born in Reutlingen but lives in Stuttgart, Germany.- Free software :...
is the majority owner of h i v e 01 GmbH.