Timothy Pearson wrote:
> If TDE were to close down, which desktop would you use instead?  You would
> be allowed to abandon Linux entirely in this scenario. ;-)

I would stay with Trinity as long as it works (even if not maintained).
Basically that's what I did with KDE 3.5 as well when I encountered
issues with KDE 4 that I unfortunately could not quickly solve. I just
reverted back to KDE 3.5.

In the long run I would (maybe will) use KDE 4. I know the same
developers built KDE 3.5 and I still trust they will deliver a stable
desktop. Right now I use Trinity, but I also have KDE 4.8 installed.
There were some graphical issues in KDE 4.8, so I'm using Trinity now.
Hopefully I can get in touch with the right people to solve the issues
in KDE.
I have less trust in running KDE 4.8 on an older systems, so I would
likely stay with Trinity there (being too lazy to look for something
else and to really test KDE 4's performance).


> Please state why you have not already switched; i.e. what item are missing
> or suboptimal in the other environment.

Right now I have a lot of systems on Trinity and this will not just
change, because it requires effort. (Not just installing, also still
some bug solving it appears.)


> I am curious as to why TDE still exists and need some concrete examples to
> fall back on to counter detractors.

It seems in large corporate settings, KDE 3.5 is found to be more
attractive right now. In Munich there is also a big roll-out with
GNU/Linux desktops and they appear to use KDE 3.5 for this. There is an
article in German about this here:
http://www.golem.de/1112/88559.html


I am not convinced yet that Trinity will have a long and strong future,
but for the past years I have been using Trinity on Lucid as my main
desktop which was working just great. I think the next release will also
be very useful for many people who for whatever reason are not ready
(yet) to go to KDE 4. In the end I do expect that Trinity users will
join the KDE 4 crowd again.

I cannot just predict when/that I would fully switch from Trinity to KDE
4. Maybe I will stay with Trinity much longer and development will even
prove over time to be reliable and maintain a full alternative desktop
environment. As a long-time KDE and now Trinity user, I hope to see as
much cooperation possible to get a desktop environment that is both
using modern technologies and provides the classic KDE experience that
I've grown accustomed to.

Julius