> I would move to an Indian ashram and
> forsake computing all together, although they probably also
> have a few boxes but certainly not with enough processing
> power to run KDE4.

Funny you mention that option. When I wrote my original response I considered writing something similar. I'm at an age when I see and accept my own mortality. As much as I enjoy tinkering with computers I realize my days are numbered and much of what we discuss and argue about here is insignificant in certain ways. That is, simply abandoning computers altogether is an option I won't ignore. :)

> Community based projects keep the end user in mind, and that
> is what we need. This is why my preference lies with
> projects such as Trinity. KDE3 was an abandoned child,
> adopted by Trinity and slowly growing to be a respectable,
> viable alternative to the bloated, overweight and overly
> complicated (read non intuitive) standards adopted by KDE4
> and other DM's hell bent on moving forward while
> throwing caution (and compatability throughout linux) to the
> wind.

Community indeed! In hindsight, the KDE developers could have accomplished a whopping public relations coup had they spent a very serious three months collecting all known patches, significantly resolving open bug reports, and releasing 3.5.11. They then could have informed users that they polished the 3.5 series in a serious way to last several years until they could release a usable 4.x.

They could have (and still can) accomplished another coup by redesigning the three backend technologies to be truly optional.

Darrell