<snip>
> so
> i'd
> like to see the remaining negativity put behind us so all of us working on
> KDE
> code can co-exist in good spirit, happy in the knowledge that everyone is
> getting what they want and doing so in the spirit of true freedom. i hope
> you
> feel similarly.

I do, and I hope others who work on and use Trinity do as well.  I have
tried to go out of my way to make sure that KDE4 and Trinity users are
simply treated as desiring a different feature set, and that KDE4 has
workloads that are well suited for it, just as Trinity, Gnome, XFCE, and
others do.  Diversity here is a good thing! :-)

>
> this was the spirit in which we encouraged people to work on the 3.x code
> if
> they wanted to and, unlike some other communities who have in recent times
> openly berated and made fun of people who wanted to do similar things for
> their software, have been supporters and agreed with the goals you have.
>
> so when i see the announcements on sites starting with quotes like this:
>
> "Disappointed with KDE 4's performance and other shortcomings, Timothy
> Pearson
> continued KDE 3.5 development under the name Trinity."

I didn't write that, nor do I know of anyone here that did.  A better
statement would be "Desiring a different interface than other Linux
desktop environments provide, ....".

>
> i cringe a little inside because that does nothing but stir up hornets'
> nests.

Agreed.  I have appreciated the fact that the KDE4 development team has
not tried to tear down the TDE project; the least we should do is return
the favor.

>
> when i read this in the announcement to the mailing list:
>
> "Why upgrade from KDE3.5.10, the latest release available from KDE e.V.?
> Simply put, Trinity is faster, more secure, and far more feature rich than
> 3.5.10 ever was!" (http://trinity-devel.pearsoncomputing.net/?0::3271)
>
> i feel sad because Trinity should really not be trying to stand out as a
> _competitor_ to 3.5.10 but as the continuation of that code base. (btw,
> KDE
> e.V. never puts out KDE releases; the community of participants and
> contirbutors does that.)

That statement was the result of attempting to absolve the KDE release
managers of any responsibility for our releases, as well as make clear
that the TDE project is a full fork of KDE 3.5.10 (which is no longer
maintained AFAIK).  Sorry if I offended.

>
> by positioning Trinity as a competitor when no such competition exists
> only
> serves to strengthen us/them lines that simply do not exist in reality.
>
> personally, i'm tired of the needless divisions in F/OSS that arise
> because
> people can not simply live and let live, because we for some reason feel
> the
> need to constantly tear each other down in an attempt to make our own
> efforts
> seem more presentable and respectable. what rubbish. Trinity, as the
> continuation of the 3.5 codebase, stands on its own feet alongside Plasma
> Desktop and the rest of the 4.x products. we should therefore also stand
> as
> allies and friends. we should also stand for what we are, not for what (or
> who) we are not.

Agreed.

> as the developers, and therefore leaders of the Trinity project, please
> consider this when working on and then publicizing your next release.
>
> i appreciate your time and patience if you've read this far :)

No problem.  Thanks for taking the time to contact us and put all of this
into words.

Timothy Pearson
Trinity Desktop Project