Re: [trinity-devel] Appeal for freedom of speech

Here are my thoughts on KDE:KDE3: 1.) I am personally gad that it still exists, as we do not have OpenSUSE-specific packages available 2.) It is not a "new upstream" for a KDE3 continuation project, as it is heavily patched for OpenSUSE and does not have a central source repository, or any of the infrastructure required for a FOSS project to grow. For example, one large problem is that there is no clear way to inspect your patched source tree, including all changes made to it, to look for potential issues or to understand what exactly your patches are doing. 3.) Keeping 2) in mind, a clear upstream project such as TDE does make KDE:KDE3 somewhat obsolete from a certain perspective. I understand where you are coming from because I used to be there myself many years ago, but quickly grew tired of KDE3.5.10's limitations and having to hack around them with patches. This is why I created the infrastructure in use today by the TDE project: to encourage improvements to the KDE3 source code. Providing a central, up-to-date and easily readable/modifiable source tree is crucial for creating a thriving project. No developer will seriously consider a project that keeps old source files in tarballs, then applies hundreds of patches to them every time something is built, as "alive" or as something he or she should like to get involved with. In a similar vein, I have even had people say that they will not develop for TDE because we used SVN and not GIT, as SVN is somewhat more limited for a lone wolf developer. I am not trying to erase your repository or anything even close to it. I am simply asking that you acknowledge TDE as the upstream source for future development, and possibly work towards getting TDE building on OpenSUSE, instead of maintaining a fleet of patches for a product that was released over 5 years ago. In the end it is your choice; I hope you read the advice offered above in the kindly spirit that it was given in. Tim