<kb9vqf@pearsoncomputing.net> wrote:
> If TDE were to close down, which desktop would you use instead?  You would
> be allowed to abandon Linux entirely in this scenario. ;-)

Unlikely to abandon Linux although with KDE4 I might as well go back to wincrap.  Putting together a DE/UI which has the equivalent functionality would be quite a bit of work to approach what TDE is out of the box.
 
> Please state why you have not already switched; i.e. what item are missing
> or suboptimal in the other environment.

KDE4 is all flash and dazzle and has lost the functionality that kde3 brought to the table.  I've tried a fair number of DEs and they range from tolerable to abysmal (my personal opinions here).

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

Simply put, TDE provides a nice UI and plenty of useful applications.  It is fairly light compared to the current crop of UIs being dumped on us these days.  Out of the box it has a impressively high usability. The newer stuff eats far too many cycles on flash and dazzle and usability depends on the user putting together (often manually) a usable desktop.

From what I have heard since the fiasco of KDE4 was dumped on us, it is not a small number who were offended by that mess.  A number of people have just bit the bullet and took what came others have stuck with old distros which still had KDE3 (deb5, etc.).

Whomevers idea is was to fork kde3 to Trinity IMSNHO had a very thorough and well informed idea and obviously understood what the loss to the community would be should it just die.  The loss of TDE would be a blow.

"Newer, therefor better" is a disease that should be stamped out :-).  Ain't always so.  In the case of KDE4 it is definitely not so :-).

73.