KDE: A Documentary About the History of the Free Software Community

CultRepo’s documentary “KDE: The Documentary” tells the story of the KDE community. It begins in 1996, when Matthias Ettrich, a student at the University of Tübingen, posted to a Usenet group calling on programmers to help create a desktop for Linux.

That was how the KDE project began. The film describes it as a free alternative to proprietary desktops. The filmmakers also trace the community’s development over three decades and describe how KDE helped make Linux more accessible to users who are not system administrators.

The film covers the debate over Qt’s licensing, KDE’s competition with GNOME, and the mixed reception of KDE 4, which was followed by a redesign of the project. Another strand focuses on KHTML: the engine became the basis for Apple WebKit and Google Chrome.

The film is about more than software: it also tells the stories of the people, their friendships, and their contributions to the community. It also covers KDE e.V., a nonprofit association responsible for the project’s legal and financial matters, while leaving technical decisions to its participants.

Image: Akademy Team / KDE CC BY-SA 4.0 · License

Translation editors: Соловьев В., Пеков А.