KDE at 30

It feels to me that a lot of the bigger ideas in KDE fell away over the years. In the 2000s I would log in every morning, open a KWord doc in one Konqueror tab, a KSpread sheet in another, and some browser tabs alongside them, then I'd launch Kate and open some files over SSH or FTP and get to work. It felt like someone had really embraced OO and applied it to every part of the desktop, and I assume something like KParts and KIOSlaves still exist. But for the most part, I use KDE now as a bog standard boring Linux desktop that just works. I am grateful that it hasn't been dumbed down quite as much as GNOME over the years, but I hope they have a few bold experiments left in them (and would love to hear what I'm missing if it's already there!)

One of the most impressive and useful free software projects. My first experience was being totally confused by KDE 1 during my first attempts to use Linux, and I'm writing this from my KDE desktop.

Other than the really bad KDE 4 release, the project has consistently been great for me. I've submitted a few smaller patches over the years and that experience was also low friction for a project of this size. KDE is highly customizable, full of power user features but also really simple with its current defaults (looks pretty much like Windows) and generally robust.

Shoutout to some KDE applications like Okular (great document viewer), Kate (solid tech editor), Krusader (double pane file manager) and KolourPaint (a simple image editor even I can use).

I have long held a bias of KDE being the clunky and slow option from trial in the ~early-oughts. Within the past month or so I installed it to give it a spin and haven't switched back to XFCE since. It strikes a good balance of customization / speed / taste / and just working out of the box. Thanks KDE team!

I hope someone comes along with a better recollection than I have. When KDE 1 came out there were some bitter licensing discussions on /. and elsewhere, largely regarding Qt. I had high hopes for Enlightenment and later Gnome but they mostly seemed to fail.

I don't really use Plasma itself (and soon i wont even be able to if the rumors of them dropping X11 support are to be believed) but i do use various KDE apps, like Krita (which i use for most painting stuff), Kate (my main programming editor, coupled with clangd for C/C++ programming), KolourPaint, Spectacle, Ghostwriter, etc and in general i find KDE/Qt apps to be more to my liking in their UX than anything based on Gtk (or at least Gtk3-or-later, Gtk2 stuff is for the most part fine).

I will donate my entire pension if they make it so I can have a Windows 2000 theme that actually works and doesnt require me to hack a dozen files each time they push and update.

It's impressive for the project to have come so far. Between the oversimplified, hyper-opinionated GNOME, the rock-solid but dull and minimal XFCE, the nostalgic MATE, and whatever Enlightenment is doing these days, it’s nice to have a continually polished, modern, well-integrated yet customisable experience like KDE, even today. And save for Akonadi (which just never seems to work reliably, rendering software like KMail useless), it’s been a pretty stable one for me, too. Here’s to another 30 years!

Love KDE, I think plasma is really great. KDE connect is a program I think people sleep on, I use it all the time.

Quick, clean and easy to use. I've only been using it for a year but I'm definitely not going back.

Talk from Grazer Linuxtage conf earlier this year:

KDE: 30 years of the Linux desktop

https://media.ccc.de/v/glt26-691-kde-30-years-of-the-linux-d...

KDE beta2 was my first.

I feel quite repulsed by the fact that the first thing you see when opening the post is a huge donation card.

Love KDE, I think plasma is really great. KDE connect is a program I think people sleep on, I use it all the time.

Quick, clean and easy to use. I've only been using it for a year but I'm definitely not going back.

Talk from Grazer Linuxtage conf earlier this year:

KDE: 30 years of the Linux desktop

https://media.ccc.de/v/glt26-691-kde-30-years-of-the-linux-d...

KDE beta2 was my first.

I still find a decent amount of the integration, like KIO, is still there and works well - it puts MacOS and Windows to shame in terms of how I can just interact with files anywhere as if they're native within KDE apps.

It's kind of a shame that Konqueror fell to the wayside, but modern browsers are so complicated I cannot fault them for focusing elsewhere.

All the development action went to the web. Dolphin's still pretty awesome.

One of the most impressive and useful free software projects. My first experience was being totally confused by KDE 1 during my first attempts to use Linux, and I'm writing this from my KDE desktop.

Shoutout to some KDE applications like Okular (great document viewer), Kate (solid tech editor), Krusader (double pane file manager) and KolourPaint (a simple image editor even I can use).

I agree it's really impressive, it brings a lot of things together into a cohesive package and experience. I'm a huge evangelist, I think it's the best desktop experience.

I remember when it first came out. Very impressive at the time. I was never a fan though personally, I always hated the look of KDE. I used it recently on CachyOS for fun and it worked great, just not for me visually. I'm glad it exists, I just wish there was something visually appealing with less settings bloat. It feels like going to a diner with 300 items on the menu and they're all sorta half baked.

If you are someone that mostly likes the Windows 7/10 experience, KDE out of the box is basically that. It's more customizable. It's (IMO) less clunky and less burdened by legacy components. But it really just feels like windows used to feel like.

But also just fast and low memory. You can run KDE on ancient hardware. If you have something like 512MB of ram, you can do KDE just fine.

They aren't dropping X11, they are only dropping it in their new login manager. Change the login manager and it will continue to work fine for now.

I will donate my entire pension if they make it so I can have a Windows 2000 theme that actually works and doesnt require me to hack a dozen files each time they push and update.

I think you will be able to achieve that when Union is released. I hate SVG theming in Plasma so much that I root for Union to be successful

My first love was WindowMaker :)

I feel quite repulsed by the fact that the first thing you see when opening the post is a huge donation card.

All the development action went to the web. Dolphin's still pretty awesome.

But also just fast and low memory. You can run KDE on ancient hardware. If you have something like 512MB of ram, you can do KDE just fine.

I used to feel that way about prominent banners / cards. Then I tried to get donations on my own site and until I became hyper-aggressive I never received even a dollar. It was frankly disheartening. Now, it is not yet sustainable but at least moving in the right direction. In other words, they really have no choice.

I want to see KDE still improving and keeping up in another 30 years. To me it's no different from a telethon for PBS or a poster for Friends of the Library. Intrusive? From a certain point of view, but it pays the bills.

It's kind of a shame that Konqueror fell to the wayside, but modern browsers are so complicated I cannot fault them for focusing elsewhere.

> It's kind of a shame that Konqueror fell to the wayside, but modern browsers are so complicated I cannot fault them for focusing elsewhere.

KHTML became webkit (Safari) and then blink (Chrome) so they created the foundation for quite many browsers ...

I agree it's really impressive, it brings a lot of things together into a cohesive package and experience. I'm a huge evangelist, I think it's the best desktop experience.

> I think it's the best desktop experience.

Not just in the Linux world, it's also far better than Windows and macOS.

They aren't dropping X11, they are only dropping it in their new login manager. Change the login manager and it will continue to work fine for now.

They do plan to remove X11 from Plasma Desktop as well: https://blogs.kde.org/2025/11/26/going-all-in-on-a-wayland-f...

I think you will be able to achieve that when Union is released. I hate SVG theming in Plasma so much that I root for Union to be successful

Have an agent do it and have it write out what it did to an md file as guidance for each update. To be fair though if you configure things correctly it should never break. Mine hasn't been broken in years.

My first love was WindowMaker :)

> It's kind of a shame that Konqueror fell to the wayside, but modern browsers are so complicated I cannot fault them for focusing elsewhere.

KHTML became webkit (Safari) and then blink (Chrome) so they created the foundation for quite many browsers ...

> I think it's the best desktop experience.

Not just in the Linux world, it's also far better than Windows and macOS.

Window Maker is still really cool! Not a full desktop environment, though. I tried using it with GNUstep for a while, but while the base libraries are apparently still actively developed and maintained, a lot of the applications are antiquated, and they’re very hard to make blend in with EFL/GTK/Tk/Qt apps.

Sometimes I wonder what the desktop landscape would look like today if that branch of software gained wider adoption in the free software communities. :-)

They do plan to remove X11 from Plasma Desktop as well: https://blogs.kde.org/2025/11/26/going-all-in-on-a-wayland-f...

Sometimes I wonder what the desktop landscape would look like today if that branch of software gained wider adoption in the free software communities. :-)

You should then give NEXTSPACE a try: https://github.com/trunkmaster/nextspace

I think it’s the closest thing to that dream today.

> Sometimes I wonder what the desktop landscape would look like today if that branch of software gained wider adoption in the free software communities. :-)

It's derived from GNUStep which was from NeXstep who Apple bought. OSX and now macOS are descendants of that design. That's where the macOS dock comes from. Not a 1 to 1 design obviously but a marriage between the operating systems thanks to Steve Jobs.

You should then give NEXTSPACE a try: https://github.com/trunkmaster/nextspace

I think it’s the closest thing to that dream today.

> Sometimes I wonder what the desktop landscape would look like today if that branch of software gained wider adoption in the free software communities. :-)

KDE is turning 30 this year!

Three decades of passionate community effort against all odds; delivering control, privacy, and freedom to our users; and tons and tons of software.

CHECK BACK OFTEN!

We will be updating this page frequently with new content, exciting 30th Anniversary news, things you can participate in, updated merch you can get, and much more!

Read on and discover interesting facts you never knew, new merch you didn’t know you needed (but you do now!), how you too can help ensure we thrive the next 30 years, and where and how you can celebrate KDE’s birthday.

Let’s start with that…

Plan your party🎉

Join an event happening near you. If there are none, organize your own!

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Why donate

We produce first-class software and your donation keeps us “in business” and our software sustainable for generations to come.

We keep you in control and your donation allows KDE to remain truly independent.
We reach people the tech industry left behind and your donation contributes to serving those who are ignored by the industry, and bring marginalized users into the community so we can grow the project for everyone.
We push to get Free Software into public institutions and your donation helps us adapt our software to what public institutions require, so your taxes go to fund Free Software, not some big tech corp.

How we use the money

Our goals are ambitious and we need funds to carry them out. We need:

a solid infrastructure for developers, translators, and other contributors
contractors (marketeers, event planners, lawyers, accountants) to carry out specialized tasks
to fund contributors travelling expenses so everybody has a chance to participate in the community
to pay to attend events and for material for booths
to commission artwork and designs
targeted development.

…and save the world

KDE contributes to cleaning up the world and you can too.

KDE contributor Farid inspired us to take on the “30 for 30” challenge: for our 30th birthday, we are asking you to do something to help the environment and make the planet a nicer place to live in. Farid is planting 30 trees and we want you to come up with something similar.

Film you and your crew carrying out your effort and we will promote your project on social media.

Here are some more ideas:

Rescue 30 computers (or more!) from ending up in a landfill
Upcycle 30 phones with a free mobile operating system
Clean up 30 hectares of woodland
Convert 30 people to a free operating system
Take 30 techbros to court so they stop building AI datacenters

KDE’s history

KDE has had a long and exciting history. Here we present a brief summary of what has happened over the last few decades, but if you want to see all the details, visit our timeline website, which gets updated every time something important happens.

KDE trivia

Did you know that…?

…KDE has helped put robots on Mars?

We did! And we have the graphical evidence to prove it:

Screengrab from “Good Night Oppy” on Amazon Prime

That is from the documentary Good Night Oppy, about the Opportunity Mars rover. In the scene you can see a NASA engineer troubleshooting the rover while in flight towards Mars from a KDE 3 workstation.

You can watch Good Night Oppy on Amazon Prime.

Submitted by Paul Brown

…KDE built the HTML engine that powers most web browsers?

It’s true!

KDE’s web engine was written back in 1998 - 1999 and was subsequently used as the basis for Apple’s Webkit and Google’s Blink engines. This means that most modern browsers, including Safari, Chrome, Chromium, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Vivaldi, and Brave, use KDE software at their core.

Indeed, if you ever check out your web server’s access logs, you will see “KHTML” on nearly every single line.

And, yes, the “K” in “KHTML” stands for “KDE”.

Submitted by Paul Brown

Do you have a KDE Trivia Nugget you would like to share? Tell us about it!

Gallery

1990s

'KDE One', probably the first KDE event. Held in Arnsberg, Germany in 1997. Matthias Ettrich, founder of KDE, is on the left.

2000s

Initial release of KDE 3 on SuSE - 2002. Thanks to Manuel Alberto Ascencio Ramirez.

Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, and Matthias Ettrich, founder of KDE, in 2005

Attendees to an Amarok dev sprint held in 2007.

Initial release of KDE 4 on Kubuntu - 2008. Thanks to Manuel Alberto Ascencio Ramirez.

Adriaan de Groot at FOSDEM 2008 (Brussels), posing at a KDE-branded machine at the KDE booth. Picture by Bart Coppens

The group photo of the KDE devroom at FOSDEM 2008 (Brussels).

The group photo of the KDE devroom at FOSDEM 2009 (Brussels).

2010s

Akademy 2013 in Bilbao, Spain. Thanks Gorka Palazio.

Sometimes fixing a clipboard bug requires the power of three generations of David. From left to right: David Faure, David Edmundson, David Redondo. Picture by Neofytos Kolokotronis during the Onboarding Sprint 2019

The group photo of the KDE devroom at FOSDEM 2010 (Brussels).

The Brazilian team with Konqi at Latinoware 2012.

2020s

2024 Anniversay party held in Berlin.

Tobias Leupold (KGeoTag) meets Johannes Zarl-Zierl (KPhotoAlbum) in person for the first time in 2024 after working together for 10 years.

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