Helping open communities thrive
summary
KDE documents concrete fixes not slogans: a written manifesto, a clarified mission and a recurring goals process that invites proposals, discussion and a contributor vote; that process produces focused outcomes (usability, Wayland readiness, apps, accessibility, sustainability, automation) and yields partnerships and measurable results. Codebase size is 50 million lines of code, with about 600 active developers and roughly 80% C++ using Qt; flagship outputs include Plasma Krita Kdenlive Kate KDE Connect and deployment on Steam Deck (Plasma). Funding mixes donations memberships grants and paid contractors; the changes demonstrably improve cohesion and delivery.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (9)
- 0:00Introduction
- 2:13Journey in KDE and Wikipedia
- 7:54KDE’s early history
- 14:59KDE’s identity crisis
- 28:44Lessons for individuals
- 34:22Building community culture
- 46:37Open projects in society
- 50:13Q&A on rituals
- 1:09:22Q&A on onboarding
related talks
41mBuilding Culture: It Starts at Onboarding and Never Ends
30mOpen Source Resilience & Growth: Creating Communities
15mKeynote: Sustaining a Contributor Community’s Next Generation
42mBuilding On-Ramps for Non-Code Contributors in Open Source
42mPanel: Beyond Codes of Conduct: Igniting Diversity in Your Community
44mBuilding On-Ramps for Non-Code Contributors in Open Source
46mNon code contributions welcome!
33mExpanding the Contributor Pipeline Through Inclusion