On Tue, 2 Apr 2024 at 10:40, Aoife Moloney <amolo...@redhat.com> wrote:
> Wiki - https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/FedoraPlasmaWorkstation > > This document represents a proposed Change. As part of the Changes > process, proposals are publicly announced in order to receive > community feedback. This proposal will only be implemented if approved > by the Fedora Engineering Steering Committee. > > == Summary == > Switch the default desktop experience for Workstation to KDE Plasma. > The GNOME desktop is moved to a separate spin / edition, retaining > release-blocking status. > > == Owner == > > * Names: [[User:joshstrobl | Joshua Strobl]], [[User:marcdeop | Marc > Deop i Argemí]], [[User:tdawson | Troy Dawson]], [[User:farchord | > Steve Cossette]], [[User:aleasto| Alessandro Astone]] > * Emails: jos...@buddiesofbudgie.org, marcd...@fedoraproject.org, > tdaw...@redhat.com, farch...@gmail.com, alea...@fedoraproject.org > > == Detailed Description == > > With the release of Plasma 6, KDE Plasma has developed into a high > quality, well-regarded desktop experience. > > === Improved end user experience === > > Plasma has been at the forefront of creating a cohesive desktop > platform that empowers the user to have full ownership of their > computing experience. > > Plasma provides this approachable, highly-flexible, user-extensible > experience with predictability across Plasma releases. Unlike other > desktop experiences such as GNOME Shell, the APIs leveraged by Plasma > applets / widgets have been more stable across “minor” Plasma > releases, reducing long-term user frustration and promoting a > healthier ecosystem for developers and users alike. > > This extensibility additionally applies to the underlying window > manager, KWin, with effects and scripts that provide both utility and > personalization, such as: > > * Automatically blocking compositing for full screen applications > * Fun effects such as window glitch and portals > > Plasma provides a more traditional user experience that could be > viewed as being more approachable to everyday computing users, serving > as a smoother "on-ramp" to using Linux-based operating systems. > Alongside its wide breadth of personalization capabilities, it > provides an out-of-the-box desktop experience that is more predictable > than some of its counterparts. As an example, Plasma provides a system > tray for applications supporting StatusNotifierItem (e.g. Flameshot, > OBS Studio, VPN clients), which is not functionality supported by > default in GNOME Shell and requires an extension which may break > between releases. > > === Standardization support === > > The KDE community has a long heritage of collaborative standards > development and supporting capabilities that application developers > and users need for a productive experience. > > KDE is heavily involved in the development of cross-desktop standards > and tools that benefit the larger open source desktop community. From > the XDG icon theme specification to D-Bus to StatusNotifierItems and > Wayland protocols, KDE has been front and center for evolving the > Linux desktop platform in a manner that benefits the wider community. > > Many of the specifications and protocols in use today originate or are > heavily influenced by KDE, and KDE has continued to be a bastion of > innovation in a user-centric and community-centric manner. > > Notably, the following recent Wayland protocols have been driven or > influenced by KDE: > > * xdg-toplevel-drag (dragging tabs in and out of windows) > * content-type > * drm-lease (enable applications to selectively gain privileged > display device access) > * tearing-control (enable faster than display framerate refreshing, ie > no “vsync lock”) > * ext-idle-notify > * xdg-activation (enable notifications to bring a window to the > foreground on user activation) > * xdg-decoration (server side decorations, derived from KDE’s protocol) > > There are several upcoming protocols being driven by KDE as well, such as: > > * alpha-modifier (set alpha values for a surface) > * ext-blur (enable blur effect underneath a surface) > * xdg-toplevel-icon (enable applications to set window icons) > * ext-placement (allow application window positioning) > * window-id (consistent, uniform method window IDs) > * xdg-pip (picture in picture overlays) > * dbus-annotation (link D-Bus objects to surfaces) > > This demonstrates that KDE works not to just enable new technologies > and features for Plasma Wayland, but they also do it in a way that > drives larger community adoption, success, and growth. > > === Wayland support === > > KDE Plasma offers the most advanced Wayland desktop experience today, > providing support for highly-demanded features, such as: > > * Fractional scaling > * Color management > * Variable Refresh Rate for capable displays > * Support for optionally allowing legacy X11 applications to access > desktop resources > * Screensharing for legacy applications > * Global shortcut support for legacy applications > * Support for accessibility, including integration with the Orca screen > reader > * Support for AR/VR displays > > === Industry support === > > KDE Plasma has been garnering wider industry support in consumer > products over the last couple years. This includes various PINE64 > products (PinePhones, PineBooks, etc.), the Steam Deck from Valve, and > Tuxedo OS from Tuxedo Computers. > > The Steam Deck in particular has brought the Linux desktop in the form > of KDE Plasma to more people than ever before, through the desktop > mode in SteamOS 3.x releases. As a result, Valve has heavily invested > into KDE and its technology stack for mainstream usage. Game > developers are also testing on KDE Plasma more often nowadays as part > of SteamOS compatibility testing. > > === Community Support === > > A number of Fedora downstreams have launched with KDE Plasma as the > flagship experience or migrated to it over time. Notably Fedora Asahi > Remix uses KDE Plasma as the flagship due to significantly better > support and features for ARM based platforms and the hardware that > Apple Silicon systems have. Nobara uses KDE Plasma as the flagship due > to a high quality Wayland experience that supports gaming and game > development well. > > Developers of Linux XR applications and services already recommend > using KDE Plasma to be able to leverage AR/VR experiences in a modern > desktop. > > Starting in 2025, KDE Plasma’s release cycle switches to a semi-annual > cadence that lines up with Fedora Linux releases, enabling a tight > interlock of development and integration between Fedora and KDE. > > == Feedback == > > > == Benefit to Fedora == > > * Fedora Linux advertises and advocates for the most advanced Wayland > desktop experience with broad community support and engagement. > * We ship a desktop experience that supports the wide range of user > needs and enables the experiences people expect from a modern desktop > (HDR, VRR, VR gaming, HiDPI) and strives to support as many users as > possible in a manner that results in positive engagement with the > community. > * We align the default Fedora workstation experience with what the > larger PC ecosystem expects for a high quality desktop. > > == Scope == > > * Proposal owners: fedora-release: -kde subpackages get renamed to > -workstation-kde. -workstation subpackages get renamed to > -workstation-gnome. > > * Other developers: Fedora Plasma Workstation is added to the main > landing page and promoted as the default desktop experience > > * Release engineering: [https://pagure.io/releng/issue/12043 12043] > <!-- REQUIRED FOR SYSTEM WIDE CHANGES --> > > * Policies and guidelines: No, it would not required changes as it is > already release-blocking. > > * Trademark approval: N/A (not needed for this Change) > * Alignment with Community Initiatives: N/A > > == Upgrade/compatibility impact == > > Existing Fedora Workstation systems will not be switched to KDE > Plasma. This will only affect new installs of Fedora Workstation. > Existing Fedora KDE installs will be upgraded to the Plasma > Workstation branding. > > == How To Test == > > As the fundamental experience is not changing in the existing KDE > Plasma variant, users can try out the Fedora KDE spin to see what > Fedora Plasma Workstation looks like. > > == User Experience == > The user experience does not change from the existing KDE Plasma > variant. Existing Fedora Workstation users won’t see their experience > change. New users of Fedora will get KDE Plasma instead of GNOME. > > == Dependencies == > > N/A > > == Contingency Plan == > > Retain the existing default GNOME experience for Fedora Workstation. > Move Fedora Plasma Workstation back to spin branding. > > == Documentation == > > Documentation would need to be updated to reference Plasma and point > links to KDE rather than GNOME. > > == Release Notes == > > Fedora Linux now offers a new default workstation experience as > “Fedora Plasma Workstation” using KDE Plasma Desktop. This replaces > the previous Fedora KDE Plasma spin. The previous "GNOME Shell"-based > desktop experience can now be accessed through its dedicated Edition > page. > > > -- > Aoife Moloney > > Fedora Operations Architect > > Fedora Project > > Matrix: @amoloney:fedora.im > > IRC: amoloney > -- > _______________________________________________ > devel-announce mailing list -- devel-annou...@lists.fedoraproject.org > To unsubscribe send an email to > devel-announce-le...@lists.fedoraproject.org > Fedora Code of Conduct: > https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/project/code-of-conduct/ > List Guidelines: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines > List Archives: > https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/devel-annou...@lists.fedoraproject.org > Do not reply to spam, report it: > https://pagure.io/fedora-infrastructure/new_issue > -- > _______________________________________________ > devel mailing list -- devel@lists.fedoraproject.org > To unsubscribe send an email to devel-le...@lists.fedoraproject.org > Fedora Code of Conduct: > https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/project/code-of-conduct/ > List Guidelines: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines > List Archives: > https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/devel@lists.fedoraproject.org > Do not reply to spam, report it: > https://pagure.io/fedora-infrastructure/new_issue The proposal is trolling. However it may show an underlying issue, but it is not being identified correctly let alone being addressed. Members of the KDE SIG want Plasma spin to have more prominence, but this is hard in combination with Workstation taking the limelight. A problem with some of the comments suggesting to give options for KDE is they try to define Workstation/gnome, but since they dont use it, they seem like hilarious caricatures and often contradictory. I have read them describe both as alien to new users compared to Plasma and also as the new user friendly option compared to Plasma. But why are they trying to define gnome here or even trying to compete like this? A solution would be to give Plasma its own website with its own TLD where it can proclaim all of its virtues without the need to compare itself with gnome or with Fedora Workstation. That way all the virtues of the Plasma spin can be extolled. As an example of this, the Kubuntu website doesn't compare itself against gnome, or even mention it. It doesn't need to. It can focus on being its own thing.
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