I love it. KDE 3.x, which has always remained my favorite Linux desktop interface, is making a come back. A tiny group of open-source developers from Pearson Computing is trying to bring KDE 3.x from the grave in a project that they’re calling Trinity.
I’m not sure how much will come from this project. The group behind Trinity seems to be quite small and the Web site has been swamped to the point where it’s been unusable. Still, the very fact that someone is trying to keep KDE 3.5 alive is good news as far as I’m concerned. After all, I am the guy who suggested that KDE be forked into KDE 4 and KDE 3 branches back when KDE 4.1 was the newest KDE desktop.
Specifically, according to the lead developer, Timothy Pearson, on the KDE 3.5 Maintainers page the project is meant to support “KDE3.5 for Ubuntu Intrepid and above. Emphasis is placed on keeping KDE3.5 as a viable Ubuntu desktop environment, easily installed and used alongside others, just like Gnome, XFCE, and KDE4.x.”
While I’ve warmed to KDE 4 beginning with the KDE 4.3 edition, I’m still not crazy about it. For me, at least, KDE 3.5x is still easier to use and manage. Indeed, I still use KDE 3.5.10, the last official version on my main Linux desktop, which runs the Debian Linux variant MEPIS 8.