Kig Interview with Dominique Devriese - App of the Month

You can check out the overview of Kig.

How did you get to know KDE?

My brother got me acquainted with GNU/Linux about 3 years ago and I was sold almost immediately ... KDE was part of that installation. At that time it already appeared to me that it was the best of all available desktops and ever since that impression got only stronger. ;)

How and when did you start working on KDE?

Uh, my CVS account dates back from 3rd April 2002. I had just came to know about the KDE-Edu project when I proposed to add the program I was working on to the module. I was allowed to add my program (Kig) to the kdenonbeta module (kind of waiting room for very new applications in KDE), and after a few months it got moved to the kdeedu-module and thus was officially part of the KDE distribution. I had played around before with some other (KDE) programs but Kig was my first serious project.

How much time do you spend on KDE?

It varies about 0 to 12 hours a day, as an average I would take something like 3 hours a day, although it could be a bit less now....

Which parts of KDE do you work on?

Mostly Kig, my geometry program for secondary school, which is part of the KDE-Edu project. Also I am busy building Debian packages for the kdebindings module.

When did you start working on Kig? What's your motivation?

That would be like 2 or 3 years ago. I loved to code and at school we were using a commercial program during mathematics. Ever since Kig has been my attempt to replace that program.

Have there been more people involved in the development of Kig?

Absolutely. There are some twenty people who have been involved more or less. The most important ones are three Italians: Maurizio Paolini, an Italian professor who wrote a lot of mathematical code for Kig amongst other things, Pino Toscano, who made it possible to use different styles for lines and points and Franco Pasquarelli, who also wrote a lot of mathematical code.

Do you have certain ambitions with Kig? Can we expect some new possibilities in Kig?

For Kig there are quite a few plans. You can expect (on a longterm basis of course :) ) export possibilities to Java- and Flash applets, KOffice integration and a new view mode where the construction should be presented more user friendly way.

Kig is released under the GPL. From the documentation (which you wrote yourself) it becomes clear that you value the input of your users very much. What is your attitude towards Open Source? Why do you find it important to distribute Kig under the GPL license?

Because it all makes so much nicer for everyone. It is just great to write a program in your spare time and to receive reactions from all kinds of people from all over the globe (which vary from professors to twelve year old kids).

Describe the machine(s) you work with: hardware, favorite software?

I'm not really into hardware, unless it breaks. I have the most average PC you can ever imagine. My favorite software is XEmacs, Gnus, Zsh, LaTeX, Gnuplot, all kind of console utilities, G++, Boost, Screen, Konqueror and Elinks. Over a long period of use I have got into a habit with these programs and I can really work fast with these tools ...

Were you able to convince endusers (eg family) to switch to KDE?

My parents are using fulltime a machine with Debian unstable with KDE 3.1 on it. The price argument did cut if for them, and as my brother and me explained to them that KGX (KDE/GNU/Linux) is much easier to use for them and much easier to maintain for us considering the alternatives.

Which part of KDE do you think is most succesfull?

That's a tough one. :) I have to confess that I don't use KDE that much. I'm more like a (X)Emacs freak who likes to work on KDE software. The things I use are Konqueror as a browser and the mini-CLI (aka Alt+F2). But if I may interpret the word "part" in a larger way, I think the most successfull part of KDE is the wonderfull community of users and developers with cool places like for example kde-look #kde-devel on irc.kde.org, and the several mailinglists.

What is missing most in KDE?

Ximian. ;) You can say of Miguel what you want, but his company does a lot of good work for GNOME. A similar company would be of very much use to KDE...

What can we expect from KDE 3.3?

For Kig a lot of stuff is planned or already done: reviewing of properties, import functions for Cabri- en Dr.Geo-bestanden, enhancing of Python scripting, several ways to draw points and objects and several small fixes etc..

For KDE you better check: developer.kde.org/development-versions/kde-3.3-features.html. Besides adding the KIOSK GUI there are no spectacular changes this time. Lots of small new features and a lot of enhancing.

What do you recommend new people who would like to contribute to KDE?

When you want to learn C++ then read the documentation on developer.kde.org, choose a project you like, work on it a bit and contact the other developers. After a while you can work your way into the community. When you feel like translating KDE, contact kde-i18n-nl@kde.org. When you are very talented on a graphical level then you could check out www.kde-look.org, where a very lively community is working on those things.

Tell us a bit more about the person behind Dominique Devriese?

The person behind Dominique Devriese is my mother who's looking curiously over my shoulder. Hmm euh, I'm a (computer science/ mathematics) student with a broad interest: I read books (recreational reading of course, not boring mathematics reading ;) ), I code, study, hang out with my friends, I do my best for my students' union. Also from time to time I hike a bit. I like to keep myself busy and preferably with something pleasant an/or usefull ....

Favorite place?

At home in my easy chair. :)

favorite food?

Pizza!

Favorite distro?

Debian (the boring choice, I know ;) ).

Richard Stallman or Linus Torvalds?

Stallman. Even if it is because a visionair like Stallman appears to me more attractive then a technocrat like Linus. :)

You can reach Dominique Devriese by email on devriese@kde.org. The interview for Application of the Month, Kig, was first conducted by kde.be. The interview got updated and expanded with new questions by Tom Verbreyt.

You can check out the overview of Kig.