KDE

KDE is a free and open-source software community that produces a wide range of cross-platform applications and the Plasma desktop environment, founded by Matthias Ettrich in 1996. KDE is one of the largest open-source communities, with hundreds of contributors developing the Plasma desktop, the KDE Gear application suite, and the KDE Frameworks libraries. Key features include: Plasma (the flagship desktop environment, known for its high customizability, performance, and modern features like Wayland support, fractional scaling, and HDR), Plasma 6 (the current major version released in 2024, built on Qt 6 with full Wayland support, improved performance, and a redesigned interface), KWin (the window manager and compositor supporting both X11 and Wayland with desktop effects, KVM virtual desktops, and tiling window scripts), KDE Frameworks (over 80 add-on libraries for Qt, providing additional functionality like file I/O, configuration management, and text editing components used by KDE applications), KDE Gear (a collection of over 200 applications including Dolphin file manager, Konsole terminal, Kate text editor, KDevelop IDE, Krita digital painting, Kdenlive video editor, Okular document viewer, and many more), Kirigami (a Qt-based framework for developing convergent applications that run on desktop and mobile), Plasma Mobile (a mobile variant of Plasma for smartphones and tablets), Plasma Bigscreen (for TVs and large displays), discover (software center for Flatpak, Snap, and system packages), extensive customization options (themes, widgets/plasmoids, window decorations, and desktop effects), and internationalization in over 60 languages.