For Your Business: GNOME or KDE?: Page 3

But I digress, let me get back to the Qt vs. GTK debate. Fully realizing that I am going to receive a less than stellar response on this, I would have to suggest Qt, as it is generally a better fit for enterprise class software development. For smaller companies, perhaps looking for an application as an entry point for a service of some sort and with less funds available, then GTK might be a better fit. In my experience, Qt is much more restrictive and controlled by a single entity while GTK is not really controlled by any one group per se.

By the same token, Qt Open Source Edition is licensed with GPL licensing and is free of cost to use. But the fun stops there as it may not be viable for those new to using this option, therefore seeking support with any development efforts. Just remember, one group controlling the development tools and their eventual updates. It is something to be considered. Some popular applications designed with the Qt toolkit include Skype, VirtualBox, Opera, Scribus and, of course, KDE itself.

Back on the GTK front, developers interested in developing software with a toolkit that is not controlled by any one group might consider GTK as a viable option. GTK developers, without access to the commercial support seen by those developing with Qt, have managed to churn out some fantastic applications. Two of the best that come to mind are The GIMP and Novel's Evolution.

Selecting the logical choice for daily use and for software development.

Using two popular desktop environments in addition to their corresponding toolkits is no easy task. Each consideration provides free solutions to both the end user and the developer alike. Yet it is the definition of "free" with each option that differs more than anything else.

GNOME, both on the user and development side of things, believes in the integrity of GPL-based code and ease of use. Applications developed in this realm tend to be rather vanilla in appearance, yet will work as advertised.

KDE on the other hand, is a product that provides the end user the freedom to choose how simple or complex their desktop ought to be with regard to access and configurability. On the development front, the developer is free to choose their path to create open source software or that of the proprietary nature. It just depends on which direction the software developer wants to go.

As for daily workstation use, examine the applications that your business will be using in Linux. Weigh in how many of them are built for KDE. Customization per workstation aside, most offices will do well with KDE installed, but may fall back on GNOME-based personal information managers such as Evolution over KDE's Kontact.