KDE的历史
Qt，用来开发 KDE 应用程序 GUI 界面的工具包，最初并不是以完全自由许可证发行的，因为奇趣科技公司（TrollTech）也有商业化的一面。奇趣公司是 Qt 的创造者，那这样为 KDE 开发的专用程序必须获得奇趣公司的许可授权，而且 Qt 的任何升级都必须经过奇趣公司。但是 KDE 软件是一个开源项目，使用 Qt 做开发的做法曾一度在开源界激进分子中激起强烈争议。然而现在 Qt 又在 GPL 许可下重新授权，这些争论也就不复存在了。当然，这是 KDE 发展历程中非常重要的一环。
为什么 KDE 开发人员要选 Qt？
- Qt 是在 UNIX 平台下最好的图形界面（GUI）开发包。一个桌面环境的成功极度依赖其应用软件。使用 Qt 将会极大地促进应用软件的开发，从而促进 KDE 的发展。
- Qt 对所有人都是免费的，包括它的代码，为自由软件的开发和发行提供基础。
- 我们积极地鼓励商业软件公司为 KDE 提供应用软件。这些公司需要成熟、高质量的工具包和技术支持。而在 GPL 下发行的工具包都没有达到这些标准。
- 重新开发一套在 LGPL 下发行的，与奇趣公司发行质量相当的 Qt 工具包会耗费时间，并且也不会比先开发一个易用、自由的开放性桌面更加重要。
KDE 自由 Qt 基金会
为了解决这个问题，KDE 项目小组和奇趣科技公司共同创立了KDE 自由 Qt 基金会。该基金会保证了 Qt 作为自由开发框架的运作。也就是说，如果奇趣科技公司不再将 Qt 作为自由软件发布，现有的版本会将以 BSD 式的许可证发布 —— 一个与 GPL 或 LGPL 本质上相似但更为宽松的许可证。
这个重发布的决定将由投票决定，两位代表将来自 KDE 基金会（非属奇趣公司），两位来自奇趣公司。若票数相同，KDE 的投票会占有更高的权重。
Harmony 项目
Those who prioritised the release of an GPL licensed formed the Harmony project - a project to clone Qt under a GPL license. Rapid progress was made during its time and thus gave purists no excuse to reject KDE as a respectable and compliant desktop environment. However this project was depreciated as Trolltech made the decision to re-license Qt under the GPL.
KDE 软件的大日子
12 July 1998 - KDE 1.0 Announcement "An integrated Desktop Environment for the Unix Operating System. We are pleased to announce the availability of release 1.0 of the KDesktop Environment"
23 October 2000 - KDE 2.0 released "The KDE Team today announced the release of KDE 2.0, KDE's powerful, modular, Internet-enabled desktop. This highly anticipated release constitutes the next generation of the award-winning KDE 1 series, which culminated in the release of KDE 1.1.2 just over a year ago. KDE 2.0 is the work product of hundreds of dedicated developers originating from over 30 countries. "
17 December 2001 - KOffice 1.1.1 Released "Currently KOffice has functionality well-suited for home and SOHO users, who generally write letters, faxes, memos and similar documents. KOffice 1.1.1 is a minor update release for KOffice 1.1."
3 April 2002 - KDE 3.0 Released "KDE 3.0 is a major step for the KDE project. A hundred words could be written here, but to stop boring you with details, lets just say: Check it out!"
11th May 2007 - KDE 4.0 Alpha 1 Released "KDE Project Ships First Alpha Release for Leading Free Software Desktop."
16th October 2007 - KDE 3.5.8 Released "Project Ships Eighth Translation and Service Release for Leading Free Software Desktop."
11th January 2008 - KDE 4.0 Released "KDE Community Ships Fourth Major Version for Leading Free Software Desktop."
19th February 2008 - KDE 3.5.9 Released "KDE Community Ships Ninth Maintenance Update for Third Major Version for Leading Free Software Desktop."
29th July 2008 - KDE 4.1 Released "KDE Community Ships Major Update to Leading Free Software Desktop."
26th August 2008 - KDE 3.5.10 Released "KDE Community Ships Tenth Maintenance Update for Third Major Version for Leading Free Software Desktop."
12th October 2008 - KDE Forum Launched "KDE Launches Web-based Bulletin Board."
27th January 2009 - KDE 4.2.0 Released "KDE Community Ships Second Major Update To Leading Free Software Desktop."
4th August 2009 - KDE 4.3.0 Released "KDE Community Ships Third Update to the KDE 4 Desktop, Applications and Platform."
9th February 2010 - KDE SC 4.4.0 Released "KDE announces the immediate availability of the KDE Software Compilation 4.4, "Caikaku", bringing an innovative collection of applications to Free Software users."
10th August, 2010 - KDE 4.5.0 released Focusing on "stability, the overall polish and performance gain".
26th January 2011 - KDE SC 4.6.0 Released Major updates to the KDE Plasma workspaces, KDE Applications and KDE Platform
27th July 2011 - KDE 4.7.0 released Containing compelling new features and improvements to the Plasma Workspaces, the KDE Applications and the KDE Development Platform
For a more detailed look at the history, including details of all the KDE 3.x releases, see this page