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Long time KDE developer Jonathan Riddell announced today the general availability of the first stable release of KDE’s brand-new user feedback tool, KUserFeedback, for the Plasma desktop environment.
Meet KUserFeedback, a framework built by KDE to collect feedback from users about the applications included in the Plasma desktop environment, via telemetry and surveys. KDE will use the feedback received from users to improve the Plasma desktop, so they only focus their future work on the things that matter to the community.
KUserFeedback was developed during the development cycle of the forthcoming KDE Plasma 5.18 LTS desktop environment, but, as of today, it reached maturity with version 1.0.0, which is now available to download so those who want to grab the source and compile it.
The new user feedback tool will ship for the first time as part of the forthcoming KDE Plasma 5.18 LTS desktop environment. Users will be able to access it to send their feedback via the System Settings panel.
Several levels of user feedback options are available, including Disabled (default), Basic system information, Basic system information and usage statistics, and Detailed system information and usage statistics.
Contributions are entirely optional
Of course, all contributions will be optional and entirely anonymous, so users can submit feedback about the Plasma desktop and included KDE applications only if they want to help KDE improve them.
KDE said that it will not use this tool to collect personal information from users that could identify them. Also, KUserFeedback doesn’t collect any personal data, browsing history or used files.
Since KUserFeedback also supports surveys based on telemetry data, KDE plans to distribute them to users from time to time. However, users can choose how often they want to participate in these surveys.
The final release of the KDE Plasma 5.18 LTS desktop environment is expected next Tuesday, on February 11th, 2020. It will be KDE’s second long-term support (LTS) series, supported for the next two years with maintenance updates, and will introduce many improvements and new features.
Image: Jonathan Riddell
Last updated 4 years ago
