Related to our topic, the most relevant
internal factors /strengths and weaknesses) I can think of are the
following:
Strengths
- Passion.
- Collaboration. Sense of community/identity.
- Worldwide project.
- Prominent FLOSS project. Well known brand.
- Leading technology. Innovative.
- Well defined product (software).
- Broad base of skills.
- Efficient development process.
- Economically sustainable.
- Internal communication.
Passion: KDE, like other community
projects, is formed by people passionated about what they do and
aboutfreedom.
Collaboration. Sense of
community/identity: this culture make them extremely efficient and
determined when decisions are taken, reaching goals that might seem
impossible.
Worldwide project: KDE is a worldwide
project, with active members all over the world, that speaks in many
different languages and come from many different cultures.
Prominent FLOSS project. Well known
brand: KDE is one of the current leading free software projects in
the world and its brand has a high value, not just because of the
product delivered, but because of the clear identity behind it.
Leading technology. Innovative: KDE
develop some of the most interesting technologies in the software
industry for desktops.
Well defined product (software): KDE
Platform, KDE Workspaces and KDE Applications form a whole product
that give answer to millions of user needs all over the world.
Broad base of skills: KDE is formed by
people with many different skills, experience and motivations. It is
a rich community.
Efficient development process: to
develop and deliver the product throughout 15 years, KDE have a
complex, efficient and innovative
development process. Coordination.
Economically sustainable: KDE is todays
an economically sustainable project. Budget control and management is
efficient.
Internal communication: KDE has solid
communication channels and procedures with high participation.
Weaknesses
- Weak marketing culture. Lack of experience.
- Lack of resources for non technical activities.
- Complex ecosystem.
- Complex decision making process.
- Diffuse points of contact.
- Self criticism.
Weak marketing culture. Lack of
experience: marketing haven't been a priority in the past. We can do
much better in this area.
Lack of resources for non technical
activities: some non technical areas need more manpower.
Complex ecosystem: KDE is a big project
with a complex structure. It is not easy to understand it when you
come from traditional organizations.
Complex decision making process:
because of its nature, some kind of decisions are hard to make in
KDE. This is common to most community driven projects.
Diffuse points of contact: approaching
KDE can be hard to do since we lack of globally defined roles. Some
knowledge of how KDE work is needed to make the approaching process
efficient, specially for non technical issues.
Self criticism: KDE has a strong sense
of self-criticism, which is really good for internal processes, but
harmful if it is made public continually focusing on weaknesses.
Once again, if you think some other
elements must be added, feel free to make comments to this post.
