Editing Matthias Ettrich

{{Short description|German programmer, founder of the KDE project}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Matthias Ettrich
| image              = Matthias Ettrich LinuxTag 2005-06-23.jpg
| caption            = Matthias Ettrich at [[LinuxTag]], 23 May 2005
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1972|6|14}}
| birth_place        = [[Bietigheim-Bissingen]], [[Baden-Württemberg]], [[West Germany]]
| nationality        = German
| known_for          = [[KDE]] and [[LyX]]
| employer           = [[Here (company)|Here]]
| occupation         = [[Software engineer]]
| spouse             = 
| networth           = 
}}
'''Matthias Ettrich''' (born 14 June 1972) is a German [[computer scientist]] and founder of the [[KDE]] and [[LyX]] projects.

== Early life ==
Ettrich was born in [[Bietigheim-Bissingen]], [[Baden-Württemberg]], [[West Germany]], and went to school in [[Beilstein, Württemberg|Beilstein]] while living with his parents in [[Oberstenfeld]]. He passed the [[Abitur]] in 1991. Ettrich studied for his MSc in Computer Science at the [[Wilhelm Schickard]] Institute for Computer Science at the [[University of Tübingen]].

== Career ==
He currently resides in [[Berlin]], Germany. He is currently focused on advising start-ups and corporations on digital transformation and in sound technical decision-making.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.linkedin.com/pub/matthias-ettrich/28/9b0/aa8|title=Matthias Ettrich | publisher = LinkedIn}}</ref>

== Free software projects ==
Ettrich founded and furthered the [[LyX]] project in 1995, initially conceived as a university term project. LyX is a graphical frontend to [[LaTeX]].

Since LyX's main target platform was [[Linux]], he started exploring different ways to improve the [[graphical user interface]], ultimately leading him to the [[KDE]] project. Ettrich founded KDE in 1996 when he proposed on [[Usenet]] a ''"consistent, nice looking free desktop environment"'' {{sic}} for [[Unix-like]] systems using [[Qt (software)|Qt]] as its widget toolkit.<ref name="New Project: Kool Desktop Environment (KDE)">{{cite newsgroup
| title = New Project: Kool Desktop Environment (KDE)
| url=http://groups.google.com/group/de.comp.os.linux.misc/msg/cb4b2d67ffc3ffce
| first= Matthias
| last=Ettrich
| newsgroup= de.comp.os.linux.misc
| message-id=53tkvv$b4j@newsserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de
| date=14 October 1996
| access-date=4 December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
| url = http://www.efytimes.com/e1/fullnews.asp?edid=25412
| title = Matthias Ettrich: The KDE-Man!
| agency = EFY Times.com
| publisher = EFY Enterprises Pvt. Ltd.
| date = 15 March 2008
| access-date = 30 April 2011
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151030124536/http://www.efytimes.com/e1/fullnews.asp?edid=25412
| archive-date = 30 October 2015
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>

On 6 November 2009, Ettrich was decorated with the [[Federal Cross of Merit]] for his contributions to [[free software]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.itwire.com/opinion-and-analysis/open-sauce/29166-kde-founder-ettrich-receives-german-award|title=KDE founder Ettrich receives German award}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
| url =http://dot.kde.org/2009/11/06/matthias-ettrich-receives-german-federal-cross-merit
| title=Matthias Ettrich Receives German Federal Cross of Merit
| last=Boehm
| first=Mirko
| agency = KDE.NEWS
| publisher = KDE
| date = 6 November 2009
| access-date = 30 April 2011}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
* [http://www.behindkde.org/node/7 The People Behind KDE: Interview with Matthias Ettrich (2000)]
* [http://www.behindkde.org/node/433 The People Behind KDE: Interview with Matthias Ettrich (2004)]

{{KDE}}
{{Linux people}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ettrich, Matthias}}
[[Category:1972 births]]
[[Category:Computer programmers]]
[[Category:Free software programmers]]
[[Category:German computer scientists]]
[[Category:KDE]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Bietigheim-Bissingen]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]


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