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With the release of KDE Plasma 6 closing in, a Wallpaper Competition is live and the prize is pretty awesome - you can win a Framework Laptop 13 DIY Edition!

That's quite an awesome prize, so no doubt competition will be hot. Heck, even I'm tempted to enter for that, I would absolutely love one of those Framework Laptops. Framework themselves donated the prize too, so it's nice to see support from a hardware vendor like that.


Pictured - Framework Laptop

There's a number of rules for entries:

  • The wallpaper must be original, created specifically for this contest, and released under the CC-BY-SA-4.0 license. Therefore no submissions using AI art will be accepted.
  • The minimum required size for wallpapers is 3840x2160, though 5120x2880 is preferred. Vertical wallpapers should be at least 1080x2280.
  • You are allowed to submit up to 3 wallpapers. Entries can be made in public at in this Discuss category 15, but you can also submit them in private to [email protected]
  • Each submission should include the following:
    • The wallpaper
    • The name of the wallpaper
    • A dark mode version of the wallpaper (not mandatory, but recommended)
    • A vertical version of the wallpaper (not mandatory, but recommended)
  • If asked, you should be able to provide the source files used to create the wallpaper in a non-proprietary format, like an Inkscape-compatible SVG, .blend, .kra, .xcf, etc.
  • Any submission containing racist, sexist, demeaning, or any other inappropriate content will be removed and disqualified immediately.

The contest is open for the next three months, so you have plenty of time to try out some designs.

See the full details here. Will you be entering?

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Competition, KDE, Misc
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7 comments

mr-victory Aug 14, 2023
QuoteTherefore no submissions using AI art will be accepted.
As it should be.
Sargent_D Aug 14, 2023
neolith Aug 15, 2023
QuoteIf asked, you should be able to provide the source files used to create the wallpaper in a non-proprietary format, like an Inkscape-compatible SVG, .blend, .kra, .xcf, etc.
That is a weird requirement. It massively limits the range of tools usable for creation.
win8linux Aug 15, 2023
Quoting: neolith
QuoteIf asked, you should be able to provide the source files used to create the wallpaper in a non-proprietary format, like an Inkscape-compatible SVG, .blend, .kra, .xcf, etc.
That is a weird requirement. It massively limits the range of tools usable for creation.

It ensures that the background source file remains accessible for a long time and by coincidence, also filters out any AI-generated submissions. I say coincidence since this requirement has existed for a very long time with open art contributions, well before so-called AI-generated or rather ML-backed image generation entered widespread knowledge.


Last edited by win8linux on 15 August 2023 at 9:36 am UTC
neolith Aug 15, 2023
Quoting: win8linuxIt ensures that the background source file remains accessible for a long time and by coincidence, also filters out any AI-generated submissions. I say coincidence since this requirement has existed for a very long time with open art contributions, well before so-called AI-generated or rather ML-backed image generation entered widespread knowledge.
Oh, I get that the source files should be provided. I am for that for the very reasons you mentioned.

But that wasn't the point I was trying to make.
The rules state that the source files have to be in a non-proprietary format – and that is simply impossible for many software packages one might choose. For example if you were to create your art in Maya, your source files won't be in a non-proprietary format. Same if you choose... say... DPaint on the Amiga for some stylistic reasons. According to the rules you are now excluded from entering.

I think it shouldn't matter what you create your art with.
chr Aug 17, 2023
Quoting: neolith
Quoting: win8linuxIt ensures that the background source file remains accessible for a long time and by coincidence, also filters out any AI-generated submissions. I say coincidence since this requirement has existed for a very long time with open art contributions, well before so-called AI-generated or rather ML-backed image generation entered widespread knowledge.
Oh, I get that the source files should be provided. I am for that for the very reasons you mentioned.

But that wasn't the point I was trying to make.
The rules state that the source files have to be in a non-proprietary format – and that is simply impossible for many software packages one might choose. For example if you were to create your art in Maya, your source files won't be in a non-proprietary format. Same if you choose... say... DPaint on the Amiga for some stylistic reasons. According to the rules you are now excluded from entering.

I think it shouldn't matter what you create your art with.

As I understand you can either use proprietary software and export in a non-proprietary format (e.g. .blend from Maya) OR
import the proprietary file into a non-proprietary app and convert it there (open a Maya file in Blender, then convert/save).
win8linux Aug 22, 2023
Quoting: neolith
Quoting: win8linuxIt ensures that the background source file remains accessible for a long time and by coincidence, also filters out any AI-generated submissions. I say coincidence since this requirement has existed for a very long time with open art contributions, well before so-called AI-generated or rather ML-backed image generation entered widespread knowledge.
Oh, I get that the source files should be provided. I am for that for the very reasons you mentioned.

But that wasn't the point I was trying to make.
The rules state that the source files have to be in a non-proprietary format – and that is simply impossible for many software packages one might choose. For example if you were to create your art in Maya, your source files won't be in a non-proprietary format. Same if you choose... say... DPaint on the Amiga for some stylistic reasons. According to the rules you are now excluded from entering.

I think it shouldn't matter what you create your art with.

Your point would prevent submissions from being re-exported to other sizes, remixed into variations, and remain accessible in the long-term. We can wax lyrical about the morality of this policy for a while, but there are practical reasons for preferring open formats for art submissions to open-source projects. Besides, going for the moral angle anyways means that using open-source software for creating art to give to another open-source software project is a really strong argument from an ethical standpoint.

When I was helping with Haiku community wallpaper submissions, there were a bunch of entries that looked great but me and the others had no choice but to reject. One of the requirements there was that source files must be usable with software that could run on Haiku. This was effectively the same as KDE's non-proprietary source format requirement. This meant that entries with source files in Adobe formats were completely unusable, since no one had Adobe software on hand. As a result, we couldn't export them to larger resolutions in the future.

There's a practical example of why proprietary formats for art submissions to OSS projects are bad. Cannot guarantee that people involved with a project even have access to software that can open them, much less expect identical output. Adobe software in particular can be rather difficult to run in Wine too, so this isn't just a problem for niche OSS projects too.
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