I thought I spelled it out clearly.

Let me emphasise the executive summary:

1. KDE was first.

2. KDE used to enjoy significant corporate backing.

3. Because of some companies' actions, mergers and acquisitions, etc., other products gained ascendancy.

4. KDE is still widely used but no longer enjoys strong corporate backing.

5. Therefore KDE is going it alone and trying something technologically innovative with its showcase distro, because the existing distro vendors are not.

The KDE Linux section of this recent article of mine spells out my position more clearly:

https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/10/kde_linux_and_freebsd...