This interview is really worth reading. It talks about the KDE itself, the acquisition of Trolltech by Nokia and some of its impacts on the community, the synchronization between open source and closed source developers on KDE code (and QT code).

Wade expresses exactly what I feel about working in a company: the get together with people, discussions about our work itself, etc.

Some people spend their free time doing it, and some people get paid to do it. But either way, it’s the emotional connection, and it’s the passion, and it’s the community that builds around it, and the friendships. Trust me, KDE’s code is exciting, but it’s not that exciting. People love to work on it because they love to get together and talk about it, and they have the same passions and interests. That’s where companies really need to look. They cannot screw up that ecosystem.

Source: How Software is Built.