How does one patch KDE2 under FreeBSD?

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Screenshot of http://e.gov.kz/online?lang=en, depicting a question on patching KDE under FreeBSD

How does one patch KDE2 under FreeBSD?” is an internet meme in the Russian Internet culture. (Russian: "Как пропатчить KDE2 под FreeBSD".)

The question was originally posted on the #anime channel of the RusNet IRC network on May 8, 2004.^[1] Its text can be translated as follows:

-- Hello, is this an anime channel? -- Yes. -- How do I patch KDE2 under FreeBSD?

The phrase was meant to satirize the disproportionate amount of technical "geeky" conversations often occurring on that channel, having nothing to do with anime. Later it was popularized and became widely cited in Russophone chats.

In 2006, the phenomenon first received public attention when it was asked by many people prior to the July 6 online conference with the Russian president Vladimir Putin. Due to provoking campaigns, it became the third most popular question proposed to be asked during the conference, the first being "PREVED, Vladimir Vladimirovich! How do you regard MEDVED?" However, the hosts did not ask him the question.^[2]

In 2007 it was revived to be the number one most frequently asked question in a similar conference with the president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Nazarbayev answered the question seriously by describing the developments in the IT industry of Kazakhstan and the possible use of Open-source software in it. ^[3]^[4]

In December 2007, the question again became the most popular one preceding the Internet conference of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko. He gave an answer, saying the programmers at his secretariat are able to help patch KDE2 under different operating systems. He also recommended the adoption of newer software (a possible reference to the existence of KDE3 at the time). ^[5]

In the meantime, in fall 2007 Russian authorities sponsored pilot usage of Linux, an open-source OS like FreeBSD, in a cluster of Russian schools.