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I highly recommend Plasma for people switching to Linux. It provides a much more familiar UX. You could give KDE Neon a test run from a live image to see how it rolls for you.
Remember that KDE Neon is NOT a distro, it is a showcase/demo package for the latest KDE. It is not maintained like a distro either, when a new version is released, the old version is deprecated immediately. Not a big deal for some people, but it is for other others... KDE Neon is literally Ubuntu LTS with the the Gnome packages removed and the latest KDE Plasma thrown on top. https://neon.kde.org/faq
Back in the day I started making a Plasma Wayland ISO to help people try out Plasma on Wayland. Then we started Neon and the obvious way to create the ISOs became through the Neon infrastructure. With Wayland becoming closer to be ready to use every day I’ve decided it’s time to scrap the dedicated Wayland ISOs and just install the Wayland session by default on the Dev Unstable ISOs. It’s not yet the default so to give it a try you need to log out, select Wayland session and log in again. Or install the ISO and select it at login (you’ll need to switch back to X to install, Calamares doesn’t run in Wayland because it wants to run as root which is verboten).
Wayland is pretty much ready to use but the reason we can’t switch to it by default is mostly that some obscure graphics cards may not work with it and it’s hard to implement a detection and fallback for this. The fonts may be a different size due to differences in the screen dots-per-inch detection and middle mouse button selection paste doesn’t yet work.
Grab the KDE neon Dev Unstable ISO now to try it out.
Jonathan
> I'm pretty sure this was your shell saving its history. Shells have been doing this for decades already...
Unfortunately, it was the scrollback: prompt, commands, outputs, the works. (That's how I found it: the keywords from the file I was grepping for.)
Thanks for the tip about running Plasma. I usually upgrade every half year anyway. We'll see. After six weeks it's good so far.
Edit: According to u/tele-caster-blast3r's comment, Neon might be a solution. It's a KDE rebadged Ubuntu LTS, but with the latest (unstable?) KDE packages. Is that the kind of distro you had in mind?
or openSUSE Krypton/Argon / KDE:Unstable repos
> That said, I think it It would have been better for them to hold off the release of Kubuntu for 2 weeks if that meant they would be shipping the latest KDE.
This is the whole reason Neon was made https://neon.kde.org/
Hum.
- Current CSS: /r/kde/about/stylesheet
- current spritesheet: https://a.thumbs.redditmedia.com/AWDjNvYlVR0OlHSx.png
- neon logo: https://neon.kde.org/content/neon-logo.svg
- updated spritesheet: http://i.imgur.com/ZTeQdcQ.png
- New CSS:
.flair-kdeneon { background-position: 0px -900px; }<= probably
KDE Neon is Ubuntu + KDE and comes with only absolute basic apps like a browser. Give it a try if you like Plasma desktop.
EDIT: Also if you never tried it, KDE Plasma resembles traditional windows desktop so it shouldn't be too hard to switch. Also try the stable one if you're new to linux.
>A fired female NSA agent was discovered to have 16 million dick pics on her PC.
I googled this and it's a hoax, lol. https://hoax-alert.leadstories.com/3469933-fake-news-fbi-raid-at-nsa-employees-home-reveals-over-16000000-dick-pics.html
There definitely are mass surveillance things going on, but they aren't this extreme. People would notice the bandwidth if this was passively happening. If there is an exploit that can do this, it's used in investigating a specific crime, not used to siphon off everything.
If you really want to be paranoid, there's no harm in switching to software you can trust a bit more. LineageOS for your phone and a linux distribution (like this one) for your desktop. More of the code is open for the public to see and audit, so less possibility for passive (or a backdoor enabling active-) surveillance.
You're very likely not being actively targeted by government surveillance, though.
Since the answers have turned into "it's about toolkits" which I don't personally agree with all that much, I use both extensively. My laptop runs KDE, my work desktop runs GNOME 3.
KDE is what i'd pick for a traditional desktop, it can be customized to essentially look in behave however you'd personally like, so it is well suited to most familiar workflows. Unlike what instinct would tell you if you've been dealing with it since the old days, Plasma 5 and modern KDE are actually incredibly lightweight, responsive, snappy. The tools are great, and it's excellent for tweaking something that isn't a tiling wm.
GNOME 3 on the other hand, essentially insists (out of the box, at least) that you use the workflow it was designed around. Once you start doing so, however, I find it an extremely distraction free environment, in the same way you can concentrate on specific things in a tiling WM, without using one outright. You can tweak it so it behaves more Traditionally, but I feel it will always be kind of a losing battle since upstream doesn't give two shits about what you want to do with it, just what they designed it to do. This is not unreasonable, but does mean you will be a second class citizen if you don't want their workflow and opt to recreate a traditional desktop with Extensions.
Also Gnome 3, while not bloated, certainly has dumb memory leaks dating back to a couple versions ago, still unfixed, on some setups.
Even then, the fact that it lets me focus Exclusively On What I Am Doing and the workflow they designed is extremely condusive to Getting Shit Done, I still use it for actual work.
I can basically recommend both, for different reasons.
(Also, since this isn't mentionned often, KDE Neon is a good choice if you want Ubuntu LTS + Latest Stable KDE Directly From Upstream, in a maintained, supported, cohesive way. Great laptop support, too.)
KDE Neon, I have already installed the 5.10 probably 3 hours ago and it was offered automatically via the update icon in taskbar and then Discover opens and you click update and it will update.
From your specs I would choose either KDE neon or Xubuntu as these use the least amount of RAM and are really good OSs overall. Also, both are really geared towards new users, so there is that. Please note though that, in my personal opinion, the XFCE desktop environment is not the prettiest looking out of the box and needs some tweaking in order for it to look good. KDE on the other hand looks somewhat similar to Windows out of the box and is really easy to understand the whole UI.
you may be thinking of Neon which is the distro that can also run KDE Plasma that is made by the same people, I believe.
To make it more confusing though... Neon is based on Ubuntu ;)
Yes, it has been a very long time since they announced it, and there are no updates to KDE Neon for Ubuntu 18.04, so this is a very good question. https://neon.kde.org/faq says what it has always said from about 2-3 months ago:
`Will you update the base to Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver? 🔗
Yes we are compiling our packages and starting to make images based on 18.04 now. The ability to upgrade will be turned on when we are satisfied it is reliable to do so.`
Unfortunately, no, there isn't currently any supported (or even reasonably safe unsupported) way to upgrade the underlying version Ubuntu to the most recent non-LTS version of Ubuntu. And the KDE Neon team states that they "plan only to base on the latest LTS version of Ubuntu" for the foreseeable future.
But I, for one, hope that the KDE Neon team will eventually offer an option to upgrade to the latest non-LTS version of Ubuntu.
I suppose it wouldn't be feasible to do so for Ubuntu 17.10, and Ubuntu 18.04 will be an LTS. But maybe, if we ask nicely, and if there is enough interest, the KDE Neon team will consider such an option to upgrade when Ubuntu 18.10 is released.
As for why I want an option to upgrade to the latest vrsion of Ubuntu, I prefer to have access to newer versions of software directly from the Ubuntu repositories, without the need to compile on my own or resort to an untrusted ppa. For example, QEMU on Ubuntu 16.04 is stuck at v2.4, whereas QEMU on Ubuntu 17.04 is at v2.8. Also, I find that on newer hardware, the latest version of Ubuntu typically performs better than an older LTS. So having an option to upgrade would be helpful for me.
I hope that I don't offend any Kubuntu devs by saying so, but if it were up to me, Kubuntu would cease development, and the Kubuntu devs would instead focus on helping release versions of KDE Neon based on the latest Ubuntu releases (including non-LTS releases). But it's their free time, and so I suppose they should do with it whatever they want.
KDE neon user LTS is what I would recommend if you like KDE it runs the 5.8 LTS builds of KDE and the 4.4 LTS kernel and has ubuntu 16.04 LTS base and the repositories of such.
KDE Neon is just Ubuntu LTS (20.04 currently) with the latest version of KDE and Kapps on top of it. Nothing more.
Reality is, according to KDE itself, that this isn't even a real distro (it is, but that is what they say)... To KDE, this is just a development/test/preview platform for KDE. The support period is basically until the next LTS release of Ubuntu than they dump this one.
Neon would get you the stable base of 18.04 with constant updates to KDE Plasma. Might be the balance you're looking for.
Neon has behaved very well for my wife, who prefers it. I use Kubuntu, because I'm less interested in the bell-n-whistle stuff.
I think it was a mistake to include KDE in "KDE Neon" name and host it under kde.org because this makes it look like a flagship or official distro at first glance to most people, which it isn't, and it's not even a distro but a repository.
Stability mostly... Remember that Neon isn't really a distro, it's a demonstration platform for KDE, even it's devs say that. https://neon.kde.org/faq
That said, it is Ubuntu LTS with Gnome stripped off and the most cutting edge KDE Plasma thrown on top, and nothing else.
Neon is so up to date in Plasma, it can (occasionally) break the underlying OS, although this is rare...
Don't get me wrong, I think Neon is great for what it is, but most people I know who have tried Neon, go to a different distro after a while... Remember when Neon updates, there is no upgrade path, when a release comes out the old one is immediately retired, in some cases a reinstall is required. You can't upgrade the underlying Ubuntu portion either (updates are fine though).
If you really want the latest KDE and a stable, rolling distro, look at Fedora KDE or OpenSUSE Tumbleweed KDE. Manjaro and Arch are great too, just not my favorites.
"Is it a distro?"
"Not quite, it's a package archive with the latest KDE software on top of a stable base. While we have installable images, unlike full Linux distributions we're only interested in KDE software."
"Is this 'The KDE Distro'?"
"Nope. KDE believes it is important to work with many distributions, as each brings unique value and expertise for their respective users. This is one project out of hundreds from KDE."
"What is the difference between KDE neon and using plain Ubuntu?"
"KDE neon will provide users with more up-to-date packages of Qt and cutting-edge KDE software."
just trolling, tho when was last time you tried it? i would suggest trying the latest release of KDE Neon .
my brain does not work like gnome, its just not compatible :P . yeah lxqt is very nice! im trying to move to 'i3' just not to get distracted.
I think the fact that, in response to OP's post, the distro recommendations are all over the place - openSUSE, Fedora, Arch, Neon, and a few derivatives or minor ones like Chakra, Manjaro and KaOS, shows we are definitely lacking a KDE flagship distro that hits the nail in the head, and no, KDE Neon is not it.
I think most of the issue lies in that, apart from openSUSE, which seems to be the odd one out, the mainstream distributions have a lack of care for KDE, they just assemble the KDE packages and then leave you with that. Arch is sure great and fun, but are you really going to use them in more than a single-user, single machine setup? It's a PITA. As for Manjaro, Chakra, KaOS, they can spare you the hassle of installing Arch, but then is it really any different or better for that matter?
I don't know, I am rooting for openSUSE to become more user-friendly, because to be honest the KDE distro landscape seems rather bleak at this moment.
seriously, just use university computers.
if you have a problem, it is nicer to have classmates help you.
> I'm a fan of KDE and use kubuntu
dont use kubuntu. it has always cause me grief.
use opensuse or use kde neon. KDE directly maintains kde neon.
It's not stupid. They even have it in their FAQ that you should use pkcon to upgrade which I suppose does apt full-upgrade. On KDEneon just doing apt upgrade will eventually break something because it doesn't remove/replace packages as needed for some updates.
How about KDE's own KDE-Neon for the pure KDE desktop experance.
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As for a more "Windows like" user experience there are several alternatives other than just KDE. One user friendly distro comes to mind, Ubuntu Mate. There is a "Redmond" layout option.
I personally don't much like Gnome, it all went downhill for me with Gnome 3 Shell. These days I use XFCE on MXLinux. I'm not suggesting what works for me would or should work for everyone.
If you want to have a look at how Plasma handles Wayland these days you should try KDE neon, it always has the latest Plasma version unlike Kubuntu, so you may have better luck there. I've been daily driving Plasma Wayland on Arch for a few weeks now (currently at version 5.22.3), works well enough, although I still need to switch back to X11 if I feel like gaming thanks to the blasted Nvidia Optimus switchable graphics crap, with Intel graphics only it's great.
Can't comment on multiple monitors since I don't use them.
Technically there is a Neon PPA but the devs recommend against it.
> https://neon.kde.org/faq#morph-kubuntu
> We recommend that you install a fresh KDE neon from the provided ISO images. But you can indeed add an APT repository to switch from Kubuntu to KDE neon. This is absolutely not tested or supported. If things take a turn for the worse you are expected to be knowledgable enough to repair your system on your own. A web search should quickly give you relevant information on how to do this.
So better to use KDE Neon. Depending on how latest you want your software, you can install User edition (latest stable versions of KDE, probably the best) or Testing Edition (beta versions) or Unstable Edition (built daily from git master). Unless you're a developer, User edition is going to be new enough.
KDE Neon exists to provide rolling updates for all KDE software on top of the stable Ubuntu LTS base. And if you really want nightlies from git, the Unstable ISO is there to tinker with.
I would recommend a clean install, rather than trying to migrate from Pop OS. The main difference is that Neon comes with a fairly minimal number of pre-installed apps.
Before wiping Pop, do apt-mark showmanual and make a list of all the software you'd want to install on the new system.
If you don't want to reinstall:
https://neon.kde.org/faq#morph-kubuntu
> Can I turn Kubuntu into KDE neon with a PPA? > > We recommend that you install a fresh KDE neon from the provided ISO images. But you can indeed add an APT repository to switch from Kubuntu to KDE neon. This is absolutely not tested or supported. If things take a turn for the worse you are expected to be knowledgable enough to repair your system on your own. A web search should quickly give you relevant information on how to do this.
Or you could upgrade to Kubuntu 20.10 which has Plasma 5.19.5.
KDE NEON uses Ubuntu LTS as a base, with a rolling release software package of the KDE Desktop (it's not bleeding edge, but the software packages are still rolling, so YMMV)
Homepage: https://neon.kde.org/
KDE Neon is not like Kubuntu, in their FAQ you can read:
> KDE Neon is a rapidly updated software repository
> It uses the foundation of the latest Ubuntu LTS (16.04).
> Is this "the KDE distro"? Nope.
You get the new versions ASAP, Neon is one of the fastest way to get KDE software, not the rest of the software.
> Only when new version of KDE Neon comes out?
There's no KDE Neon version, is Plasma Desktop's rolling release. For the rest you get the regular schedule that depends on repos, flatpak, snap, app image and so on
From their FAQ:
>Can I turn Kubuntu into KDE neon with a PPA?
>We recommend that you install a fresh KDE neon from the provided ISO images. But you can indeed add an APT repository to switch from Kubuntu to KDE neon. This is absolutely not tested or supported. If things take a turn for the worse you are expected to be knowledgable enough to repair your system on your own. A web search should quickly give you relevant information on how to do this.
Neon devs recommend pkcon refresh and then pkcon update (which is what Discover uses):
https://neon.kde.org/faq#command-to-update
Not sure why though.
There is KDE Neon Developer Git-Unstable edition, but it is based on Ubuntu LTS which might not be what you want. Sadly, there are AFAIK no comparable options based no Arch - unless you want to compile everything for yourself.
Not sure if it counts but I use KDE Neon I really love the KDE environment but i also love the huge amount of programs that I can install on a Ubuntu.
If I have any problems I can just google "how to fix X in Ubuntu" and it will work 9/10 of the time.
> I think it's this. As shitty as Windows may be, it still largely feels as one whole.
Under the hood, Windows is also hundreds of smaller programs working together. It's just that most of them are written by Microsoft, rather than implemented by a bunch of different teams scattered across the planet. When something goes wrong, you know exactly who to blame.
> The constant mental switching between commands also doesn't help me- for instance, one program requires you to press ctrl-c while another wants you to press q.
I'm not a fan of KDE, but they do manage to do a few things right, like provide a reasonably consistent user experience across KDE apps. I've been hearing a lot of good things about the KDE Neon package, which provides the current KDE release on top of a solid Ubuntu core.
This is already starting to confuse me, being subscribed to both /r/windows10 and /r/linux. It looks good though, except for the window controls. Those could use less padding.
Wayland will fix this…
Joking aside I agree with /u/Hkmarkp. Kubuntu is pretty much irrelevant now that KDE Neon exists. It might take a while, but I recommend backing up everything and installing a different OS of your liking. Perhaps try the live discs / USB first to test different OS's and see which one works best?
It's a very personal question. Each distro has a different mindset and a different purpose. In muy case, I prefer a stable base and the latest of KDE. The SteamDeck environment is a KDE Plasma:
Try some distros to find the one that fits you better. I use and recommend KDE NEON because it combines a very user-friendly base (Ubuntu) with the latest from KDE (many, many applications!):
Perhaps you meant KDE Neon, which runs the latest KDE versions while being based on Ubuntu. But yeah, feel free to ask if you have other questions about getting to run that game!
So what are you trying to do exactly? Make a bootable USB stick or just copy the file to move it to another machine? And I am not sure what instructions you are following, but KDE Neon website says to use ROSA (KDE Image Writer) as does the userbase.kde.org wiki.
If it's just failing, you likely have a bad thumb drive... But if you are using the dd command, you should get a result like
2684354560 bytes (2.7 GB, 2.5 GiB) copied, 1 s, 2.7 GB/s
967+1 records in
967+1 records out
Or something like that
kde neon is based on Ubuntu 20.04. So most ofl the guides and so forth for ubuntu should apply to it. Unless they are gnome specific. https://neon.kde.org/faq
the lower level parts of the OS - would be the same, (kernel, filesystems, and so on)
KDE Neon uses the KDE Plasma desktop environment. They are the same thing!
Also there is not a lot of version difference between KDE Neon and Manjaro KDE.
KDE Neon is developed by the KDE community and developers think of it like a vanilla KDE on a minimal Ubuntu base. Manjaro KDE minimal is a very similar distro to it.
You don't. Usually, the only updates you get on Ubuntu are buxfixes (except for software like web browsers). As Ubuntu 20.04 shipped with Plasma 5.18, it will stay on that version.
Adding repos/PPAs to run different versions of software is probably going to end up breaking your system. If you want the latest KDE software, switch to KDE Neon. If you want newer software in general, switch to a distro that has newer software, like Manjaro or Fedora.
Have you tried KDENeon? I've found Kubuntu to be very glitchy in certain aspects (it was my first Linux OS) KDENeon is literally the same thing but with bleeding edge KDE. It's maintained by the KDE Foundation.
If Kubuntu works for you than stick with it, It's your OS so you should use something that works for you.
Those questions are answered in the FAQ
It looks like you get security patches from KDE Neon for Qt software. The security patches for other packages, like updates of the kernel comes from Ubuntu's repositories.
And it isn't possible to use multiple desktop environments. But, you should think about why you would even do that. KDE is more mature and flexible to config to fit to your workflow, compared to GN*ME which enforces its own workflow on you. Also, having multiple desktop environments increases the complexity for configuring and maintaining your system.
You might want to take a look at KDE Neon, whoes latest release includes 5.17.4 according to Distrowatch. TL;DR it's Ubuntu LTS with the latest versions of Qt software.
Why not?
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fwiw, I have used it on my daily-driver laptop since the User Edition was released, as I want the regular Plasma updates every few weeks, without having to upgrade everything else all the time, or faff with extra repositories.
And yes, I know Neon is in theory just a repo, but you can't just add it to Kubuntu without some breakage.
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I also use Kubuntu on my PCs, and have for 15 years. My current one is secondary device that Just Works so I have no reason to move just yet. I just upgrade every 6 months and go from there these days.
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Neon was created by the original Kubuntu team, and was intended to be a stable core platform for giving users and developers either a current, stable release of Plasma (User Edition), or stable-enough systems to test pre-release code (the Developer, Unstable, and Testing editions)
They recommend pkcon since a long long time. It's even in the FAQ:
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https://neon.kde.org/faq#command-to-update
>How do I Update to the Latest Software?
>
>KDE neon does continuous deployment of the latest KDE software which means there are nearly always new versions of our software to update to. We recommend using Plasma Discover's updater which appears in your panel. If you prefer to use the command line you can use the pkcon command:
>
>pkcon refresh
>
>pkcon update
>
>This will install all new packages and uses the same PackageKit code as Plasma Discover. Some uses of apt do not install new packages which makes it less suitable for KDE neon.
Nice, could be helpful for some people.
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Maybe you should replace "sudo apt install" with "pkcon install" though, it's recommended to use PackageKit because of cache issues and other conflicts with APT. You could say "I don't use PackageKit" but even if you don't use GUI for updates, Neon recommends to use "pkcon refresh && pkcon update" instead of the APT way because of how Neon is built. It's often not wise to mix package managers and packagekit anyway, on DEB systems it seems to be ok, but look at how it clashes with DNF for example. Note that I'm not preaching for PK as I always preferred real and officially integrated standard package managers, I don't like how incomplete and sometimes buggy PK is, but as it is heavily recommended for Neon...
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https://neon.kde.org/faq#command-to-update
>How do I Update to the Latest Software?
>
>KDE neon does continuous deployment of the latest KDE software which means there are nearly always new versions of our software to update to. We recommend using Plasma Discover's updater which appears in your panel. If you prefer to use the command line you can use the pkcon command:
>
>pkcon refresh
>
>pkcon update
>
>This will install all new packages and uses the same PackageKit code as Plasma Discover. Some uses of apt do not install new packages which makes it less suitable for KDE neon.
​
KDE Neon aims to be more than a KDE showcase though. From the front page:
>When you want your computer as your tool, something that belongs to you, that you can trust and that delivers day after day, week after week, year after year. Here it is: now get stuff done.
This clearly speaks to me of being a workhorse as well. But yes, de-emphasizing the traditional usage of the word "distro" could help. I think they simply want to emphasize that "if what you need is the KDE ecosystem, we've got it, but that's the focus, not interoperating with tens of thousands other random packages."
Also, from KdeNeon's FAQ :
How do I Update to the Latest Software?
KDE neon does continuous deployment of the latest KDE software which means there are nearly always new versions of our software to update to. We recommend using Plasma Discover's updater which appears in your panel:
If you prefer to use the command line you can use the pkcon command:
pkcon refresh pkcon update
This will install all new packages and uses the same PackageKit code as Plasma Discover.
Some uses of apt do not install new packages which makes it less suitable for KDE neon.
https://neon.kde.org/faq#command-to-update
Recommended: Discover's Updater, or: * pkcon refresh * pkcon update
If you are going to use apt, then apt update && apt full-upgrade is the best choice.
If you install grml-rescueboot and setup the path to ISO files in /etc/default/grml-rescueboot, you would be able to boot from several live ISO's that are stored on your hard drive.
For example Neon supports booting from ISO.
You select the ISO in the GRUB menu.
I mostly agree.
In my opinion, the only use case in which Kubuntu is preferable to KDE Neon would be for someone who (a) needs a newer version of non-KDE software than is available in the repositories for Ubuntu LTS, and (b) doesn't want to rely on a ppa or compile the newer version on his/her own. For such a person, Kubuntu, even with its bugs, may be better in some situations.
Although they currently base KDE Neon only on Ubuntu LTS, I hope that the KDE Neon team will eventually offer a version based on the latest Ubuntu release, including non-LTS releases. That would be the best of both worlds.
I hope that I don't offend any Kubuntu devs by saying so, but if it were up to me, Kubuntu would cease development, and the Kubuntu devs would instead focus on helping release versions of KDE Neon based on the latest Ubuntu releases (including non-LTS releases). But it's their free time, and so I suppose they should do with it whatever they want.
KDE neon User Edition 5.9.5 with custom window decorations that are styled to look like a tiling WM. I have the "quick tiling" hotkeys setup to easily move windows to the corners of my screen.
Using the Arc-Dark look and feel pack from the KDE store.
I hope KDE neon devs will provide torrents in future (come on devs, its 10-20 lines of code with libtorrent), but in the meantime, here is a page with torrent and magnet links to latest images (autogenerated from neon.kde.org/download images, updates checked every hour)
> I very much like Kubuntu
Kubuntu is sorta deprecated by the way. KDE development now goes on in KDE Neon (if u want a Ubuntu based KDE) https://neon.kde.org
and finally Maui is the more full featured version of KDE Neon (so also a Ubuntu base) http://www.mauilinux.org
- It's pretty customizable. KDE 5.9 which will be released Jan 31 will even make it easier to use specific presets. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX5HwumKPP8
- The 5.8 video has a pretty good overview of various things. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgH1Clgr-uE
KDE Neon is okay if Ubuntu 16.04 was okay for you driver wise (since it uses Ubuntu 16.04 LTS as the base). If you need a more updated Linux kernel though, you might want a more rolling release like OpenSUSE or Manjaro (haven't tried either yet personally).
If you like windows interface and workflow like I did when I had to switch to linux due to ML, I would suggest you to go for a distro with KDE as your desktop as it's interface is similar to windows and chances of you sticking with linux will increase. That was the case for me at least. I would suggest KDE Neon.
You can, but its not recommended.
> We recommend that you install a fresh KDE neon from the provided ISO images. But you can indeed add an APT repository to switch from Kubuntu to KDE neon. This is absolutely not tested or supported. If things take a turn for the worse you are expected to be knowledgable enough to repair your system on your own. A web search should quickly give you relevant information on how to do this.
If you're big on customization, definitely check out KDE. By far the most customizable DE available. KDE Neon is a new Ubuntu-based distro released by the KDE developers. Very minimal in that it only comes with the basics and not a bunch of applications you might not need, which is really nice.
Even if you just throw it on a USB stick and run a live session.. it's worth taking a look.
The Arc-Dark-KDE theme looks great on it too. https://github.com/varlesh/Arc-Dark-KDE
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Cinnamon. It's not bad, just not my thing.
In https://neon.kde.org/faq.php:
"We recommend that you install a fresh KDE neon from the provided ISO images. But you can indeed add an APT repository to switch from Kubuntu to KDE neon. This is absolutely not tested or supported. If things take a turn for the worse you are expected to be knowledgable enough to repair your system on your own. A web search should quickly give you relevant information on how to do this."
Neon receives KDE software updates the same day/the day after they are released (Plasma, Frameworks and Applications), unlike Kubuntu. I think Kubuntu is great, but if you want an up-to-date system, a clean Neon installation is the way to go..
KDE Neon is new project that aims to give the user the newest technologies from KDE on top of the stable base, Ubuntu 16.04. It has two development branches stable (User) and testing (Developer). It is great, especially if you like Plasma, but it is not for brand new users, it doesn't have ppa support out of the box. They can be enabled easily (ppas work fine, if you are wondering).
Adding the neon repos on Kubuntu is unsupported according to the FAQ: https://neon.kde.org/faq. I think that KDE might be more stable than Kubuntu if Kubuntu starts to fall behind on backports. KDE moves rather quickly.
Your gpu is good and well supported on Linux. You'd be first person I would recommend to try Linux, as I've used that GPU and its been good experience. I dont believe you have to do much tinkering. I recommend Manjaro with KDE because of Deck but also because if you choose Ubuntu or derivative you'd likely need to update kernel and graphics (with a PPA).
I would take any claims of PopOS as best for Linux gaming with a pinch of salt. I certainly dont believe that. If you asked me I would recommend either Ubuntu, KDE NEON or Manjaro:
- Ubuntu requires what I mentioned but its popular for a reason and has backing of a reputable company, who has expressed interest in gaming recently.
- Kde Neon, a Ubuntu derivative: > The latest and greatest of KDE community software packaged on a rock-solid base. Read more here
- Manjaro is reputable distro and closer to software used for Deck, so surely will benefit. Unlike Ubuntu and its derivatives you wont need to update graphics driver and kernel.
I use KDE on Arch and it's Fantastic! How ever KDE NEON is also Fantastic!! https://neon.kde.org I almost think it's the best KDE distro. After all the peeps at KDE make it
>You can try the morph solution
>
>https://neon.kde.org/faq#morph-kubuntu
>
> : a ubuntu core with neon packages on top. I used it in the past just fine.
Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see how I can I can transform Kubuntu or Ubuntu in KDE Neon, if that was the purpose of that page.
>Luckily being on Intel GPU, I don't see any annoying bug.
The fix are not limited to hardware support. It is important for Wayland support, for instance we have clipboard fixes there.
>The only other Ubuntu / Debian based distro that I like is KDE neon, but I never liked that it is based on the LTS version.
You can try the morph solution https://neon.kde.org/faq#morph-kubuntu : a ubuntu core with neon packages on top. I used it in the past just fine.
I have an old install of neon unstable on my laptop. Login broke a few days ago after a big update, but it was fixed in the next day. I think neon developer edition is recommend for you.
Hmmm then maybe KDE Neon is the ticket? It's not rolling release at all, based on Ubuntu LTS with all the PPA annoyance that comes with, but you're guaranteed the latest KDE updates.
>Neon is the flagship if you want to think about it in those terms. It's literally the KDE distro.
Not according to the official website FAQ (though I still agree with both you and OP, KDE needs a flagship distro, yet Kubuntu is bound by Canonical's policies).
>What is KDE neon? 🔗
KDE neon is a rapidly updated software repository. Most users will want to use the packages built from released software which make up our User Edition. KDE contributors and testers can use the packages built from KDE Git in the Testing and Unstable Editions. It uses the foundation of the latest Ubuntu LTS (20.04).
Is this "the KDE distro"? 🔗
Nope. KDE believes it is important to work with many distributions, as each brings unique value and expertise for their respective users. This is one project out of hundreds from KDE.
Will there be a version using non LTS Ubuntu releases? 🔗
No, we plan only to base on the latest LTS version of Ubuntu, this comes with Linux and graphics stack updates to keep drivers relevant. We will backport other software as needed.
Is it a distro? 🔗
Not quite, it's a package archive with the latest KDE software on top of a stable base. While we have installable images, unlike full Linux distributions we're only interested in KDE software.
Do you have an NVIDIA GPU? If so, stay away from Wayland. The current state is just sad. It's usable, but you'll definately encounter known issues.
KDE Neon is the distribution I use. It's essentially Ubuntu LTS with the latest stable KDE added on top. https://neon.kde.org
Well, if your laptop is good enough, run Windows. You can’t really run office natively, and you get that sweet sync with your desktop.
However, if you still want to run linux on it, I would recommend KDE Neon. It’s Ubuntu based, got some apps out of the box, and it’s quite stable. You can install Office through wine I believe, using a third party installer but I haven’t really tried it out. Alternatively try using OnlyOffice and Libre Office (pre-installed). VS Code runs natively, and doesn’t lack anything. MatLab is supported on this Ubuntu version so you should have problems with it either.
That’s the distro I run on my crappy laptop I use for school (I’m a programming student), because it couldn’t really run Windows. And so far so good, check it out.
>it would be great rolling release distro > +easy to use
It's a bit difficult to fulfil both wishes. Maybe indeed Solus. KDE Neon is something in between. It has a rolling desktop (Plasma) on top of Ubuntu LTS base.
You should use KDE neon if you want the latest and greatest from the KDE community but the safety and stability of a Long Term Support release. When you don't want to worry about strange core mechanics and just get things done with the latest features. When you want your computer as your tool, something that belongs to you, that you can trust and that delivers day after day, week after week, year after year. Here it is: now get stuff done.
The Ubuntu-derived OS is current with all updates. I have
• cleared cache and cookies
• restarted without add-ons enabled
• tried multiple browsers [Chromium, Firefox, Tor (based on an earlier version of Firefox)]
• asked friends to try
Every time, the "loading channels..." animation above the footer repeats endlessly.
Ah. Well, they write that because they (the KDE Neon devs) don't test other software, but it will run just fine. To cite from the same faq > KDE neon sits on top of the Ubuntu core foundations, which means the majority of software built for Ubuntu core will work fine, even when not explicitly supported by the KDE neon team.
Most likely not what you want, but you might have better luck with KDE neon (which is based on Ubuntu LTS), as someone's mantaining a PPA for the legacy drivers (that only works with Ubuntu LTS indeed), see: https://launchpad.net/~kelebek333/+archive/ubuntu/nvidia-legacy (there's also a note for the 5.11.x kernels).
Another issue is the distro choosen. There is very user-friendly distros, like KDE NEON (it's gorgeous). I use it since two years ago. I can do the same I did on Windows. There are many native games and you can play most Windows games through Proton. I have ported many games and they work flawlessly. To know more:
https://neon.kde.org/
https://rutracker.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=899
Avec un live, t'as pas besoin d'utiliser un disque dur, tu peux juste lancer le système, et si ça te plaît pas, tu reformatte la clef USB. Par exemple :
>I've always just assumed that Kubuntu was the default to try
IDK, maybe trying KDE Neon would be the best for what you are searching.
​
>I feel like I'm possibly missing out on something better.
Maybe, maybe not. In my opinion, the 'better' DE is the one that do whatever you want it to do.
​
But, to be fair, I went from gnome to cinnamon, then to KDE.
Pop OS is based on Ubuntu, meaning that outside the repos that System 76 added, everything else is updated according to Ubuntu schedules, and maybe Kate wasn't on the list.
If you want an ubuntu-based distro with the latest release of KDE Stuff, you have their showcase distro KDE Neon: https://neon.kde.org/
It actually throws up the warning when trying to using apt incorrectly:
$ sudo apt upgrade
On KDE neon you should use pkcon update to install updates.
If you absolutely must use apt you do have to use dist-upgrade or full-upgrade in place of the upgrade command.
https://neon.kde.org/faq#command-to-update
A little heavy handed (imnsho), kinda like the offline-updates thing, but when they implemented this, it was understandable as there were many, many people using apt upgrade , which is correct for Debian, not *buntu. Using apt full-upgrade is correct there.
>How to upgrade to 5.21?
Not at all. Pop OS is based on Ubuntu. Here Plasma 5.21 will probably not be available until version 21.04. As far as I know, Ubuntu 21.04 will be released at the end of April. Then it will probably be some time until Pop OS will be updated.
If you want to use a current version of Plasma, it would be easiest to use another distribution. For example, https://neon.kde.org/download.
you could have the best of both, look up KDE Neon distro - it uses ubuntu LTS as base but has the latest KDE. The distro is made by KDE developers so its first to receive newest KDE versions.
Try kde neon. dont update or install drivers and codecs at install ....update with these ppa
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:oibaf/graphics-drivers
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:canonical-kernel-team/proposed
use kernel 5.10.1 http://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/2020/12/install-linux-kernel-5-10-ubuntu-linux-mint/
https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.10.1/
sudo apt update && sudo apt install --install-recommends build-essential kubuntu-restricted-extras kubuntu-restricted-addons apptitude ppa-purge htop stacer
remove conflicting unused drivers
...Just a suggestion
> KDE (short for KDE Plasma) is the name of a GUI you can use on Linux. KDE Neon is a distro made by the developers of KDE, it has nothing to do with Ubuntu.
KDE Neon's base is an Ubuntu LTS. It even says right their on the frontpage of their website. So yes, it does have something to do with Ubuntu in the end.
Same is true of Mint (besides Mint Debian Edition) and Pop OS! All of them are based on an Ubuntu LTS.
No matter what OP picks, they are dealing with a form of Ubuntu in the end. Which is a good thing for OP because whatever applies to an Ubuntu LTS can apply to any of these distro's.
https://neon.kde.org/faq#morph-kubuntu
> Can I turn Kubuntu into KDE neon with a PPA?
>We recommend that you install a fresh KDE neon from the provided ISO images. But you can indeed add an APT repository to switch from Kubuntu to KDE neon. This is absolutely not tested or supported. If things take a turn for the worse you are expected to be knowledgable enough to repair your system on your own. A web search should quickly give you relevant information on how to do this.
> kde neon
Oh I didn't see that you were on KDE Neon. If I were going to hazard a guess, that might have something to do with it. It technically has 20.04.1 as a base but I have no idea what else they do on-top of that. I also usually see instructions for verification of the iso image. They have the PGP key but don't tell you how to use it.
Ubuntu has a really good write up of it:
https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/how-to-verify-ubuntu#1-overview
I suggest if you like KDE, using Kubuntu for this instead. It looks like if you still want some of the bleeding edge KDE stuff, you can install it from the app store:
It also appears that others have had the issue you are running into to some degree given this fairly length discussion and answer here:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1205550/cant-install-wine-on-ubuntu-actually-lubuntu-18-04
They did seem to get it working on 18.04 so if you are having issues you might also want to try running it on 18.04 and see if you can get it working that way. Its an LTS version so you will be covered with securit updates until 2023 at which point there may be better documentation on this specific use case for Ubuntu 20.04 or at that point 22.04.
Take a look at the KDE Neon distribution. It is a hybrid of a Ubuntu LTS base with a rolling release of the latest KDE apps, libraries, and desktop. There are 2 or 3 versions of Neon and the 'user' version is the one that is considered stable for production use.
Note: I don't think Neon has been re-based to Ubuntu 20.04 yet. (It is still based on Ubuntu 18.04). Wait until it updates to 20.04 before giving it a try. Also note this is a complete distro so you'll have to replace your current Kubuntu 20.04 or install it on another disk partition. Kubuntu and Neon can't coexist in the *same* partition.
KDE Neon.
Quote from their own website https://neon.kde.org/
>KDE neon is the intersection of these needs using a stable Ubuntu long-term release as its core, packaging the hottest software fresh from the KDE Community ovens.
It's "NOT" a distro. Go to their homepage itself and even they will tell you they are not a distro. To boot, even if they were he specifically asked for a distro that isn't Ubuntu, doesn't have snap, etc. I have used KDE neon myself. I may edit in a link to their website so you can see for yourself that they are not a distro. They are essentially Ubuntu 18.04 with some KDE software.
Edit: Here directly from their site:
"Is KDE Neon a distro?"
A: "Nope."
Source:
Gotcha.
I think I will find a spare blank USB stick then.
They are running with ROSA Image Writer and it says my content on External Hard Drive will be deleted. I will scavenge for a usb stick then. Phewww.
Also. Thanks for the info. Yeah. I think it will be dumb not to utilize the SSD. Just can't wait to do this :)
Yeah. I just didn't want it to be slower that's all (if I went with the HDD route)
I don't think I will and just erase Windows 10 completely (I got the Windows Key noted down). Now my HDD has bunch of stuff on it. How will the PC know which file to run?
I'm downloading the User Edition ISO Archive file.
Do I need to open the archive file first before removing Windows 10?
Gotcha.
So on this site, https://neon.kde.org/download
Should I just download the User Edition and transfer the downloaded the file to my External HDD?
I think I'm just gonna go ahead and erase my entire disk. Also, will it be slower by a lot via HDD? I probably won't go with the HDD route but just wondering.
Seems like it more or less already says that over at https://neon.kde.org/download.
"Testing" says "Featuring pre-release KDE software built the same day from bugfix branches."
And "Unstable" says "Featuring pre-release KDE software built the same day from new feature branches."
you can do pkcon update in the terminal if you are impatient. Or open Discover or just wait and it will pop up letting you know in your taskbar. I'm never used Synaptic to update my system. https://neon.kde.org/faq#command-to-update
Try out KDE Neon (based on Ubuntu 18.04), it is the only OS that installs and sets up Nvidia Optimus laptops correctly that I could find. The primary issue was that the HDMI monitor was not recognized on my 4k laptop. Neon was the only installer to set everything up correctly and it just worked using Nvidia Prime. OSes I tried were Ubuntu 20.04, Kubuntu 20.04, Linux Mint, Manjaro, others. Most could handle the 4k display, but all did not recognized the HDMI external display. Some couldn't even install the OS because of video driver issues. Neon does use proprietary Nvidia drivers so battery performance won't be great; a sacrifice I am willing to make considering that I am usually running plugged in. BTW, the Windows 10 OS that shipped with the laptop worked 100% correctly including scaling the 4k display and the 1920x1080 HDMI display separately.