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PayPalThe KDE developers are working towards the first Beta release of KDE Linux, their own home-grown immutable operating system. The eventual plan for it is to be a version of Linux suitable for most use-cases and as a "reference implementation" of KDE Plasma and KDE apps.
Giving a status update in a blog post developer Nate Graham has gone over various major recent changes to it. Some may be happy to hear the Snap has been thrown out, as they're now going all-in with Flatpak for downloading additional software. Graham did say that while they felt Snap actually works "better than Flatpak in some ways" it's only available in the Arch Arch User Repository (AUR), and KDE Linux are moving away from the AUR towards not using it at all. Arch have no plans to get Snap into the main repo, so it made sense to remove it.
They're also no longer suggesting Homebrew for getting additional apps, and are looking into something more suitable due to various issues Homebrew caused.
Various other improvements like:
- An improved first-user setup experience with the new plasma-setup tool.
- Greatly expanded hardware support for various things like scanners, drawing tablets, USB WiFi dongles and so on.
- Improved performance via various configuration and kernel changes.
- A clearer, quieter boot process.
- RAR support added to Ark, KDE’s un-archiver.
- Default apps expanded to actually include a calculator, QR code scanner, a backups tool and some command-line debugging and admin tools. They also removed Kate, to focus on KWrite for text editing.
- Setting your required wireless regulatory domain automatically.
So right now they're full steam ahead towards a first Beta of KDE Linux. Can't wait to try it and see how it compares to my current Fedora KDE install. Who knows, maybe 2027 will see me recommend KDE Linux.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
About the author - Liam Dawe
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly checked on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly.
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11 comments
That sounds interesting!
I have been using Kate all the time and was wondering why they would use KWrite instead. Then I opened up KWrite for the first time and thought that it should be quite a good replacement.
I have been using Kate all the time and was wondering why they would use KWrite instead. Then I opened up KWrite for the first time and thought that it should be quite a good replacement.
0 Likes
I'm looking forward to it! I will give it a try on my laptop once it gets a beta release.
1 Likes
Quoting: NumerfoltI have been using Kate all the time and was wondering why they would use KWrite instead. Then I opened up KWrite for the first time and thought that it should be quite a good replacement.Maybe I'm stupid, but isn't it the same program? If I open Kate and KWrite, they look the same. When I open About, the only difference is the name at the top, both show the same info, including "(c) 2000-2024 The Kate Authors" (sic!). However, the kwrite binary is 4x smaller than kate, so I'm probably missing something. Maybe KWrite is like Notepad and Kate is like Notepad++, if you forgive the comparison. ;-)
[edit] Ok, I'm starting to see small differences, like integrated terminal and git in Kate. So I guess it's more like an IDE and KWrite is just a text editor?
Last edited by pb on 9 Feb 2026 at 1:45 pm UTC
2 Likes
Quoting: pbMaybe I'm stupid, but isn't it the same program? If I open Kate and KWrite, they look the same. When I open About, the only difference is the name at the top, both show the same info, including "(c) 2000-2024 The Kate Authors" (sic!). However, the kwrite binary is 4x smaller than kate, so I'm probably missing something. Maybe KWrite is like Notepad and Kate is like Notepad++, if you forgive the comparison. ;-)A Kase of Kannibalism:
https://kate-editor.org/post/2022/2022-03-31-kate-ate-kwrite/
16 Likes
Great. I think imutabel distros are a key to a wider adoption of linux.
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This is great news! Konsole is also getting container integration (which was previously sorely lacking and the reason Bazzite switched to Ptyxis instead). The relevant MRs have been submitted though not merged yet. This may truly become the year of the immutable Linux 🥰
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Graham did say that while they felt Snap actually works "better than Flatpak in some ways"
Controversial opinion. I hope his mailbox is all right...
Jokes aside, I'm glad things are moving along for KDE Linux. It's not something I'm personally interested in, but I imagine it's great for KDE devs. Hopefully it's something one could recommend for those who are KDE curios (Kurious?). Maybe we'll even get to see some devices with it pre-installed in the future?
Controversial opinion. I hope his mailbox is all right...
Jokes aside, I'm glad things are moving along for KDE Linux. It's not something I'm personally interested in, but I imagine it's great for KDE devs. Hopefully it's something one could recommend for those who are KDE curios (Kurious?). Maybe we'll even get to see some devices with it pre-installed in the future?
1 Likes
CyborgZeta 15 hours ago
Sounds good to me. If they can come up with an easy way to get Steam going, without using the Flatpak, maybe I could make the switch to KDE Linux. It would be nice to have a "purer" KDE+Plasma experience than what Bazzite offers; hopefully less drama too.
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I love this guy, now watch them implement GLIDE + every D3D version under the sun… 😆
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Hopefully they provide means for those of us that can to make custom images like Bazzite.. the only way I can use Bazzite is via my custom image because its too bloated for my tastes.. KDE Linux though I think will be the opposite of that but I want to be able add performance tweaks under the hood and that will require being able to build my own image because I do think they are going the generic route in that regard.
Last edited by tohur on 9 Feb 2026 at 10:39 pm UTC
Last edited by tohur on 9 Feb 2026 at 10:39 pm UTC
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Quoting: BrokattGraham did say that while they felt Snap actually works "better than Flatpak in some ways""In some ways" being the operative phrase here.
Controversial opinion. I hope his mailbox is all right...
Jokes aside, I'm glad things are moving along for KDE Linux. It's not something I'm personally interested in, but I imagine it's great for KDE devs. Hopefully it's something one could recommend for those who are KDE curios (Kurious?). Maybe we'll even get to see some devices with it pre-installed in the future?
Snaps have had their chance to leave a good impression, and canonical messed that up by shoving them into ubuntu lts's when they weren't ready.
0 Likes
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