I don't see why you'd have to stop using your GTK apps if you switch to KDE, any more than Cinnamon stops you from running Qt apps.

I just checked the Cinnamon repo. They have an issue for Wayland status that was last updated in 2018. It will be great once this Wayland transition is properly behind us.

Quoting: GuppyI normally use Linux mint Cinnamon, how ever of late I keep running into the wall of "thats only possible in wayland, not X"

So I'm wondering if there is any distros out there that is stable enough for everyday work use that is wayland based and that is at least gnome 2 like ?

From my own research ( read; casual googling )

- Gnome 41 is trying to even ban themes, and the default is trying to be OSX
- KDE might be an option, I'd have to switch away from all gtk based apps I'm currently using?
- Cinnamon can't be bothered with wayland as they dont belive it's a mature project

so that leaves what.. ?

Mate is based off of Gnome and has some support for Wayland. I'd give it a try.

Quoting: tuubiI don't see why you'd have to stop using your GTK apps if you switch to KDE, any more than Cinnamon stops you from running Qt apps.

I don't know - last i tired KDE it looked like windows xp on drugs and installing something that pulled in gtk packages I broke the distro so basly I had to do a reinstall.

Guess I'm asking if there is usable interoperability between gtk/gnome apps and KDE theese days 😁

I find that some packages have a package_name-qt build. I would try those wherever possible.

Quoting: Guppy

Quoting: tuubiI don't see why you'd have to stop using your GTK apps if you switch to KDE, any more than Cinnamon stops you from running Qt apps.

I don't know - last i tired KDE it looked like windows xp on drugs and installing something that pulled in gtk packages I broke the distro so basly I had to do a reinstall.

Guess I'm asking if there is usable interoperability between gtk/gnome apps and KDE theese days 😁

Both Qt & GTK do a pretty good job of emulating (or rather adapting) the other's look nowadays, as long as you don't stray from the *default* themes (Breeze for KDE/Qt; Adwaita for GNOME/GTK). You may have to install an extra package (e.g. on Fedora, libadwaita-qt{5,6}; and breeze-gtk); but there's no additional setup to do. (As usual, on KDE you *can* tweak things if you like.)

Last edited by walther von stolzing on 19 Nov 2021 at 12:58 am UTC

Yeah, I've mixed and matched GTK and Qt apps on both KDE and XFCE.
The only complaint I can imagine is that depending on the app it might bring in a ton of dependencies, or it might not totally match the system theme/style perfectly.

It's there a specific gtk app you can't live without? KDE had a very robust array of apps. I find the general ones pretty similar in terms of features.

There's a thread here talking about Wayland ready DE's (there aren't many) and another talking about a bug with KDE's Wayland, FYI.

Quoting: denyasisIt's there a specific gtk app you can't live without? KDE had a very robust array of apps. I find the general ones pretty similar in terms of features.

having recently done a complete reinstall I've a fairly good overview over which programs I absolutely need to do my job - the rest being the "suger on top" which could conceivably be replaced by something else;

• network-manager-fortisslvpn-gnome, it's "just" a frontend for openfortivpn but not having to muck about on the command line when connecting to the various company nets is golden.


• geany - even though I use vscode for 90% of my work, you can beat geany for working with very large files


• Gimp


• Darktable

🤔 I honestly expected the list to be a whole lot longer

Before I pull the 1 gig of data kde-full requires to have it as an alternative desktop on mint, is there a significant difference between KDE 5.18 and 5.23 ?

I'd prefer to avoid another complete reinstall, but on the other hand if wayland/pirewire/etc is only fully supported in 5.23 then there isn't much point in wasting time with an 'older' version ;)

Quoting: GuppyBefore I pull the 1 gig of data kde-full requires to have it as an alternative desktop on mint

I would not recommend installing KDE on Linux Mint. Using openSUSE might be easier because it supports multiple DEs on one system. Or you might try a DIY distro like Arch, Gentoo or Slackware.

Quoting: GuppyI'd prefer to avoid another complete reinstall

Then create an external backup with Timeshift. If sonething breaks, restore from backup and continue as if nothing has happened!

Quoting: GuppyKDE 5.18 and 5.23

There are some differences between the two, it is worth trying.
I am currently on KDE with wayland and I mix GTK apps (Firefox, LibreOffice), Qt apps and an app from Enlightenment (Terminology). Only problem I had was GTK apps opening with ~25 sec delay which was resolved by uninstalling xdg-desktop-portal.

Quoting: mr-victoryI would not recommend installing KDE on Linux Mint. Using openSUSE might be easier because it supports multiple DEs on one system. Or you might try a DIY distro like Arch, Gentoo or Slackware.

Not to hijavk this thread to much, but could you explain your reasoning behind this? I've not used mint in a long long time, but shouldn't the season be an option when logging in on the DM? I'm genuinely curious.

Quoting: GuppyBefore I pull the 1 gig of data kde-full requires to have it as an alternative desktop on mint, is there a significant difference between KDE 5.18 and 5.23 ?

I must confess I'm on a different distro, which is rolling, so I have the newest version. If you're able to get it, that's what I would use. Wayland in KDE isn't perfect, so a newer version should have better support.

I'm also sure you know this, but just to throw it out there, KDE has a ton of... Suite programs (?). If your looking for a small install, it might be worth making sure apt isn't pulling in "recommends" or "suggested". I literally had to blacklist the zypper equivalent of meta packages, because it wanted to pull in a ton of extra KDE apps I did not need.

I do know GIMP works fine in KDE. It was installed by default on my system.

Last edited by denyasis on 19 Nov 2021 at 4:03 pm UTC

Therotically yes but KDE is not among supported DEs in Linux Mint. KDE might be buggy if it works or trying to install KDE might break the installation. But provided you have a good backup I don’t think it is a bad idea to try out.

**AFTER CREATING A BACKUP** I installed the kde-full package on my Linux Mint installation and I have good news for you: There is no wayland session. And X11 session was buggy. Installing Plasma on Linux Mint looks like a dead end. Look for another distro that will provide you up-to-date Plasma.

Quoting: mr-victory**AFTER CREATING A BACKUP** I installed the kde-full package on my Linux Mint installation and I have good news for you: There is no wayland session. And X11 session was buggy. Installing Plasma on Linux Mint looks like a dead end. Look for another distro that will provide you up-to-date Plasma.

What's your display driver, btw? If the session manager doesn't even give the wayland option it might be nvidia — which *still* needs tinkering to work on wayland, even on GNOME. (Sway launches with funny warnings [things to the tune of 'You're using nvidia do you REALLY want to do this? You probably shouldn't']; but crashes soon after. Wayfire [really interesting window manager] doesn't launch at all.)

Also take a look at this: https://community.kde.org/Plasma/Wayland_Showstoppers
KDE has been making good progress on wayland, but it really isn't there yet for daily use.

This fellow from the Fedora KDE team gives a clear overview of the state of affairs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwQkZAH_G1M

-- KDE needs a bit more work; and IIRC Qt also needs a patch.

Last edited by walther von stolzing on 19 Nov 2021 at 7:45 pm UTC

Quoting: wvstolzing[...]take a look at this: https://community.kde.org/Plasma/Wayland_Showstoppers
KDE has been making good progress on wayland, but it really isn't there yet for daily use.

This fellow from the Fedora KDE team gives a clear overview of the state of affairs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwQkZAH_G1M

-- KDE needs a bit more work; and IIRC Qt also needs a patch.

(Emphasis mine)
Guess I have my answer, thanks 👍