KDE neon

KDE neon

Base logo (many thematic variations also in use)[1]
KDE neon 6.0
Developer	KDE
Written in	C/C++/Qt 6
OS family	Linux (Unix-like)
Working state	Current
Source model	Open source
Initial release	June 8, 2016; 8 years ago (2016-06-08)[2]
Latest release	User Edition: 20240228, based on Ubuntu 22.04 and Plasma 6, kernel Linux 6.5 / 28 February 2024; 6 months ago (2024-02-28)
Repository	community.kde.org/Neon/Git
Marketing target	People who want the newest versions of KDE Plasma
Available in	80 languages[3]
List of languages Afrikaans, Albanian, Amharic, Aragonese, Arabic, Assamese, Asturian, Basque, Belarusian, Bengali, Bokmål, Bosnian, Breton, Bulgarian, Burmese, Catalan, Chinese, Crimean, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Dzongkha, English, Esperanto, Estonian, Finnish, French, Friulian, Gaelic, Galician, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Interlingua, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Kazakh, Khmer, Korean, Kurdish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malay, Malayalam, Mandarin, Marathi, Nepali, Norwegian, Occitan, Oriya, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Tajik, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Uyghur, Vietnamese, Welsh
Update method	APT
Package manager	PackageKit[4]/Discover (GUI)
Platforms	x86-64[5]/AArch64[6]
Kernel type	Monolithic
Userland	GNU, Ubuntu long-term support base
Default user interface	KDE Plasma 6
License	Various open-source licenses, mainly the LGPL-2.1 and GPL-2
Official website	neon.kde.org

KDE neon is a Linux distribution developed by KDE based on Ubuntu long-term support (LTS) releases, bundled with a set of additional software repositories containing the latest versions of the Plasma 6 desktop environment/framework, Qt 6 toolkit and other compatible KDE software.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]} First announced in June 2016 by Kubuntu founder Jonathan Riddell following his departure from Canonical Ltd.,^[14] it has been adopted by a steadily growing number of Linux users, regularly appearing in the Top 20 on DistroWatch.com's popularity tables.^[15]

It is offered in stable and development variants; the User Edition is a stable release featuring the latest KDE packages that have passed their quality assurance, while the Testing, Unstable, and Developer Edition branches use the latest beta and unstable nightly releases of KDE packages (the last of which bundled with KDE development libraries and headers).^[16]

Differences from Kubuntu

Because Kubuntu has the KDE Plasma suite on an Ubuntu base OS, KDE neon often is mistaken for Kubuntu and vice versa. However, the primary difference between the two operating systems is that Kubuntu maintains stable releases and an LTS version of Ubuntu while KDE Neon focuses on updating developer editions of KDE applications without maintaining stable releases of Ubuntu unless the root user actively chooses to upgrade their systems.^[17] KDE neon forces the user to update the distro with PackageKit package instead of Advanced Packaging Tool. This approach prevents possible issues during the KDE packages update.^[18]

Hardware

Five laptops have been released with KDE neon pre-installed: KDE Slimbook (released in March 2017),^[19] KDE Slimbook II (2018),^[20] KDE Slimbook III (2020)^[21], KDE Slimbook IV (2022)^[22] and KDE Slimbook V (2024).^[23]

History and versions

KDE neon first started taking shape in late 2015 as a way to provide a rolling release of KDE software on top of Ubuntu's stable OS base.^[24][25] Daily installation images began being built in January 2016.^[26] These images were based on Ubuntu 15.10, but in April 2016, upgrades to Ubuntu 16.04, which would eventually become the base for the first general release, which happened on 8 June 2016.^[27][2]

KDE neon announced in January 2017 that the distribution will be switching its installer from Ubiquity to Calamares due to Ubiquity "not having some features".^[28][29] In February 2018, KDE neon developers removed the LTS Editions from the downloads page, but kept these editions in the download mirrors because of "lots of people asking which edition to use and what the difference is."^[30] In May 2018, KDE started changing KDE neon from being based on Ubuntu 16.04 to Ubuntu 18.04.^[31] KDE neon preview images, based on Ubuntu 18.04, became available in August 2018.^{[32][33][34][35]} On 10 August 2020, KDE released a rebased version of KDE Neon, based on Ubuntu 20.04.^[36]

As KDE neon is primarily a packaging of KDE software (and occasionally updated dependencies) on top of Ubuntu LTS, its versions are simply numbered off the Plasma release version. However, some notable versions of KDE neon User Edition are listed below to show technical progression.

Version	Release date	Description
Old version, no longer maintained: 5.6	8 June 2016	Based on Ubuntu 16.04 base, using Plasma 5.6. This was the first version of KDE neon considered a general release.[37]
Old version, no longer maintained: 5.13	26 September 2018	neon 5.13 was the first version built both on Ubuntu 16.04 and on 18.04. It was released in June 2018 based only on Ubuntu 16.04, but early tests based on 18.04 were made available in August. The user edition was made upgradeable to 18.04 in September, and in early 2019 the Ubuntu 16.04 based build was discontinued.[38][39][40][41][42][43]
Old version, no longer maintained: 5.15	12 February 2019	Alongside the 5.15.0 release of KDE Plasma, KDE neon upgraded to version 5.15. At this point, KDE neon started making KDE applications available in Snap format as well as the usual deb packages. This also helps make it easier to install the latest KDE applications on other Linux distributions without needing to upgrade other components such as KDE frameworks. KDE Neon still uses apt based packages by default, but the snap packages are built and maintained using the neon build system and their packaging is part of the neon project.[44]
Old version, no longer maintained: 5.19	9 June 2020	After upgrading to KDE Plasma 5.19, neon began the work of porting to Ubuntu 20.04. After testing, the public release of KDE neon officially switched over to Ubuntu 20.04 on 10 August 2020.[45][46][47]
Old version, no longer maintained: 5.20	13 October 2020	The KDE neon 5.20 was released alongside KDE Plasma in October 2020. Although this was a major release for KDE Plasma, KDE neon didn't have any major technical changes other than the version upgrade itself.[48]
Old version, no longer maintained: 5.21	16 February 2021	The latest edition of KDE neon was released alongside KDE Plasma in February 2021. Improvements included a focus on Wayland support, a new application launcher and Plasma System Monitor, aiming to succeed KSysGuard.[49]
Old version, no longer maintained: 5.22	9 June 2021
Old version, no longer maintained: 5.23	14 October 2021[50]
Old version, no longer maintained: 5.24	8 February 2022[51]
Old version, no longer maintained: 5.25	14 June 2022[52]
Old version, no longer maintained: 5.26	11 October 2022[53]	Base update to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. Desktop Environment update to Plasma 5.26.
Old version, no longer maintained: 5.27	14 February 2023[54]	Desktop Environment update to Plasma 5.27.
Current stable version: 6.0	28 February 2024[55]	Desktop Environment upgrade to KDE Plasma 6.
Legend: Old version, not maintained Old version, still maintained Latest version Latest preview version Future release

Fresh installation images are built regularly, grabbing the latest packages from Ubuntu and the latest packages from the KDE neon repositories.

See also

• Graphical user interface

References

1. "KDE neon logo concept". KDE Nextcloud. Archived from the original on 2019-07-09. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
2. "KDE neon User Edition 5.6 Available now". KDE.news. 2016-06-08. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
3. "Packages in "PPA for Ubuntu language pack builders" : PPA for Ubuntu language pack builders : "Ubuntu language pack builders" team". launchpad.net. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
4. "KDE neon FAQ: How do I Update to the Latest Software?". neon.kde.org. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
5. "KDE neon FAQ: Is KDE neon 64-bit only?". neon.kde.org.
6. "KDE neon on the $100 Pinebook". KDE neon Developers' Blog. 22 August 2018. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
7. KDE neon - Weak lighting, Dedoimedo
8. KDE neon 5.12 review - Living on the edge, Dedoimedo
9. DistroWatch. "DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD". distrowatch.com.
10. Lunduke, Bryan (10 February 2016). "KDE's new Linux distro KDE Neon: Terrible idea, or simply a mistake?".
11. Verma, Adarsh (13 October 2017). "KDE Neon 5.11 Linux Distro Released With Latest Plasma Release".
12. KDE Neon 5.11 Is the First Linux Distro to Ship with KDE Plasma 5.11 Desktop, Softpedia News
13. A look at KDE Neon – a minimal mini-distribution - gHacks Tech News
14. "Kubuntu's founder resigns, accuses Canonical of defrauding donors and violating copyright". PCWorld. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
15. "KDE neon". DistroWatch.com. 2019-07-05. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
16. "KDE neon New Edition Names – KDE neon Developers' Blog". 29 March 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
17. ""KDE Neon vs Kubuntu" - KDE Community Forums".
18. "KDE neon". neon.kde.org. Retrieved 2021-09-13.
19. Tung, Liam. "Need a Linux-tuned laptop? New KDE Slimbook aims to make it simpler to drop Windows". ZDNet.
20. Portnoy, Sean. "KDE launches updated Slimbook II Linux laptops with faster Intel Core processors". ZDNet.
21. Sneddon, Joey (22 July 2020). "The 3rd-Gen KDE Slimbook is Here, And Boy is it Powerful". OMG! Ubuntu!.
22. Solca, Bogdan (6 July 2022). "Slimbook readies 4th gen Linux-based KDE laptops powered by AMD's Ryzen 7 5700U". NotebookCheck.net.
23. "Slimbook V - Slimbook & KDE official press release".
24. Riddell, Jonathan (2015-10-05). "[neon] Founding Plan". Retrieved 2020-09-19.
25. "Neon/FoundingPlan - KDE Community Wiki". community.kde.org. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
26. Riddell, Jonathan (2016-01-11). "[neon] Neon Images Appearing". Retrieved 2020-09-19.
27. Riddell, Jonathan (2016-04-12). "[neon] 15.10 -> 16.04 upgrade testing". Retrieved 2020-09-19.
28. KDE neon Inaugurated with Calamares Installer – Jonathan Riddell's Diary
29. KDE Neon Has Stylish New Install Wizard - OMG! Ubuntu!
30. Hiding Neon LTS Edition - KDE neon Developers Blog
31. Moving to Bionic - KDE neon Developers Blog
32. KDE neon Bionic Preview Images Available for Testing - KDE neon Developers Blog
33. Neon/BionicRebase - KDE Community Wiki
34. KDE Neon Operating System Is Moving to Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver), Softpedia News
35. KDE Neon Powered By Ubuntu 18.04 LTS Now Available For Testing - Phoronix
36. KDE Neon Rebased On Ubuntu 20.04
37. "KDE neon User Edition 5.6 Available now". KDE.news. 2016-06-08. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
38. "Plasma 5.13 Out – KDE neon Developers' Blog". 2018-06-13. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
39. "KDE neon Bionic Preview Images Available for Testing – KDE neon Developers' Blog". 2018-08-08. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
40. "KDE neon on Ubuntu 18.04 "bionic" Upgrade Open for Testing – KDE neon Developers' Blog". 2019-09-05. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
41. "KDE neon Rebased on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS "Bionic Beaver"". KDE.news. 2018-09-26. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
42. "KDE Neon Now Based on Ubuntu 18.04 'Bionic Beaver'". OMG! Ubuntu!. 2018-09-26. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
43. Nestor, Marius (2019-02-14). "KDE neon Systems Based on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Have Reached End of Life, Upgrade Now". softpedia. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
44. "KDE Applications 19.04 Available for all Distros Through the Snap Store – KDE neon Developers' Blog". 2019-04-18. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
45. "KDE neon Rebased on 20.04 – KDE neon Developers' Blog". 2020-08-10. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
46. Nestor, Marius (2020-08-10). "KDE neon Is Now Based on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa)". 9to5Linux. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
47. "KDE Neon 20.04 is Out, Available to Download Now". OMG! Ubuntu!. 2020-08-10. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
48. "KDE Plasma 5.20 Looks Like an Awesome Update". OMG! Ubuntu!. 2020-09-17. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
49. "We made something pretty". KDE Org. 2021-02-16. Retrieved 2021-02-20.
50. Plasma - 25th Anniversary Edition on kde.org
51. Plasma 5.24 - Perfect Harmony on kde.org
52. Plasma 5.25 - New Looks on kde.org
53. Plasma 5.26 - All About the Widgets on kde.org
54. Plasma 5.27 - The 'KDE 💖 Free Software' Edition on kde.org
55. "KDE neon 6 Available Now – KDE neon Developers' Blog". 2024-02-28. Retrieved 2024-02-29.

External links

• Official website
• KDE neon at DistroWatch