14 DAY TRIAL // Kubuntu developers are working hard these days to backport the latest KDE Plasma 5.8.8 LTS desktop environment to the repositories of Kubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) operating system.
They recently put up a testing backports repository for Kubuntu 16.04 LTS and they now need your help to install those packages containing the KDE Plasma 5.8.8 LTS desktop environment and Krita 3.3.1 digital painting app, and report any issues you might encounter.
At the moment, the Kubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) repositories contain the KDE Plasma 5.8.7 LTS and Krita 3.2.1 packages, so installing the versions prepared in the testing backports PPA will overwrite any previous ones.
"Have you been using the Kubuntu Backports PPA on Kubuntu 16.04 LTS? Help us test the latest release of KDE Plasma LTS and Krita 3.3.1," said the devs. "Our goal is to release these updates to users on Saturday, November 4, 2017, barring any issues."
Here's how to update to KDE Plasma 5.8.8 LTS right now
If you can't wait until November 4 to install the latest KDE Plasma 5.8.8 LTS desktop environment and Krita 3.3.1 digital painting program on your Kubuntu 16.04 LTS computer, you can get a head start by installing them from the Kubuntu Backports PPA.
To install Kubuntu Backports PPA, simply open Konsole or any other terminal emulator and run the first command listed below. Once that's done, run the second command listed below to refresh the repositories and install any available updates.
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports -y
sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade
When every package was successfully install, make sure you log out of your current session and log back in, or just reboot your machine. Then run the commands below to install the Backports Landing PPA, which currently contains KDE Plasma 5.8.8 LTS and Krita 3.3.1.
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports-landing -y
sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade