Plasma 6 has officially landed in Arch Linux’s stable repositories just nine days after its launch, marking a significant update to KDE’s desktop environment.
This release, part of the KDE MegaRelease 6, includes updates not only to Plasma but also to KDE Frameworks and the KDE Gear apps collection, providing users with a wide range of improvements and new features across the entire KDE ecosystem.
Even though we’ve covered the essentials in our humble article on the topic, we thought it’d be handy to summarize everything below. So, here’s what you’re getting with the Plasma 6 release:
- Build on top of the Qt 6.6 and Frameworks 6
- Wayland as display server protocol by default
- The latest in the KDE Gear 24.02 app collection
- New floating panels and redesigned panel’s settings
- Return of the Desktop Cube effect
- New Overview effect
- Settings to choose your preferred sound theme
- New default Task Switcher
- More relevant Accent Colors
- Improved search functionalities and better Night Light
- Accessibility improvements
As you may have noticed from the image above, Arch users get the Plasma 6.0.1 update, launched just yesterday as the first minor bugfix for stable version 6. So, once again, the distro is leading the pack among the big Linux names, bringing this fresh desktop vibe to its users first.
This isn’t a surprise, considering Arch’s rolling nature, but it’s another reminder of how Arch’s developers go the extra mile to ensure their users get the best first.
For all fellow Plasma enthusiasts, you’re probably no stranger to this command. It’s your go-to for keeping systems fresh and up-to-date. So, when you’re ready to embrace the new version of Plasma along with any other updates your system needs, just a friendly reminder of that familiar Pacman’s command:
sudo pacman -SyuInstalling it is a breeze for the others, ready to jump in and experience everything Plasma 6 offers. Simply type in:
sudo pacman -S plasma-meta kde-applications-metaSo, as always, the beloved Arch Linux continues to stay at the forefront, offering its users the latest and greatest. So, dive in, give Plasma 6 a try, and experience the difference for yourself. Oh, I almost forgot, “BTW, I use Arch,” too.
“Wayland as display server protocol by default” – A complete tragedy for me !!!
“Return of the Desktop Cube effect” – Meta+C not working without response
Both thermal widgets do not work etc. etc. I’m wondering what to do….
I’ll admit, I missed the change to Wayland by default, and logged in to a very broken desktop…however changing to X11 in SDDM was an easy thing to do once I realized. The tragedy is that KDE has already announced that they will be discontinuing support for X11 entirely in the future. I’ve been using KDE for many many years, but when X11 support is gone, so am I. I have a number of programs and scripts that rely on X11, and KDE devs trying to use their userbase clout to force a change of that scale on users is a quick reminder of why I left Windows to begin with. They may as well say, “There’s things we don’t like about the Linux kernel, so we’re just going to discontinue support until people switch to HURD or some other kernel.” There’s a lot to love about KDE, but I hate Wayland more than I love KDE, and I’ll always choose Freedom over Convenience.
I’m currently running Arch Linux with Cinnamon DE.
Today I tried several times to replace Cinnamon DE with Plasma 6, failed after installation…
Maybe I’m wrong somewhere or there is still some kind of error in the Plasma DE itself?