A Linux distro has dropped KDE Plasma after 12 years as it tries to escape Systemd
A Linux distro has dropped KDE Plasma after 12 years as it tries to escape Systemd
https://www.xda-developers.com/linux-distro-dropped-kde-plasma-support-tries-to-escape-systemd/
Publish Date: 2026-02-16 02:51:00
Source Domain: www.xda-developers.com
Summary
- KaOS drops KDE Plasma after 12 years, switching to Niri/Noctalia as the default DE.
- KaOS wants to ditch systemd (Plasma requires it); the team is testing Dinit, but ISO still uses systemd for now.
- New defaults include Niri 25.11, Noctalia 4.4, Quickshell 0.2.1, and Limine bootloader; Plasma can be grabbed via repos.
Given how it’s one of my favorite desktop environments, I’m always happy when I hear that a distro has adopted KDE Plasma as its default layout. However, I’ve never seen a dev team go the opposite way until today. As good as I think KDE Plasma is, some teams just don’t want to jump through the hoops that it demands, as proven by one OS that used KDE Plasma for years will now use a different desktop environment.
Related
I switched from GNOME to KDE Plasma and found the one thing I can’t live without
And it has nothing to do with the taskbar
…
Source
