KaOS begins tearing systemd apart after dropping KDE Plasma last month
KaOS begins tearing systemd apart after dropping KDE Plasma last month
Publish Date: 2026-03-29 00:44:00
Source Domain: www.xda-developers.com
Summary
- KaOS stops shipping KDE Plasma by default, shifting to Niri and Noctalia; Plasma can still be installed from repos.
- 2026.03 removes systemd-boot and mkinitcpio; KaOS now uses Limine and Dracut while systemd remains present.
- VLC replaced by phonon-mpv as Phonon backend; SDDM 0.20 can run Wayland, 0.21 will default to Wayland.
KaOS, a 12-year partner of KDE Plasma, shook the Linux world last month after it dropped the desktop environment in exchange for Niri and Noctalia. The development team cited issues with systemd and stated that, because “Plasma pretty much demands Systemd,” it would be scrapping Plasma in exchange for Niri. Now, the dev team has begun dismantling systemd from KaOS, and while it’s not completely gone yet, the team is making progress.
Related
KaOS just ditched KDE Plasma, and the replacement is unlike anything else on Linux
It certainly has a unique look and feel now.
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