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 [2] |
Latest release | User Edition: 20240228, based on Ubuntu 22.04 and Plasma 6, kernel Linux 6.5 / 28 February 2024 |
Repository | community |
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 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]
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]
Four 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] and KDE Slimbook IV (2022). [22]
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. [23] [24] Daily installation images began being built in January 2016. [25] 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. [26] [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". [27] [28] 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." [29] In May 2018, KDE started changing KDE neon from being based on Ubuntu 16.04 to Ubuntu 18.04. [30] KDE neon preview images, based on Ubuntu 18.04, became available in August 2018. [31] [32] [33] [34] On 10 August 2020, KDE released a rebased version of KDE Neon, based on Ubuntu 20.04. [35]
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 |
---|---|---|
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. [36] |
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. [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] |
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. [43] |
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. [44] [45] [46] |
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. [47] |
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. [48] |
5.22 | 9 June 2021 | |
5.23 | 14 October 2021 [49] | |
5.24 | 8 February 2022 [50] | |
5.25 | 14 June 2022 [51] | |
5.26 | 11 October 2022 [52] | Base update to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. Desktop Environment update to Plasma 5.26. |
5.27 | 14 February 2023 [53] | Desktop Environment update to Plasma 5.27. |
6.0 | 28 February 2024 [54] | Desktop Environment upgrade to KDE Plasma 6. |
Legend: Old version Older 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.
Ubuntu is a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed mostly of free and open-source software. Ubuntu is officially released in multiple editions: Desktop, Server, and Core for Internet of things devices and robots. The operating system is developed by the British company Canonical, and a community of other developers, under a meritocratic governance model. As of April 2024, the most-recent release is and the current long-term support release is 24.04.
Kubuntu is an official flavor of the Ubuntu operating system that uses the KDE Plasma Desktop instead of the GNOME desktop environment. As part of the Ubuntu project, Kubuntu uses the same underlying systems. Kubuntu shares the same repositories as Ubuntu and is released regularly on the same schedule as Ubuntu.
Edubuntu, previously known as Ubuntu Education Edition, is an official derivative of the Ubuntu operating system designed for use in classrooms inside schools, homes and communities.
Xubuntu is a Canonical Ltd.–recognized, community-maintained derivative of the Ubuntu operating system. The name Xubuntu is a portmanteau of Xfce and Ubuntu, as it uses the Xfce desktop environment, instead of Ubuntu's customized GNOME desktop.
Linux Mint is a community-driven Linux distribution based on Ubuntu, bundled with a variety of free and open-source applications. It can provide full out-of-the-box multimedia support for those who choose to include proprietary software such as multimedia codecs. Compared to Ubuntu, it uses the Cinnamon interface in the most popular edition, using a different, more traditional layout that can be customized by dragging the applets and creating panels. New applets can also be downloaded.
Ubuntu releases are made semiannually by Canonical Ltd, its developers, using the year and month of the release as a version number. The first Ubuntu release, for example, was Ubuntu 4.10 and was released on 20 October 2004. Consequently, version numbers for future versions are provisional; if the release is delayed until a different month than planned, the version number will change accordingly.
Ubiquity is the default installer for Ubuntu and its derivatives. It is run from the Live CD or USB and can be triggered to run from the options on the device or on the desktop of the Live mode. It was first introduced in Ubuntu 6.06 LTS "Dapper Drake". At program start, it allows the user to change the language to a local language if they prefer. It is designed to be easy to use.
Lubuntu is a lightweight Linux distribution based on Ubuntu that uses the LXQt desktop environment in place of GNOME. Lubuntu was originally touted as being "lighter, less resource hungry and more energy-efficient", but now aims to be "a functional yet modular distribution focused on getting out of the way and letting users use their computer".
Unity is a graphical shell for the GNOME desktop environment originally developed by Canonical Ltd. for its Ubuntu operating system. It debuted in 2010 in the netbook edition of Ubuntu 10.10 and was used until Ubuntu 17.10. Since 2017, its development was taken over by the Unity7 Maintainers (Unity7) and UBports.
elementary OS is a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu LTS. It promotes itself as a "thoughtful, capable, and ethical" replacement to macOS and Windows and has a pay-what-you-want model. The operating system, the desktop environment, and accompanying applications are developed and maintained by elementary, Inc.
Ubuntu Kylin is the official Chinese version of the Ubuntu computer operating system. It is intended for desktop and laptop computers, and has been described as a "loose continuation of the Chinese Kylin OS". In 2013, Canonical Ltd. reached an agreement with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to co-create and release an Ubuntu-based operating system with features targeted at the Chinese market.
KDE Plasma 5 is the fifth generation of the KDE Plasma graphical workspaces environment, created by KDE primarily for Linux systems. KDE Plasma 5 is the successor of KDE Plasma 4 and was first released on 15 July 2014. It was succeeded by KDE Plasma 6 on 28 February 2024.
Ubuntu MATE is a free and open-source Linux distribution and an official derivative of Ubuntu. Its main differentiation from Ubuntu is that it uses the MATE desktop environment as its default user interface, instead of the GNOME 3 desktop environment that is the default user interface for Ubuntu.
Snap is a software packaging and deployment system developed by Canonical for operating systems that use the Linux kernel and the systemd init system. The packages, called snaps, and the tool for using them, snapd, work across a range of Linux distributions and allow upstream software developers to distribute their applications directly to users. Snaps are self-contained applications running in a sandbox with mediated access to the host system. Snap was originally released for cloud applications but was later ported to also work for Internet of Things devices and desktop applications.
Ubuntu Budgie is an official community flavor of Ubuntu. It combines the Ubuntu-based system with the independently developed Budgie desktop environment.
Ubuntu is a Debian-based Linux distribution for personal computers, tablets and smartphones, where the Ubuntu Touch edition is used; and also runs network servers, usually with the Ubuntu Server edition, either on physical or virtual servers or with containers, that is with enterprise-class features.
Pop!_OS is a free and open-source Linux distribution, based on Ubuntu, and featuring a customized GNOME desktop environment known as COSMIC. The distribution is developed by American Linux computer manufacturer System76. Pop!_OS is primarily built to be bundled with the computers built by System76, but can also be downloaded and installed on most computers.
Q4OS is a light-weight Linux distribution, based on Debian, targeted as a replacement for operating systems that are no longer supported on outdated hardware. The distribution is known for an addon called XPQ4, which adds themes intended to replicate the look and feel of Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
Plasma is a graphical shell developed by KDE for Unix-like operating systems. Plasma is a standard desktop interface. It was declared mature with the release of KDE SC 4.2. It is designed for desktop PCs and larger laptops. In its default configuration it resembles KDesktop from K Desktop Environment 3, and Microsoft Windows XP; however extensive configurability allows radical departures from the default layout.