The KDE Project has announced the alpha release of the KDE Linux distribution, a new Linux-based operating system aimed at its enthusiastic community and KDE Plasma developers. This effort marks a significant step as it showcases the latest in-development versions of the KDE Plasma desktop environment alongside KDE applications.
While KDE has previously provided KDE neon, which is based on Ubuntu, KDE Linux opts for a foundation built on Arch Linux, despite not being classified as an Arch-based distro. Its design features an immutable base that allows users to incorporate additional packages and make system modifications via the systemd-sysext command.
KDE Linux primarily relies on Flatpak for its applications, while core KDE apps such as Dolphin and Konsole are compiled from source. The system supports AppImages and container technology, and users are encouraged to build applications from their source.
For file management, KDE Linux employs Btrfs as its default file system, with Wayland serving as the display server and PipeWire managing sound services. Notably, it does not include a default package manager; instead, users must utilize the Plasma Discover application for installing and updating software.
The hardware requirements are specific, supporting only UEFI-enabled computers with Intel or AMD processors. It is not compatible with Secure Boot and presents challenges for machines using proprietary NVIDIA drivers for GPUs older than pre-Turing. Users with legacy NVIDIA systems will have to enable the Nouveau driver manually.
The release is currently intended for dedicated KDE enthusiasts and developers. An alpha version can be downloaded from the official website. Setup involves writing the RAW image to a USB flash drive, with no option to operate it within a virtual machine at this stage. Caution is advised against using this pre-release version in production environments.