The developers of KDE Plasma are conducting some tests on their desktop environment, as they intend to distribute KDE Plasma using Snap packages.
This could be quite beneficial for many users, as it allows for rollbacks, faster updates, and much more.
Today, the direction that software in the Linux world is taking is very interesting , as it seems that one of the big problems is finally being addressed.
Well, when it comes to the distribution and installation of applications within the different Linux distributions, it is a thing of the past.
Since both Snap, Flatpak and AppImage have taken a lot of relevance in terms of software distribution in Linux.
In this context we have 3 main aspects.
- Snap packages, originating from Canonical and used by default in Ubuntu.
- The packages Flatpak, especially maintained by the GNOME community and some companies, like Red Hat.
- Y finally AppImage packages, an excellent community project and that makes the applications extremely portable.
Regardless of personal preferences for these types of formats, Snaps seem to be gaining ground where Flatpaks are not yet making inroads.
And it seems that Snap packages are being well received within the corporate market.
With closed source and open source applications, as well as commercial applications, among others, however, Snaps are moving into a segment that Flatpaks do not seem to care much about: the composition of a system.
Several interesting things can be done through Snaps , such as making a Kernel, a Driver, or an entire interface available, while Flatpaks are more restricted to more traditional applications.
KDE Plasma in Snap format
And as mentioned at the beginning, the KDE developers are carrying out a very interesting experiment.
The plan is to distribute its environment using a Snap package, which makes this quite interesting.
Obviously, it will continue to be distributed in other ways, but the idea of ​​packaging it in Snap allows for very simple updates and rollbacks for end users.
Initially, KDE developers pointed to Snap packages as a simple way to test the latest innovations that have been developed without the need to compile the source code.
How to install KDE Plasma as Snap (experimental)?
Now you should know that it is possible to install the desktop environment within your Linux distribution.
However, they should keep in mind that for the moment it is an experimental package, so those who wish to try the environment in this format may find some errors.
And with this they will also have the possibility of being able to support with the reports about these errors.
To install the environment , you must have Snap support on your system ; in the case of Ubuntu, this is already included by default (in the last two versions).
To install the environment in our system we only have to open a terminal and in it they must type the following command:
snap install --edge --devmode de plasma-desktop
After that, you need to add a .desktop file inside the "xsessions" folder so you can access your login screen's Plasma (Wayland is not currently supported):
sudo wget https://metadata.neon.kde.org/snap/plasma-snap.desktop -O /usr/share/xsessions/plasma-snap.desktop
After that addition, just log out of your system and on the login screen you should find the option to log in with the Plasma session.
How to remove KDE Plasma installed by Snap package?
To remove the KDE Plasma desktop environment from your system, simply remove the files that you added within "xsessions".
/usr/share/xsessions/plasma-snap.desktop
And also remove the Snap normally.
If you would like to learn more about this new project being carried out by the KDE developers, you can visit the following link.