KaOS 2026.02 and KDE Plasma
KaOS 2026.02 and KDE Plasma Table of contents:- KDE Plasma and systemd What this means for users and distro maintainers Conclusion KaOS’s February 2026 ISO is a deliberate experiment : the project shipped a live image that replaces the long‑standing KDE Plasma desktop with a niri/Noctalia Wayland‑based shell, while keeping the distribution firmly Qt‑focused and free of GTK. This is not a sudden abandonment of KDE technology so much as a practical response to an ongoing discussion about init systems. The KaOS team explains the change as part of exploring alternatives to systemd — trials with Dinit and a niri/Noctalia desktop shell have been used to see whether KaOS can maintain its Qt/KDE application set without depending on systemd. At the same time, Plasma 6 remains available in KaOS repositories for users who prefer it, so the ISO is best read as a testbed rather than a permanent fork. Beyond the desktop swap, the 2026.02 image brings a number of technical updates. ...
