With the switch to version 6 of the application framework Qt, which is used for the cross-platform development of user interfaces, the KaOS developers are preparing their distribution for a change from the plasma desktop to the Qt 6 basis. A number of applications in KaOS are already based on Qt 6. For the first time on board are Stacer, a graphical tool for managing systemd services and IsoWriter as KaOS’s own start media producer.

The independent Linux distribution KaOS provides updates on an ongoing basis, usually according to the rolling release model. New packages are imported with the Pacman package manager known from Arch Linux. However, the developers publish snapshots in the form of ISO files at regular intervals to make the installation easier for newcomers.

Qt 6 and new applications On the KaOS website the project gives an overview of the innovations. The current KaOS snapshot contains the first applications that are based on the Qt 6 framework, for example the music player Strawberry forked by Clementine and the Qsynth synthesizer. In addition, the components of the PyQt stack, such as Sip 6, PyQt Builder and PyQt 6.0.0, are based on the new framework. The packages of the plasma desktop Plasma 5. 20. 5, Frameworks 5. 78. 0 and the KDE Application Suite 5. 15. 2 are all based on Qt 5. 15. 2. KaOS 2021. 01 comes with Linux kernel 5. 10. 6.

The new KaOS 2021. 01 has some new applications in its luggage, such as the matrix client NeoChat or the Barrier program, with which several systems in the network can be connected with a mouse and control keyboard. KaOS uses systemd-boot as a boot loader for UEFI installations. Stacer replaces systemd-kcm as a tool for the graphical administration of systemd services and also functions as a system monitor.

Stacer serves as a system monitor and can systemd – Manage services and startup programs.

New tricks when installing the system KaOS sets on the distribution-agnostic installer Calamares, whose partition module has mastered “Split Encryption” since version 3.2. 35. The feature allows users to encrypt the hard drive when installing KaOS, / boot but leave it unencrypted. The user module now offers a more detailed management of the user groups.

The in-house startup media producer IsoWriter can delete the partition data of a USB stick that has served its purpose as an installation medium. This should simplify the subsequent reformatting so that users can use the stick again for regular data transfer. If required, IsoWriter can check the integrity of the start medium by comparing the MD5 hashes of the ISO file and the written image. This verification can also be carried out via the context menu of the Dolphin file manager.

Clear objective According to its own presentation on the project page, the KaOS project does not pursue the goal of providing the widest possible range of software and desktop environments. Instead, the developers are “focusing on a DE (KDE Plasma), a toolkit (Qt), an architecture (x 86 _ 64) “.

The developers advise against this in the installation instructions to use the startup media creators Rufus and UNetbootin. In a short experiment, the ISO image could be written to a USB stick with Linux using the dd command or the Etcher tool. An installation of KaOS on systems with RAID is currently not possible. Those interested can find further innovations in the release announcement. KaOS 2021. 01 is available as a direct download on the project page.

(ndi)