The free Linux desktop KDE Plasma will be switched to version 6.x of the Qt GUI toolkit and application framework with version 6.0, which is expected for next spring. Before that, two more releases of the desktop based on Qt 5.x will appear with KDE Plasma 5.26 and 5.27 LTS.
As part of the KDE developer conference Akademy 2022 in Barcelona, the members of the KDE project's KDE community have now defined the framework for the roadmap for the release of KDE Plasma 6 based on Qt 6, as the Linuxnews.de website reports. Before that, KDE Plasma 5.26 and KDE Plasma 5.27 LTS are two more editions with Qt 5 on the roadmap.
KDE Plasma 5.26, 5.27 LTS and 6.0
While the next KDE Plasma 5.26, scheduled for release on October 11th, heralds the switch to the KDE Frameworks 5.99, KDE Plasma 5.27 is the new LTS release, replacing the KDE Plasma 5.24 LTS and the release of KDE Plasma 6 is also supported.
- KDE Plasma 5.26 (Qt 5) → October 11, 2022
- KDE Plasma 5.27 LTS (Qt 5) → early 2023
- KDE Plasma 6.0 (Qt 6) → Spring 2023
In 2023 the focus is on KDE Plasma 6
In addition, the KDE Frameworks in versions 5.100 and 5.101 are planned for early November and early December respectively, before the focus shifts more and more to KDE Plasma 6. The work on porting the frameworks and libraries to Qt 6, which has now reached version 6.4, is scheduled to begin in January.
Fedora and Kubuntu as candidates
The first customers for KDE Plasma 6 are the KDE spin of Fedora 38 and the official Ubuntu derivative Kubuntu 23.04. Initially, the new desktop will also be available in KDE neon and KaOS.
For more information, see the KDE developer conference post and the official Qt toolkits YouTube channel.