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Over the past week, discussion has grown around the new Plasma Login Manager introduced with KDE Plasma 6.6, which now requires systemd. Shortly after its release, KaOS unexpectedly announced that it would move away from Plasma as its default desktop environment.
This marks a major shift. For 12 years, KaOS has built its identity around KDE as its primary — and only — desktop, promoting itself as a Qt-focused, GTK-free distribution.
While not directly responding to KaOS, KDE later clarified its position on the broader systemd discussion. A few days afterward, KaOS published its own detailed explanation.
According to the KaOS team, the turning point was upstream changes in systemd. Version 254 was the last to fully support KaOS’s split /usr design, and later releases removed compatibility paths important to the distro. Although experiments with Dinit as an alternative init system began in 2025, the transition proved complex.
At the same time, the KaOS developers observed KDE becoming increasingly dependent on systemd. Components such as DrKonqi and the new Plasma Login Manager now require it, while non-systemd setups are treated as legacy. Maintaining a non-systemd base while keeping full Plasma support was expected to become progressively harder.
As a result, KaOS chose to change its desktop rather than its core system design. The 2026.02 release removes Plasma from the default ISO and introduces Niri alongside the Qt-based Noctalia shell. Plasma remains available in the repositories, but this decision effectively ends KaOS’s 12-year KDE Plasma chapter and signals a new direction for the distribution.
For full details, refer to the official KaOS announcement.
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