KDE Responds to FUD Over Alleged systemd Mandate

In a development that surprised some—but perhaps not others—the KaOS Linux distribution, long recognized for its strong alignment with the KDE Plasma desktop, recently announced plans to move away from it. The stated reason? KDE’s reliance on systemd within a specific component.

The news quickly gained attention across the Linux community, prompting KDE contributors to respond and clarify the situation. In a post on KDE’s Reddit community titled “A quick anti-FUD FAQ to debunk ‘the KDE is forcing systemd!’ hoax”, a contributor addressed what they described as misinformation and outlined exactly where systemd is—and is not—required.

What’s Actually Changing in Plasma 6.6?

Plasma 6.6, scheduled for release on February 17, introduces a new component: the Plasma Login Manager (PLM). This new login manager is intended to eventually replace the long-standing SDDM.

However, PLM includes functional dependencies on systemd. As a result, Linux distributions that do not use systemd—as well as BSD-based systems—will not be able to use this new login manager.

That said, this dependency applies strictly to PLM itself.

Users remain free to continue using SDDM or any other compatible login manager to start Plasma. In fact, Plasma can still be launched directly from the terminal if preferred. The systemd requirement is limited exclusively to the new login manager and does not extend to the Plasma desktop environment as a whole.

No Plans to Make Plasma Core Dependent on systemd

Importantly, KDE has made it clear that there are no plans to introduce systemd dependencies into Plasma’s core components. The desktop environment will continue to function on systemd-free Linux distributions and non-Linux platforms such as FreeBSD, just as it does today.

In other words, Plasma itself remains fully usable across Linux and BSD systems. The only limitation is that non-systemd platforms won’t be able to use PLM—at least for now.

Why This Matters

To understand the reaction, it helps to consider the broader context. Systemd has long been a divisive subject within the Linux community. While many distributions embrace it, others explicitly avoid it, and an entire ecosystem of systemd-free distributions has emerged around that philosophy.

Looking at GNOME—the other major desktop environment—it’s clear that systemd integration runs much deeper there. GNOME, like systemd, has historically benefited from significant backing by Red Hat, making the dependency feel both natural and expected. For many, that integration has become a settled matter.

KDE, by contrast, has traditionally maintained greater independence from corporate influence. This autonomy has allowed the project to follow its own technical direction and has earned it considerable goodwill within open-source circles.

For that reason, even a limited systemd dependency—such as the one introduced with PLM—was enough to raise eyebrows.

The Bottom Line

If systemd were ever to become a hard requirement for the Plasma desktop itself, that would be a fundamentally different conversation. But that is not the case today, and KDE has explicitly stated there are no such plans.

At the end of the day, Plasma remains fully functional across Linux and BSD platforms. Some users may not be able to adopt the new Plasma Login Manager, but it is ultimately just a login manager. The desktop environment itself remains unaffected—a careful and measured approach by the KDE developers.