An experimental script to switch System76's Pop!_OS Linux 22.04 to KDE.
The default Pop!_OS desktop is a heavily customized version of Gnome. This script replaces it with the latest KDE Plasma available in the Ubuntu repositories (5.24). For a more recent version, please see Later KDE Versions below.
[!WARNING] This script may break things!
Report any problems you find on this repo. See Issues below for more information.
Make sure you have the following:
sudo apt upgrade
or via the Pop ShopStart a terminal session on the target system in one of the following ways:
cd
to directory you downloaded it to
Run the script
Wait for a few minutes as gdm (Gnome Display Manager) is replaced with sddm
If you aren't running the install remotely, the screen may go black. If this does not resolve after a few minutes, you may need to reboot the system by using the power button.
After rebooting, you should be presented with an sddm log-in screen.
You may also want to take the following optional steps below.
You can optionally free up disk space by removing old packages:
apt --dry-run autoremove
to check which packages will be auto-removedsudo apt-mark
to mark any you'd like to keepsudo apt autoremove
to begin cleanupDepending on what you choose to keep, this can free up at least a few hundred MB of disk space.
To maximize media and game performance, Pop!_OS ships with:
Since you've replaced the desktop, you may need a KDE-specific plugin to use the scheduler to the fullest. Install instructions and source for one are located here: https://github.com/maxiberta/kwin-system76-scheduler-integration
Pop!_OS offers optimizations other Linux distros do not.
This script may break or interfere with their underlying assumptions.
If you notice a problem or opportunity for improvement, please help fix it! This repo accepts:
Do not expect support from System76 or the general Pop!_OS community.
These scripts revive an earlier experiment with converting Pop!_OS to use KDE as the default desktop. The project builds on the contributions of the following:
[!WARNING] These are known to break installs as of the last test!
We welcome pull requests to fix it.
If you still want to try to install a KDE Plasma 5 desktop than 5.24, the Kubuntu Backports ppa may provide a foundation to start tinkering.
The following steps may help figure it out:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports-extra && sudo apt full-upgrade -y
Even if it doesn't break the install, later versions may also introduce additional changes and install steps beyond those for KDE 5.24.