pop-kde-script

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.

Setup

Pre-requisites

Make sure you have the following:

1. A reliable internet connection to download packages
2. The latest version of Pop!_OS (22.04)
3. The latest updates, either by running sudo apt upgrade or via the Pop Shop

Running the install

1. Start a terminal session on the target system in one of the following ways:

   • Open a terminal window locally
   • Connect remotely via SSH or MUSH
   • For VM environments such as virt-manager, use a virtual console

2. cd to directory you downloaded it to

3. Run the script

4. 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.

Post-Install

After rebooting, you should be presented with an sddm log-in screen.

You may also want to take the following optional steps below.

Clean up old packages

You can optionally free up disk space by removing old packages:

1. Open Konsole from the menu at the bottom left of the screen
2. Run apt --dry-run autoremove to check which packages will be auto-removed
3. Use sudo apt-mark to mark any you'd like to keep
4. Run sudo apt autoremove to begin cleanup

Depending on what you choose to keep, this can free up at least a few hundred MB of disk space.

Install the System76 Scheduler Plugin for KDE

To maximize media and game performance, Pop!_OS ships with:

• the System76 Scheduler
• desktop integrations to tell the scheduler which application is important

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

Issues

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:

• Issue reports
• Pull requests

Do not expect support from System76 or the general Pop!_OS community.

Why?

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:

• 13r0ck (mentorship and general expertise)
• DaisyLee (packaging and testing)
• dubsyGG, (mockups and testing)
• pushfoo (research, testing, and documentation)

Later KDE Versions

Warning

These are known to break installs as of the last test!

We welcome pull requests to fix it.

I'm brave!

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:

1. Be sure you can afford to lose or break the install you'll try this on
2. Run the following:

   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.