Kubuntu 22.10 users can upgrade to KDE Plasma 5.26, the latest stable release of the colossally popular open source desktop environment.
The latest release of Ubuntu’s official KDE spin ships with the KDE Plasma 5.25 release by default, but KDE Plasma 5.26 can be installed on Kubuntu 22.10 using the official Kubuntu Backports PPA.
KDE Plasma 5.26 introduces support for animated wallpapers, a new compact KickOff menu layout, resizable panel popups, and a large array of bug fixes aimed at improving overall stability and consistency.
Install KDE Plasma 5.26 on Kubuntu 22.10
You can install KDE Plasma 5.26 on Kubuntu 22.10 only. If you use Kubuntu 22.04 LTS then adding the backports PPA will NOT get you 5.26, but an earlier version. Ergo, only follow this guide from a system configured with the Kinetic repos.
Make sure you want to do this. While the backports PPA is maintained by Kubuntu and KDE developers it does not come with the same stability guarantee, nor robust testing as the standard, regular version included in the distro by default.
There are two main ways to add the backports PPA and install the Plasma 5.26 update: via Discover (GUI method) or via Konsole (CLI method). I’m going to focus on the CLI as it’s easier, faster, and more verbose during install.
Before you do anything make sure you are totally up-to-date. Run a software update check, install anything listed, and only THEN proceed to do the following.
Open Konsole and add the Kubuntu Backports PPA to your 22.10 system using this command:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports
Next, refresh the package list and, if you’re happy, proceed to upgrade:
sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade
Now comes the hard bit: waiting.
On a decent internet connection the upgrade won’t take long, though as the upgrade command needs to fetch around ~300MB, unpack and then install the updates, it won’t be done in a blink, either!
When the upgrade is complete reboot your system. This ensures everything ‘new’ falls in to place, as intended. When your computer comes back up log in and enjoy your updated KDE Plasma 5.26 experience.
Can I Downgrade to KDE Plasma 5.25?
If you later decide you want to return to the stock version of KDE Plasma Kubuntu 22.10 provided originally, you can uninstall KDE Plasma 5.26 easily using the ppa-purge package.
First, open Konsole and install PPA Purge:
sudo apt install ppa-purge
Then remove the PPA to trigger a downgrade to 5.25:
sudo ppa-purge ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports
Let it do its thing. It could take up to 10-15 minutes to fully downgrade, so be sure you don’t cancel, quit, or otherwise interrupt the process as it takes place.
Once the downgrade is complete, restart your system to login and enjoy the KDE Plasma 5.25 experience.
Let me know how you get on down in the comments!
