Every Linux distribution has its preferred default desktop UI setup, customizations and login screen. The graphical user interface (GUI) you see on most Linux operating systems is provided by a bundle of software applications called desktop environment (DE). This bundle will have wallpapers, icons, layouts, widgets and toolbars that work together to shape your overall Desktop user experience. However, most flavors of Linux distributions geared towards the use in Server/Data Centers only provides command line interface for administering it.
Ubuntu 24.04 will have GNOME as the default Desktop environment. While it is a clean DE with modern and clean user interface, some users will prefer to switch to their preferred Desktop Environment. One of the options in changing your Desktop Environment is KDE Plasma Desktop. KDE is known to be highly tweakable as it allows for extensive user customization options. A popular feature of KDE is the ability to create multiple virtual desktops and better organize your apps.
if you value Desktop customizations and willing to learn, then KDE is the right Desktop Environment for you. In this article you will be able to install KDE Plasma Desktop Environment on Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble Numbat) and enjoy its comprehensive suite of applications and widgets. It is worth noting that KDE is the default desktop environment on openSUSE, KDE Neon, and Kubuntu Linus distributions.
Install KDE Plasma Desktop
Before we perform the installation of KDE Plasma Desktop on Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble Numbat), let’s first update and upgrade the system.
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -yDepending on which updates were available on the system, a reboot could be required to load the new environment.
sudo rebootAfter the system is rebooted, the installation of KDE Plasma Desktop Environment can be performed on the system. There are two options available for installation.
- KDE Standard
This meta-package will only provide the essentials required for everyday use. This will include the file manager, browser, office suite, multimedia tools, image viewer, text editor, and some other key tools.
Since it only installs the core applications of KDE, you will experience low system resources usage – RAM, Disk and CPU. For users are keen on minimalistic desktop experience or running in an old hardware, then this is a better option for you.
KDE Standard meta-package can be installed on Ubuntu 24.04 by running the commands below as user with sudo powers.
sudo apt install kde-standardFrom the installation prompt, we can confirm 1,678 MB of disk space will be required.
0 upgraded, 796 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 508 MB of archives.
After this operation, 1,678 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y- KDE Full
KDE Full (Suite) is a meta-package with all software applications bundled in KDE Plasma. The extras in this bundle include Games, education tools, and extra utilities not in the standard package. To install KDE Full, run the commands below in your terminal.
sudo apt install kde-fullFrom my output we can see the total size of installed packages is 3,862 MB.
0 upgraded, 1335 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 1,507 MB of archives.
After this operation, 3,862 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] yWhen doing the installation, you can choose to stick with GDM3 display manager
Or select the option of switching to SDDM display manager.
Log in to KDE Desktop on Ubuntu
Reboot the system after the installation returns success.
sudo rebootAfter rebooting the system, you are presented with the login screen. Choose Plasma in the list of sessions available.
If you have Wayland instead of X11 display server. It will be available for selection.
Now that you’ve installed and can login to KDE Desktop, you’re on a nice path of enjoying all the goodies that KDE Plasma has to provide. We had done an article on Cinnamon Desktop and you can also check it out.
