What is Neon and Should I Care?

[jglen490]

Since doing a clean install of Xenial and then perusing the 16.04 forums, it's "Neon this" and "Neon that".

While initially skeptical of 16.04, I've tuned it to where it actually not only works but works really well - for me.

So, what is Neon?
What is it meant to fix/correct/improve?
What is it guaranteed to make better in my Kubuntu experience?

Thank you!

[Feathers McGraw]

Did you see the sticky in the neon subforum?

https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...0-KDE-neon-FAQ

[jglen490]

Did you see the sticky in the neon subforum?

https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...0-KDE-neon-FAQ

I saw this -

Is KDE neon an add-on to Kubuntu?

KDE neon sits on top of the Ubuntu core foundations, which means the majority of software built for Ubuntu core will work fine, even when not explicitly supported by the KDE neon team. KDE neon is however not compatible with Kubuntu, as there is vast overlap in the base offerings of both Kubuntu and KDE neon. You can not use both systems at the same time. Installing KDE neon will simply replace Kubuntu.

Which begs the question of why even consider Neon as a Kubuntu.

[Feathers McGraw]

We don't. It isn't Kubuntu!

[jglen490]

O.K., thanks! Also considering how on the experimental edge it appears, Neon is completely useless as a stable computing platform.

[Feathers McGraw]

It's not completely useless, and it's quite stable.

Try openSUSE tumbleweed for a while and then come back and tell me Neon has problems! I used it for about 6 months and had to deal with some serious breakage of all kinds of system level stuff on a regular basis, which really got to me because I only tried it to get an up to date DE (Plasma5).

Neon is a nice mix of stable base plus up to date GUI. There's a good appetite for it at the moment because Plasma5 is improving quickly, but most people don't want to deal with broken system level stuff - it's a nice compromise.

[calligrafan]

I did ask now in the forum subdivision "neon" how to detect which one is working on your station?

[jglen490]

It's not completely useless, and it's quite stable.

Try openSUSE tumbleweed for a while and then come back and tell me Neon has problems! I used it for about 6 months and had to deal with some serious breakage of all kinds of system level stuff on a regular basis, which really got to me because I only tried it to get an up to date DE (Plasma5).

Neon is a nice mix of stable base plus up to date GUI. There's a good appetite for it at the moment because Plasma5 is improving quickly, but most people don't want to deal with broken system level stuff - it's a nice compromise.

I don't doubt you, but the questions that come up on the Neon forum remind me of the questions, problems, and concerns that typically show up during various beta phases of the Kubuntu development cycles. I don't know, but it seems to me that if it's KDE and it's up to date, then it should be in Kubuntu. Neon and Kubuntu have their bases in Ubuntu. Neon and Kubuntu are both KDE oriented. It sounds like a new fork in the road, and probably more trouble than it's worth.

Thank you Feathers, you've answered my questions and I'll be staying with Kubuntu. Have a great day!

[GreyGeek]

I installed Neon on top of my 16.04 bare metal install and my experience is that it is very stable and very fast.

[claydoh]

Neon has a User version that provides the latest official releases of KDE Frameworks, Applications, Plasma, and more importantly for many big fixes - Qt.

It is slightly barebones compared to Kubuntu at the moment but they are slowly adding things to a base install as they go.

sent from my LG V10 using Tapatalk

[jglen490]

I installed Neon on top of my 16.04 bare metal install and my experience is that it is very stable and very fast.

Again, I don't doubt you, but as I went through the Neon forum, again and again when a new package would come into play, something else would break, or an application would not be available for a time. There was even a statement to the effect that Neon packages can and do break other software, but usually the break are fixed within a not too long time. Also, there were statements that pointed to Neon being on the (leading, bleeding) edge and is really better suited for examination and experimentation.

That, to me, satisfies the definition of unstable. I really have no interest in anything beyond what works for me when I sign into my computer day to day. I am glad that Neon works for you, and I don't doubt the usefulness of being able to see the impact of new/updated software. But, I just don't see the point in experimenting on what is otherwise a stable, and becoming delightful, platform.

To all of you who really enjoy Neon - good on you! But i was looking to see if it might be something good for me and have concluded that it is not, and I'll be sticking with Kubuntu LTS releases for the foreseeable. Thank you all for the input!

[GreyGeek]

..... I'll be sticking with Kubuntu LTS releases for the foreseeable. ...

Then 14.04 is your puppy! You'll have another good three years with it.

[calligrafan]

Hi

What is «slightly barebones»? Kubuntu (as installed on my PC, certainly, I know it now thank this thread!) absorb a lot of stuff more included old 32 bit packages (xvidcap, the probably most interesting app to cover those needs to record from screen AND sound output, like TV news and the election promises of candidates !)

As KDE itself is not faithful to the typical KDE choices (no real KDE office, no real KDE browser etc.) I must not be more royalist as the king itself: I use each app covering my needs without the fewer scruple!

How far can I cover my needs using apps of other branches as long no real Neon apps are offered? Can normal KDE apps help me to reach my satisfaction?

[oldgeek]

What would a 'bare metal install' be? I have Neon installed to my Virtual Box and can test it there. I don't see a whole lot of difference yet, but I'm just getting started.

[claydoh]

Hi

What is «slightly barebones»? Kubuntu (as installed on my PC, certainly, I know it now thank this thread!) absorb a lot of stuff more included old 32 bit packages (xvidcap, the probably most interesting app to cover those needs to record from screen AND sound output, like TV news and the election promises of candidates !)

As KDE itself is not faithful to the typical KDE choices (no real KDE office, no real KDE browser etc.) I must not be more royalist as the king itself: I use each app covering my needs without the fewer scruple!

How far can I cover my needs using apps of other branches as long no real Neon apps are offered? Can normal KDE apps help me to reach my satisfaction?

the default install does not have a few things that Kubuntu users may be used to - a gui package manager, update notifier/manager, Ubuntu's device manager, an office suite (iirc), also a good number of applications here and there users might need/want to install: office suite, mail client, etc.