Kubuntu roadmap?

[dirtside]

Is there a roadmap for future Kubuntu releases? I've got 16.04 installed now, and there's a few bugs with various KDE components that I'm hoping will be addressed in an upcoming release. In one case, the bug has already been fixed in a newer version of the KDE component, but I don't know if it's safe to try to install that version over the one that's bundled with 16.04. To the best of my understanding, KDE releases updated versions of things on its own schedule, and the Kubuntu project then selects which versions of those components to use for its various releases. Is that correct? Is there somewhere I can see and follow discussions about what Kubuntu's devs plan to do with future releases?

tl;dr version:

In Kubuntu 16.04, the version of KDE Spectacle is 15.12.3. There's a bug where it won't save the "On Click" setting. I went and submitted a bug about it at bugs.kde.org, and was informed that the bug has already been fixed, in a version of Spectacle confusingly numbered 16.04.0. (I did a bug search first to see if this issue came up, and didn't find anything.) All my packages are up to date, so I guess Spectacle 16.04.0 or later is going to be made available in an upcoming release of Kubuntu, maybe 16.04.1 (if such a thing is planned). Obviously by the time the next LTS comes out (presumably 18.04), the current version of Spectacle will be far beyond whatever exists now. (bugs.kde.org does not list any version info for Spectacle, so going into this, I wasn't even aware that the version of Spectacle I was using wasn't the most recent one. And in fact Spectacle's github page doesn't list any information about versions, and there's no changelog, and the source code itself doesn't seem to contain version numbers; at this point I haven't the slightest idea how KDE components get version numbers assigned to them.)

So obviously it would be possible to get a more recent version of Spectacle and install it, but over the last 15 years of using Linux I've learned to be extremely wary of installing newer versions of components than are available through apt. Sometimes it works, sometimes it causes weird things to break and I have to try to revert. I have a lot less free time than I used to (thanks, kids) so I can't really afford to spend hours trying a bunch of things to get one component to work right. So generally I just suck it up and wait for a newer official release that has everything bundled together, or hope that apt upgrade will eventually provide a newer version of the component that fixes whatever the issue is.

But I've never been able to really have any sense of what's coming down the pike when it comes to Kubuntu in particular. There's all these different components that are involved, and all these different sites, and I just feel like I'm lost in a forest every time I try to find out what's coming up. Any suggestions?

[wizard10000]

...All my packages are up to date, so I guess Spectacle 16.04.0 or later is going to be made available in an upcoming release of Kubuntu, maybe 16.04.1 (if such a thing is planned).

Probably not real helpful but I'm running Debian Unstable; the version of Spectacle here is 16.04.2 and the onclick bug doesn't reproduce for me so there is hope

[acheron]

It is likely KDE applications 16.04.x will get into the kubuntu backports ppa in the not too distant future.

[claydoh]

There really isn't a roadmap per se, as the devs focus on packaging the different releases of KDE Plasma, Frameworks, and Appications as each are released, Some things take longer depending on how many people are working on things (usually not many) and how much things have changed - dependencies and the like. For example, as Ubuntu is developing Unity 8 using Qt, they sort of have the version in the archives locked down so we can't get fixes and updates that a newer Qt libraries would bring to KDE Plasma very quickly.

During the development process for 16.04, the current version of Applications was at 15.12.3, and 16.04.0 was released literally one day before *buntu 16.04 was released. There is a set date at which things have to be locked down by and major changes can't be made after that. We also cannot just dump regular monthly updates into Ubuntu's archives, not without lengthy testing

This is why the kubuntu-backports ppa is where all Kubuntu/plasma specific updates originate from, and I know that Applications 16.04 is nearing readiness for release (No ETA though) The 16.04 versioning is simply that the plasma devs are using a similar version naming scheme as *buntu, based on the date so at the moment they line up. So your spectacle bug that has been fixed
will be available, soon.

As 16.04 is LTS, every so often they will release milestone updates of the the install isos to bring things up to date, and usually before this, the latest KDE updates from the PPA are released into the official Ubuntu repos

Now, being LTS does NOT mean that you will get the latest and greatest KDE for its whole life span. We do try to keep things as up to date as possible, but at some point it may not be possible to do so due to changing dependencies and systems. 14.04 will never have Plasma 5, for example. But LTS does mean that we will support and provide any security updates that come down the pike even if there are no further Plasma/frameworks/applications updates any longer, until 2019. LTS status does however allow for us to get updated kernels and drivers from later releases via the hardware enablement stack

In the past, KDE released the whole kit and caboodle all at once, a few times a year. This made it almost a mandatory wait until the next *buntu release to see any serious bug fixes. Now, things are broken down into Plasma, Frameworks, and Applications which are all released independently, and much more often. However, in the case of such things as the applications, only the things fixed have changes so there is much much less chance of regressions after these numerous but minor changes.

So you can either wait until updates can be put into the main archive, which may not happen until as late as next February (approx time for *buntu 6.04.2), or use the backports ppa for more regular updates, but wait after the release to see if anyone reports problems before doing so.

[dirtside]

Thank you so much for such an informative answer! Naturally, I have a bunch more questions now

There really isn't a roadmap per se, as the devs focus on packaging the different releases of KDE Plasma, Frameworks, and Appications as each are released

Is it possible to find out who the devs are and where the core development of Kubuntu happens? Mailing lists, websites, IRC, wherever? Like, what person or persons have the final authority for deciding to release a new version of Kubuntu? And how would I find out who that is without asking someone? Isn't there a webpage somewhere which lists the official personnel? That whole aspect of the project still feels very mysterious to me.

This is why the kubuntu-backports ppa is where all Kubuntu/plasma specific updates originate from, and I know that Applications 16.04 is nearing readiness for release (No ETA though) The 16.04 versioning is simply that the plasma devs are using a similar version naming scheme as *buntu, based on the date so at the moment they line up. So your spectacle bug that has been fixed will be available, soon.

The whole PPA infrastructure and how apt decides which versions of which packages to install is also still somewhat mysterious to me. I get the basic idea that a PPA is a specific archive of packages, and apt uses the sources list to find out what packages are available, but I'm still kind of at a loss as to how the whole thing is managed. Do you know of any sites or documentation that give a sort of square one view of the package management infrastructure? Ideally written for a technical audience (I'm a software engineer by trade) who aren't specifically familiar with that system. I mean, I know basically how to use apt and related tools; I've had to on occasion do weird stuff like install very specific versions of packages after adding PPAs or edit the sources list by hand. But the "higher-level" aspect of it—what happens at the PPA level—still seems foggy. I've searched around for guides to this topic but everything I've found has been very piecemeal or out of date. (It's entirely likely there's things I've missed.)

As 16.04 is LTS, every so often they will release milestone updates of the the install isos to bring things up to date, and usually before this, the latest KDE updates from the PPA are released into the official Ubuntu repos

How does that path work? Does core Ubuntu release a milestone update, and then the (for lack of a better term) subsidiary projects like Kubuntu take that release and apply their differing requirements (e.g. KDE) to it? Or is everyone kind of working in parallel, with Ubuntu essentially taking the lead in deciding which major components are used?

So you can either wait until updates can be put into the main archive, which may not happen until as late as next February (approx time for *buntu 6.04.2), or use the backports ppa for more regular updates, but wait after the release to see if anyone reports problems before doing so.

So essentially, I'd need to modify my apt sources to use the backports PPA, which would allow me to install newer versions of various packages than what's available in the core (official? I don't know what to call it) Kubuntu PPAs?

And also, how do you know that February is approximately when 16.04.2 would be coming out? I mean obviously you're involved in Kubuntu, that's how you know, but is that part of some public discussion, or is there a private Kubuntu admins list where these things are hashed out?

[claydoh]

Thank you so much for such an informative answer! Naturally, I have a bunch more questions now



Is it possible to find out who the devs are and where the core development of Kubuntu happens? Mailing lists, websites, IRC, wherever? Like, what person or persons have the final authority for deciding to release a new version of Kubuntu? And how would I find out who that is without asking someone? Isn't there a webpage somewhere which lists the official personnel? That whole aspect of the project still feels very mysterious to me.

#kubuntu-devel on freenode irc is where the action usually is
There is a mailing list as well as a kubuntu-users list
An unfortunately out of date listing of the main Kubunut folks is here: http://kubuntu.org/the-kubuntu-team/

Things are decided on largely by consensus amongst official Kubuntu members with major or governance related things decided by the Kubuntu Council (note that I am on the council, currently)

IRC is the easiest and quickest way to communicate with people, and I can attest that they do not bite at all - very open and friendly. The mailing list is also a good way as well - anyone can subscribe and post there. Just do note that the forums here are NOT an official part of Kubuntu, and is not run by Kubuntu at all. There is not much traffic by devs here, unfortunately, as at least from my experiences over the years they prefer the email and irc for things over web forums. I also find the opposite to be true as well - forum folk don't often post to the mailing list or irc, and mailing list denizens don't seem to like irc or web forums.

Now as to who decides on a release, that isn't really a decision We along with all the *buntu falvours have a release every 6 months, witrh an LTS every 2 years. The only thing we have to decide more or less is how long an LTS we will have, and base what version of Plasma we have on what is the current one we have fully packaged by the freeze date, usually looking at their release schedule and finding out what will be available within a few weeks of things being scheduled for this freeze.

The whole PPA infrastructure and how apt decides which versions of which packages to install is also still somewhat mysterious to me. I get the basic idea that a PPA is a specific archive of packages, and apt uses the sources list to find out what packages are available, but I'm still kind of at a loss as to how the whole thing is managed. Do you know of any sites or documentation that give a sort of square one view of the package management infrastructure? Ideally written for a technical audience (I'm a software engineer by trade) who aren't specifically familiar with that system. I mean, I know basically how to use apt and related tools; I've had to on occasion do weird stuff like install very specific versions of packages after adding PPAs or edit the sources list by hand. But the "higher-level" aspect of it—what happens at the PPA level—still seems foggy. I've searched around for guides to this topic but everything I've found has been very piecemeal or out of date. (It's entirely likely there's things I've missed.)

PPAs are basically just extra apt repos one can add, and most any documentation about apt should be accurate as it is the same as it is for Debian, outside of ubuntu specific ppa tools for adding/removing them. Package names are based on the version of the software and revision of the packaging. Say in the official repos, you have spectacle, which has a package called kde-spectacle_15.12.3-0ubuntu1_amd64.deb. The 15.12.3 is the version of the software, and the "0ubunut1" part is a packaging revision number. When Applications 16.04.x is released to the ppa, it will be called kde-spectacle_16.04.2-0ubuntu1 or similar. The naming makes this seen by apt as a newer package and will want to update to it.

How does that path work? Does core Ubuntu release a milestone update, and then the (for lack of a better term) subsidiary projects like Kubuntu take that release and apply their differing requirements (e.g. KDE) to it? Or is everyone kind of working in parallel, with Ubuntu essentially taking the lead in deciding which major components are used?

Sort of both. There is an core ubuntu base that all flavours are based on, whether Unity, Plasma, Mate or whatever. The milestones just provide up-to-date kernels drivers and updates available in the official repos. We can and o propose some of the longer-used and therefore better tested plasma point release updates go into the official repos before this. if there are any of these already in the main repos they are included and the new iso images are rebuilt using the new software.

So essentially, I'd need to modify my apt sources to use the backports PPA, which would allow me to install newer versions of various packages than what's available in the core (official? I don't know what to call it) Kubuntu PPAs?

Yes, you add the relevant information pointing to the ppa. PPA means "personal package archives" which we utilise to "work around" the strict restriction on software that goes into the official apt repositories. All official released software for *buntus no matter what the flavour are in the same repository, Kubuntu as it uses the ever-changing KDE software uses these Personal Package Archives to provide needed updates else we would more or less have to wait 6 months to get any updates at all.

Usually an the announcement on https://kubuntu.org will provide instructions on adding the ppa when there is an update announcement. As a predominantly GUI guy, I do prefer the command line method provided there as there is less chance for error imo.

https://community.kde.org/Kubuntu/PPAs
https://userbase.kde.org/Kubuntu/Advanced/Repositories

And also, how do you know that February is approximately when 16.04.2 would be coming out? I mean obviously you're involved in Kubuntu, that's how you know, but is that part of some public discussion, or is there a private Kubuntu admins list where these things are hashed out?

Basically on irc things are decidedas we go. Not all that formal, really. it has worked for us and the very small team of active devs/members


No it is historically the .1 LTS is released in July, the .2 in February. There is probably a full release calendar for 16.04 but I haven't seen it yet.
However:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReleaseSchedule/LTStoLTS
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PrecisePangolin/ReleaseSchedule
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/TrustyTahr/ReleaseSchedule

[Rod J]

No it is historically the .1 LTS is released in July, the .2 in February. There is probably a full release calendar for 16.04 but I haven't seen it yet.

This page might be useful: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/XenialXerus/ReleaseSchedule

I was wondering when 16.04.1 was coming out as I'm waiting until then to try 16.04 out.

[claydoh]

yes, I have seen that but it does not go past 16.04.1 yet.