Looking into Lunar Kubuntu 23.04

[NoWorries]

I was quite surprised and glad to see that Lunar Lobster is now available for download. I have installed it on my "Sacrificial" Laptop and it is working well.

The initial Lunar Information Centre has:

KDE Plasma Version 5.26.3
KDE Frameworks Version 5.100.0
Qt Version 5.15.6
Kernel Version 5.19.0-21-generic

This Information Centre is the similar to my 22.10 System with the exception of the kernel which has 5.19.0-16-generic.

So from this starting position I am looking forward to the progress made by the developers for the coming months.

[NoWorries]

When I installed Lunar, I had a white login screen which had a box on it for entering my password. Neither of he Breeze login screens worked. So I retrieved new SDDM Themes and these worked as they should.

This is the only hick-up that I have encountered so far.

[NoWorries]

Thanks Very Much to the Developers!!!!! From the latest updates this problem is well and truly fixed.
Very Happy with progress - Well Done.

[kc1di]

Thanks for keeping us updated. Appreciate it.
Haven't tried lunar yet may in a month or so.

[NoWorries]

My "Sacrificial" Laptop is very popular with my Grandson who likes to play Minecraft on it. On the initial installation he was in tears as I had not got to the stage of getting Minecraft to work.

Well, for some weeks now, Minecraft is working brilliantly on Lunar. He plays with it in a separate room without an external monitor. If he has it for some time, I find that when I return Lunar to the original room with an external monitor, the external monitor is not activated.

The only way that I have found to get Lunar to recognize the original room's external monitor, is to go to my home directory with Dolphin and .local/share/kscreen. I then remove recent entries in kscreen back to a date/time when it was in the original room. After a reboot, all is back to my preferred settings for the original room's external monitor. I am surprised that System Settings > Display and Monitor doesn't fix this problem.

Considering Lunar is yet to get to 2 Months of development, this is only a minor problem for a system which is progressing at breakneck speed.

[NoWorries]

Lunar is progressing at breakneck speed and the previously reported problem with kscreen is now fixed - thanks very much.

I have found that Lunar now has repositories for staging-frameworks and staging-plasma. I have just received many updates and I could not resist letting others know with just a few examples. I will be interested to see if the Lunar 4:22.12.0 updates are made to Kinetic.

Lunar	Kinetic
ark 4:22.12.0-0ubuntu1	4:22.08.2-0ubuntu1
dolphin 4:22.12.0-0ubuntu1	4:22.08.2-0ubuntu1
kdenlive-data 4:22.12.0-0ubuntu1	4:22.08.2-0ubuntu1
thunderbird 1:102.6.0+build1-0ubuntu1	1:102.5.1+build1

[NoWorries]

It is now 4 months before the release of Lunar Lobster 23.04

As this 4 month release is just 5 days before Christmas, I definitely want to wish all involved in Lunar development, testing and users a very enjoyable Christmas with family and friends. Also, best wishes for the New Year and every success with the new Lunar developments.

At this very early stage of development, I find that all my favourite applications work without a problem.

I will now list the progress that the developers have made since the first release which I downloaded on the 25th November 2022. As in previous progress postings, I only show the Info Centre contents.

Info Centre Item	1st Release Status	4 Month Status
KDE Plasma Version	5.24.4	5.26.3
KDE Frameworks Version	5.100.0	5.101.0
QT Version	5.15.6	5.15.6
Kernel Version	5.19.0-21-generic	5.19.0-21-generic

I have found that this 4 month list is identical to that which I have on Kinetic. This list doesn't include all the applications which have been upgraded. For example, Lunar's kdenlive version is 4:22.12.0 and Kinetic’s is 4:22.08.2. Today new packages were installed on Lunar, Eg qttranslations5-l10n is version 5.15.7-2 and Kinetic’s is 5.15.6.1. Luna’s python3-debian is 0.1.49 and Kinetic’s is 0.1.46.

On both my Lunar and Kinetic systems, I have Pre-released and Unsupported updates selected. I also have the following non-standard repositories:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/staging-plasma
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/staging-frameworks
[WARNING]sudo add-apt-repository ppa:canonical-kernel-team/unstable[/WARNING]

I just tried a new install and on Lunar the "canonical-kernel-team/unstable" repository installs the Linux Kernel 6.1 which does not work on my system, i.e. cannot boot. So I have purged my system of this Kernel.

In the background, there is a lot of progress on Lunar which, in the future, will result in a greater difference with Kinetic. The bottom line is that Lunar is currently very reliable and a tribute to all those involved in the development .

[Schwarzer Kater]

Thank you very much for your ongoing reports!

[jlittle]

Thank you very much for your ongoing reports!

I appreciate them, too.

[NoWorries]

Thank you very much for your ongoing reports!

Thanks for your interest in Lunar progress. I decided to install Lunar on my Laptop and replaced my 22.10 system which was giving me a lot of trouble with VLC playing mp4 videos. I resolved this problem as Lunar had VLC Version 3.0.18-2 which played everything that I threw at it.

Lunar has one annoying problem that frustrates me and that is, on Wayland, a LibreOffice Presentation file with an imbedded video is not displayed on the projection screen, but is overlayed on the control screen. All other text and images are correctly displayed on the presentation screen. In X11 this problem does not exist.

The other problem with LO Impress is that the projection image has thin white band on the right edge and the bottom edge of text and images. Videos have no edge showing. My 22.04 system is not so badly affected by this problem. I have had this problem some time ago with LO Impress and I have access on my system to LO version 7.2.5 which previously solved this problem.

[NoWorries]

I am certainly VERY VERY grateful to the person who fixed this problem with LO Impress. All video, text and graphics are perfectly located and the white line on the bottom and right edge of the projection image has disappeared on Wayland but not on X11 which still has the white lines.

A big congratulation to all the developers of this fantastic distribution. Have a Very Happy Christmas and I hope you can all now have a well earned break. I promise not to complain any more until next year, if at all, that is.

[NoWorries]

I have just returned from my summer holidays and I will now list, what to me, are my most serious to least serious problems with Lunar that need fixing soon.

1. Projection with LibreOffice Impress has a white line on the right side and bottom edge of the projected image for both X11 and Wayland. I have previously encountered this problem at post: https://www.kubuntuforums.net/node/665685. It was fixed but is now present again on Lunar and also on Kinetic I will be using LO Impress for projection this weekend, and I will, in the meantime, be trying my best to solve this problem by hopefully finding a previous LO Impress version that does not have this problem.
2. Video Projections with LO Impress using Wayland are now incorrectly located on the control screen at a reduced size. For X11, the video image is the correct size and on the projection screen.
3. Kazam recording using Wayland does not give any video, ie black screen. It does give the sound correctly. On X11 Kazam works correctly.
4. I have a UHD Laptop with an external monitor. When doing a new installation, the cursor is not present. The only way is to disconnect the external monitor and shutdown with the power button. With just the single monitor, the cursor is visible and I can select the try Kubuntu option, I then connect the external monitor and my cursor is present and usable.

I will be interested to know if anyone else has encountered these problems. I am beginning to wonder if I am the only one testing these aspects of Lunar. Hope all Lunar testers can replicate these problems.

[NoWorries]

[*]Projection with LibreOffice Impress has a white line on the right side and bottom edge of the projected image for both X11 and Wayland. I have previously encountered this problem at post: https://www.kubuntuforums.net/node/665685. It was fixed but is now present again on Lunar and also on Kinetic I will be using LO Impress for projection this weekend, and I will, in the meantime, be trying my best to solve this problem by hopefully finding a previous LO Impress version that does not have this problem.[*]Video Projections with LO Impress using Wayland are now incorrectly located on the control screen at a reduced size. For X11, the video image is the correct size and on the projection screen.
[/QUOTE]

After doing this post, I attempted to install earlier versions of LO. However all attempts failed and I then installed the current Lunar LO which is version 7.4.3.2. After a few more updates I was surprised that the white lines were no more and the video was correctly located in the projection screen. I could hardly believe that the fix had come through so quickly for Wayland. The Wayland version is working perfectly and I am very pleased with the developers who fixed this problem.
.

Unfortunately the lines still are present on X11. As no Lunar users on X11 have complained, I guess this is not a serious problem for X11 users.

As I have an Nvidia card on my "Sacrificial" Laptop, I find that with the external monitor attached, it does not work with Wayland. I have also found, to my regret, that the Kernel Version 6.1.0-12 does not work with the Nvidia card and, in fact, makes my Sacrificial laptop un-dootable. So I am rather glad that my main Laptop has an AMD card which has yet to have the correct driver, but it does allow me to use Wayland and the latest kernel.

[NoWorries]

BEWARE OF CHANGES TO USING PPA'S FOR STAGING PLASMA AND FRAMEWORKS

For previous Kubuntu developments I have been able to add ppa's for staging-plasma and staging-frameworks and proceed with only minor problems during the development phase.

This time adding these ppa's for Lunar totally breaks the system if accepted. I am beginning to think that the development phase has now been made unavailable to users. For example the packages under development are listed at:

https://launchpad.net/~kubuntu-ppa/+...staging-plasma
https://launchpad.net/~kubuntu-ppa/+...ing-frameworks

Yet the ppa's give:

285 packages can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see them.
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  aha appmenu-gtk-module-common appmenu-gtk3-module apt-config-icons-hidpi apt-config-icons-large apt-config-icons-large-hidpi bluez-obexd
  breeze-cursor-theme bup bup-doc cryfs cups-pk-helper ffmpegthumbs flatpak fonts-hack fonts-noto-core fonts-noto-hinted fonts-noto-ui-core
  fonts-noto-unhinted freerdp2-x11 geoclue-2.0 geoip-database gir1.2-notify-0.7 hwdata ibus-data iio-sensor-proxy javascript-common kate5-data
  kde-cli-tools-data kde-style-breeze kdegames-card-data-kf5 kdegames-mahjongg-data-kf5 kdenlive-data kdeplasma-addons-data kgamma5 khotkeys-data
  konversation-data kpeople-vcard ksystemstats ktexteditor-data ktexteditor-katepart ktorrent-data kup-backup kwin-data kwin-style-breeze layer-shell-qt
  libaccounts-glib0 libaccounts-qt5-1 libappmenu-gtk3-parser0 libcfitsio10 libcolorcorrect5 libdmtx0b libdolphinvcs5 libebur128-1 libeditorconfig0
  libevent-2.1-7a libfakekey0 libflatpak0 libfreecell-solver0 libfreerdp-client2-2 libfreerdp2-2 libgeoip1 libgit2-1.3 libgps28 libgsettings-qt1
  libhttp-parser2.9 libibus-1.0-5 libical3 libjs-jquery libjs-underscore libkaccounts2 libkcolorpicker0 libkdecorations2private9 libkf5baloowidgets-bin
  libkf5baloowidgets5 libkf5bluezqt-data libkf5bluezqt6 libkf5calendarevents5 libkf5configqml5 libkf5contacts-data libkf5contacts5 libkf5declarative-data
  libkf5holidays-data libkf5holidays5 libkf5i18nlocaledata5 libkf5iconthemes-bin libkf5itemmodels5 libkf5kcmutils-data libkf5kcmutilscore5
  libkf5kdegames-data libkf5kdelibs4support-data libkf5kirigami2-5 libkf5kmahjongglib5 libkf5krosscore5 libkf5krossui5 libkf5modemmanagerqt6
  libkf5newstuff-data libkf5notifyconfig-data libkf5people-data libkf5people5 libkf5peoplebackend5 libkf5peoplewidgets5 libkf5plasma5 libkf5plotting5
  libkf5prison5 libkf5pulseaudioqt3 libkf5runner5 libkf5screen7 libkf5style5 libkf5su-bin libkf5su-data libkf5su5 libkf5sysguard-bin libkf5sysguard-data
  libkf5texteditor-bin libkf5texteditor5 libkf5torrent6abi1 libkf5unitconversion-data libkf5unitconversion5 libkf5xmlgui-bin libkfontinst5 libkfontinstui5
  libkimageannotator-common libkimageannotator0 libkpipewire5 libkpipewiredmabuf5 libkpipewirerecord5 libksgrd9 libksysguardformatter1
  libksysguardsensorfaces1 libksysguardsensors1 libksysguardsystemstats1 libktorrent-l10n libkuserfeedbackwidgets1 libkwineffects14 libkwinglutils14
  libkworkspace5-5 liblayershellqtinterface5 liblept5 libmalcontent-0-0 libmediainfo0v5 libmlt++7 libmlt-data libmlt7 libmms0 libmovit8 libopenconnect5
  libopencv-contrib406 libopencv-highgui406 libopencv-ml406 libostree-1-1 liboxygenstyle5-5 liboxygenstyleconfig5-5 libplasma-geolocation-interface5
  libpowerdevilcore2 libpowerdevilui5 libprocesscore9 libprocessui9 libpskc0 libqaccessibilityclient-qt5-0 libqalculate-data libqalculate22
  libqt5concurrent5 libqt5multimedia5-plugins libqt5multimediagsttools5 libqt5multimediaquick5 libqt5multimediawidgets5 libqt5networkauth5
  libqt5positioning5 libqt5quickcontrols2-5 libqt5quickparticles5 libqt5quickshapes5 libqt5quicktemplates2-5 libqt5script5 libqt5sensors5 libqt5webchannel5
  libqt5webengine-data libqt5webengine5 libqt5webenginecore5 libqt5webenginewidgets5 libqt5webkit5 libqt5webview5 libre2-9 librtaudio6 libscim8v5
  libsignon-extension1 libsignon-plugins-common1 libsignon-qt5-1 libsox-fmt-alsa libsox-fmt-base libsox3 libspectre1 libstoken1 libtaskmanager6
  libtesseract5 libtinyxml2-9 libtomcrypt1 libtommath1 libtss2-tctildr0 libweather-ion7 libwinpr2-2 libxcb-cursor0 libxcb-dpms0 libxmlsec1-openssl
  libzen0v5 libzxing2 mediainfo melt p11-kit p11-kit-modules par2 plasma-desktop-data plasma-discover-common plasma-workspace-data power-profiles-daemon
  powerdevil-data python3-cups python3-cupshelpers python3-fuse python3-pylibacl python3-tornado python3.11 python3.11-minimal qdbus-qt5
  qml-module-gsettings1.0 qml-module-org-kde-activities qml-module-org-kde-bluezqt qml-module-org-kde-kaccounts qml-module-org-kde-kcmutils
  qml-module-org-kde-kholidays qml-module-org-kde-kitemmodels qml-module-org-kde-people qml-module-org-kde-pipewire qml-module-org-kde-prison
  qml-module-org-kde-runnermodel qml-module-org-kde-solid qml-module-org-kde-sonnet qml-module-org-kde-userfeedback qml-module-qt-labs-folderlistmodel
  qml-module-qt-labs-platform qml-module-qt-labs-qmlmodels qml-module-qt-labs-settings qml-module-qtmultimedia qml-module-qtqml qml-module-qtqml-models2
  qml-module-qtquick-controls qml-module-qtquick-controls2 qml-module-qtquick-dialogs qml-module-qtquick-layouts qml-module-qtquick-particles2
  qml-module-qtquick-privatewidgets qml-module-qtquick-shapes qml-module-qtquick-templates2 qml-module-qtwebengine qml-module-ubuntu-onlineaccounts
  qtchooser signon-kwallet-extension signon-plugin-oauth2 signon-plugin-password signon-ui-service signon-ui-x11 signond smartmontools sshfs
  system-config-printer-common system-config-printer-udev vulkan-tools xwayland
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following packages will be REMOVED
  bluedevil breeze dolphin elisa gwenview kaccounts-integration kaccounts-providers kamera kate kde-cli-tools kde-config-screenlocker kde-config-sddm
  kde-config-tablet kde-config-updates kde-spectacle kde-style-oxygen-qt5 kdeconnect kdenlive khotkeys kinfocenter kmahjongg kmines konsole konsole-kpart
  konversation kpackagelauncherqml kpat krdc kross kscreen ksudoku ktorrent kubuntu-desktop kubuntu-settings-desktop kwin-addons kwin-common kwin-wayland
  kwin-x11 libk3b-extracodecs libk3b8 libkf5declarative5 libkf5kcmutils5 libkf5kdegames7 libkf5kdelibs4support5 libkf5kdelibs4support5-bin libkf5newstuff5
  libkf5newstuffwidgets5 libkf5notifyconfig5 libkf5plasmaquick5 libkf5purpose-bin libkf5purpose5 libkf5quickaddons5 libkf5screen-bin libkscreenlocker5
  libnotificationmanager1 milou muon okular plasma-browser-integration plasma-calendar-addons plasma-dataengines-addons plasma-desktop plasma-discover
  plasma-discover-backend-flatpak plasma-discover-backend-fwupd plasma-disks plasma-firewall plasma-framework plasma-integration plasma-nm plasma-pa
  plasma-runners-addons plasma-systemmonitor plasma-thunderbolt plasma-vault plasma-wallpapers-addons plasma-widgets-addons plasma-workspace
  plasma-workspace-wayland powerdevil print-manager qml-module-org-kde-draganddrop qml-module-org-kde-kcm qml-module-org-kde-kconfig
  qml-module-org-kde-kcoreaddons qml-module-org-kde-kio qml-module-org-kde-kirigami2 qml-module-org-kde-kquickcontrols
  qml-module-org-kde-kquickcontrolsaddons qml-module-org-kde-ksysguard qml-module-org-kde-kwindowsystem qml-module-org-kde-newstuff
  qml-module-org-kde-purpose qml-module-org-kde-qqc2desktopstyle qml-module-org-kde-quickcharts sddm-theme-breeze systemsettings
The following NEW packages will be installed
  enchant-2 gnome-terminal gnome-terminal-data gvfs gvfs-common gvfs-daemons gvfs-libs libatomic1 libenchant-2-2 libgck-1-0 libgcr-base-3-1 libhandy-1-0
  libjavascriptcoregtk-4.1-0 libkdecorations2private10 libkpipewiredmabuf5 libmanette-0.2-0 libnautilus-extension4 libvte-2.91-0 libvte-2.91-common
  libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0 libwpe-1.0-1 libwpebackend-fdo-1.0-1 libyelp0 libzxing2 nautilus-extension-gnome-terminal yelp yelp-xsl
The following packages have been kept back:
  frameworkintegration kactivitymanagerd kde-style-breeze kmenuedit ktexteditor-data ktexteditor-katepart kwayland-data kwayland-integration
  kwin-style-breeze layer-shell-qt libcolorcorrect5 libkf5bookmarks-data libkf5bookmarks5 libkf5contacts-data libkf5contacts5 libkf5i18nlocaledata5
  libkf5iconthemes-data libkf5iconthemes5 libkf5khtml-bin libkf5khtml-data libkf5khtml5 libkf5kiofilewidgets5 libkf5kiowidgets5 libkf5krossui5
  libkf5parts-data libkf5parts-plugins libkf5parts5 libkf5plasma5 libkf5runner5 libkf5style5 libkf5texteditor-bin libkf5texteditor5 libkf5waylandclient5
  libkf5xmlgui-data libkf5xmlgui5 liblayershellqtinterface5 libtaskmanager6 libweather-ion7 polkit-kde-agent-1 xdg-desktop-portal-kde
The following packages will be upgraded:
  baloo-kf5 breeze-cursor-theme breeze-gtk-theme breeze-icon-theme drkonqi kactivities-bin kde-cli-tools-data kde-config-gtk-style
  kde-config-gtk-style-preview kded5 kdeplasma-addons-data kdoctools5 kgamma5 khotkeys-data kimageformat-plugins kinit kio kpackagetool5 ksshaskpass
  ksystemstats kwin-data kwrited libkdecorations2-5v5 libkf5activities5 libkf5activitiesstats1 libkf5archive-data libkf5archive5 libkf5attica5
  libkf5auth-data libkf5auth5 libkf5authcore5 libkf5baloo5 libkf5balooengine5 libkf5bluezqt-data libkf5bluezqt6 libkf5calendarevents5 libkf5codecs-data
  libkf5codecs5 libkf5completion-data libkf5completion5 libkf5config-bin libkf5config-data libkf5configcore5 libkf5configgui5 libkf5configqml5
  libkf5configwidgets-data libkf5configwidgets5 libkf5coreaddons-data libkf5coreaddons5 libkf5crash5 libkf5dbusaddons-bin libkf5dbusaddons-data
  libkf5dbusaddons5 libkf5declarative-data libkf5dnssd-data libkf5dnssd5 libkf5doctools5 libkf5filemetadata-bin libkf5filemetadata-data libkf5filemetadata3
  libkf5globalaccel-bin libkf5globalaccel-data libkf5globalaccel5 libkf5globalaccelprivate5 libkf5guiaddons-bin libkf5guiaddons-data libkf5guiaddons5
  libkf5holidays-data libkf5holidays5 libkf5i18n-data libkf5i18n5 libkf5iconthemes-bin libkf5idletime5 libkf5itemmodels5 libkf5itemviews-data
  libkf5itemviews5 libkf5jobwidgets-data libkf5jobwidgets5 libkf5js5 libkf5jsapi5 libkf5kcmutils-data libkf5kcmutilscore5 libkf5kdelibs4support-data
  libkf5kiocore5 libkf5kiogui5 libkf5kiontlm5 libkf5kirigami2-5 libkf5krosscore5 libkf5modemmanagerqt6 libkf5networkmanagerqt6 libkf5newstuff-data
  libkf5newstuffcore5 libkf5notifications-data libkf5notifications5 libkf5notifyconfig-data libkf5package-data libkf5package5 libkf5people-data
  libkf5people5 libkf5peoplebackend5 libkf5peoplewidgets5 libkf5plotting5 libkf5prison5 libkf5pty-data libkf5pty5 libkf5screen7 libkf5service-bin
  libkf5service-data libkf5service5 libkf5solid5 libkf5solid5-data libkf5sonnet5-data libkf5sonnetcore5 libkf5sonnetui5 libkf5su-bin libkf5su-data
  libkf5su5 libkf5syndication5abi1 libkf5syntaxhighlighting-data libkf5syntaxhighlighting5 libkf5sysguard-bin libkf5sysguard-data libkf5textwidgets-data
  libkf5textwidgets5 libkf5threadweaver5 libkf5unitconversion-data libkf5unitconversion5 libkf5wallet-bin libkf5wallet-data libkf5wallet5
  libkf5widgetsaddons-data libkf5widgetsaddons5 libkf5windowsystem-data libkf5windowsystem5 libkf5xmlgui-bin libkfontinst5 libkfontinstui5 libkpipewire5
  libkpipewirerecord5 libksgrd9 libksysguardformatter1 libksysguardsensorfaces1 libksysguardsensors1 libksysguardsystemstats1 libkwalletbackend5-5
  libkwineffects14 libkwinglutils14 libkworkspace5-5 liboxygenstyle5-5 liboxygenstyleconfig5-5 libpam-kwallet-common libpam-kwallet5
  libplasma-geolocation-interface5 libpowerdevilcore2 libpowerdevilui5 libprocesscore9 libprocessui9 oxygen-sounds plasma-desktop-data
  plasma-discover-common plasma-workspace-data plasma-workspace-wallpapers powerdevil-data qml-module-org-kde-activities qml-module-org-kde-bluezqt
  qml-module-org-kde-kcmutils qml-module-org-kde-kholidays qml-module-org-kde-kitemmodels qml-module-org-kde-people qml-module-org-kde-pipewire
  qml-module-org-kde-prison qml-module-org-kde-runnermodel qml-module-org-kde-solid qml-module-org-kde-sonnet qml-module-org-kde-syntaxhighlighting
  sonnet-plugins
176 to upgrade, 27 to newly install, 97 to remove and 40 not to upgrade.
Need to get 174 MB of archives.
After this operation, 184 MB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] n
Abort.

Accepting this list totally breaks the system. I find it interesting to see that many of the items not being installed are listed in the above web sites. I found it interesting that Plasma 5.26.80 and Frameworks 5.102.0-0 are in the list and I look forward to these developments

[acheron]

The Qt 5.15.8 transition in lunar proposed may make things in some staging PPAs uninstallable (or removed if you try to force things) until that transition is finished. The default priority of the proposed pocket has also changed this cycle, which makes this a little worse. Things will resolve and become smooth again in the not too distant future.