Kubuntu 22.04 or Kubuntu 21.10 or KDE Neon?

[kayvee]

About a build a machine this weekend and thinking about what to install....
Since Kubuntu 22.04 is just around the corner and I typically tend to upgrade to the latest almost immediately after it comes out I am wondering if I should just skip 21.10 and go for the daily build of 22.04? Too dangerous?
On the other hand, I keep hearing about KDE Neon and, yes, I did read a bunch of Kubuntu vs. Neon posts on the KDE forum but still undecided whether to choose that over trusty old Kubuntu. Since it is built on the top of Ubuntu, why does KDE Neon FAQs say that one should use pkcon to update packages? Will apt not work on Neon? And since Neon is built on top of LTS releases, is a new version of Neon built on top of 22.04 just around the corner?

Love to hear thoughts, comments, etc.

[Snowhog]

KDE neon User Edition is rock solid; I’m using it on my ‘old’ HP Pavilion LP.

[claydoh]

why does KDE Neon FAQs say that one should use pkcon to update packages?

Early on, people were using apt incorrectly (Debian's apt upgrade vs Ubunut's apt full-upgrade), which eventually leads to situations where not all updates were getting installed and dependency breakages

Pkcon is just the command line part of what Discover and Gnome-Software use - Packagekit. They decided to push pkcon to help remedy the problem, plus the command actually works on most all distros, not just *buntu.

Will apt not work on Neon?

Apt most definitively works as expected. Discover/Packagkit/pkcon are still using the distro's native packaging system to do the work, so on neon Apt is being used underneath the skin.

is a new version of Neon built on top of 22.04 just around the corner?

No, not until summer, after Ubuntu releases the first updated 22.04.1 iso (July). Probdably August, going by the last two LTS upgrades.

[kayvee]

KDE neon User Edition is rock solid; I’m using it on my ‘old’ HP Pavilion LP.

If I understand correctly the KDE apps see a steady stream of updates. When a piece of software is going through lot of frequent changes, I expect the chances of it inadvertently breaking is relatively higher unless there are strict QA processes in place. In your experience, does that happen at all? If it does, is it relatively rare enough to be fine?

Apt most definitively works as expected.

All of your comments are very helpful, thank you! So, can I just ignore pkcon entirely and stick to something like the following (which is my current way) to keep my system always up-to-date? Or do I need to use apt to install ubuntu-related updates and pkcon to install KDE/Plasma updates?

sudo apt update; sudo apt upgrade

[Snowhog]

If it does, is it relatively rare enough to be fine?

I have experienced very few, and I mean VERY FEW such issues.

[kayvee]

I have experienced very few, and I mean VERY FEW such issues.

Music to my ears :-)

[Snowhog]

Do keep in mind, my experience is mine, and someone else’s experience isn’t guaranteed to be the same.

[jlittle]

... I am wondering if I should just skip 21.10 and go for the daily build of 22.04? Too dangerous?

Unlikely to be dangerous, and I would definitely install 22.04 rather than 21.10; I've made that choice twice in the past and not regretted it. There's an increased chance of instability, but you definitely save the work of a release upgrade.

[jlittle]

...questions about apt...

sudo apt update; sudo apt upgrade

For Ubuntu and its derivatives it's better to use apt full-upgrade.

I like to run them separately:

sudo apt update
apt list --upgradable
sudo apt full-upgrade

because I can assess the impact of the upgrades. For example, firefox upgrades give a warning "Please restart all running instances of firefox, or you will experience problems" and I sometimes have a bunch of work in multiple tabs, and restarting is inconvenient.

APT isn't the whole story these days, though. There's snaps and flatpaks, and software from kde.org (themes, icons, and so on). I suppose I could learn the corresponding commands (snap refresh? flatpak update --system?) but for them I let Discover do it. I don't let Discover do the APT updates, though; if something goes wrong one gets better info from the apt commands. Some commentators say flatpaks are the future.

[Beerislife]

Every KDE Plasma, KDE Frameworks and KDE Gear has been trouble free for me on my Neon install. Maybe I've been lucky or maybe it just works that way... 🤣

/me reaches for some wood to touch....

[GreyGeek]

I concure with jlittle and Snowhog.

If I were using Kubuntu I'd definitely use 22.04. I've started the Beta of every version of Kubuntu since 9.04, switching to the LTS version when they began to be released, and I've had NO problem with any of them.

About 6 months ago I switched to KDE Neon User Edition. There is an FAQ which tells you what you want to know.

Is it a distro? 🔗
Not quite, it's a package archive with the latest KDE software on top of a stable base. While we have installable images, unlike full Linux distributions we're only interested in KDE software.

Is it a rolling distro? 🔗
Not quite, it's a package archive with the latest KDE software on top of a stable base. Unlike rolling distros only the KDE software will be updated continuously.

I switched to Neon to be close to the leading (not bleeding) edge of KDE software releases. Neon has a much more current and regularly updated desktop, which includes bug fixes as well as enhancements. Kubuntu LTS has the LTS version of Plasma, with minimal if any desktop bug fixes and updates, but they do keep security updates flowing.

So, Neon's base is the most recent Ubuntu LTS, which currently is 20.04 Focal Fossa. In affect, it is a "rolling release" of Plasma only. Also, Neon is a minimal install, versus Kubuntu offering a full set of applications, with an option for a minimal install that de-installs all the extra stuff after the OS image has been blasted to disk. Both offer BTRFS as the root filesystem. I've been using BTRFS for 5 1/2 years and I will never use a distro which doesn't offer BTRFS. Neon has a much more current and regularly updated desktop (which includes bug fixes as well as enhancements.


Here is my KDE Info:

Operating System: KDE neon 5.24
KDE Plasma Version: 5.24.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.92.0
Qt Version: 5.15.3
Kernel Version: 5.14.0-1031-oem (64-bit)
....

Kubuntu 20.04 features Plasma 5.18 with no upgrade to 5.24. Kubuntu 22.04 will have Plasma 5.24.
The 22.04 LTS release of Ubuntu is April 21, 2022.

Like Snowhog my experience with Neon is that it is rock solid stable. I am running an i5 CPU with Intel's Iris Xe GPU and applications snap to the screen when I click their menu icon. I reach the login screen 5 seconds after POST and the desktop in 1.7 seconds after login. My IPv6 tunnel starts seconds after the wifi connects.

You can't go wrong with either one. If you are satisfied staying with the same version of Plasma for 3 years then Kubuntu is your choice. It will change the least when compared to Neon.

[kayvee]

Thank you everyone! I have decided to switch to Neon.