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KDE Plasma 5.14 Released (kde.org)

Posted by BeauHD on from the come-and-get-it dept.

jrepin writes: KDE has released Plasma 5.14 desktop. Among many other things, Plasma 5.14 simplifies managing multiple displays thanks to its new Display Configuration widget; Global Menus a la macOS now work also with GTK applications like GIMP; a new safeguard feature warns you if other users are logged in when you log out; and Discover now lets you install Snaps from all available channels (not just the default), orders software by release date, and shows package dependencies. Downloads can be found here.

12 of 41 comments (clear)

  1. Multi monitor support by maglor_83 · · Score: 1

    Does it support different scalings for different monitors yet? It's currently pretty much unusable connecting a 4K monitor to my laptop.

    1. Re:Multi monitor support by MancunianMaskMan · · Score: 1
      fwupd has a repository to handle firmware updates for laptops, mothgerboards, gadgets like usb dongles for a wireless mouse, basically everything that has firmware.

      It requires collaboration from the maker of the hardware/software.

      It's secure as can be through cryptographic keys etc.

      It means you don't have to boot Windows because your gadget's firmware's newly fixed security hole/bug is only installable with the vendor-supported Windows application.

      Nothing scary, keep your hat on. Fwupd comes from the Gnome side of the fence but because it's properly designed, KDE people can integrate it too.

    2. Re:Multi monitor support by samwichse · · Score: 1

      Doing it isn't, but configuring it from within Plasma (or whatever DE you're in) sure should be.

  2. KDE without compromise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    KDEvuan ... in case you like your KDE without systemd.

    1. Re:KDE without compromise by youngone · · Score: 2

      Meh. Thanks anyway. I'd much rather have systemd.

  3. What I would like to read: "1024 bugs fixed" by ntropia · · Score: 1
    Come on, make users happy and do what a dot-14 version should do.

    I'm not even picky, you guys can choose them from any of these lists:

    KWin

    Plasma Frameworks

    PlasmaShell

    But what TFA has to say about?

    Blurred backgrounds behind desktop context menus are no longer visually corrupted.

    It's no longer possible to accidentally drag-and-drop task manager buttons into app windows.

    Yeah!.... I guess?
    [DISCLAIMER: I am indeed a KDE user]

    1. Re:What I would like to read: "1024 bugs fixed" by ntropia · · Score: 5, Interesting

      To be fair, I found a more detailed changelog that mentions a few more bugs, but it's just lot of papercut fixes: tons of warnings removed, Unicode quircks corrected, UI changes... but nothing about high CPU usage, instability, and other major issues.

      It's still possible to see the desktop and all the windows on it every time the system resumes on a laptop, before the KScreenLocker kicks asking for the password... but, hey, now it compiles with "strict" compile flags, and finally exports the install location for DBUS interfaces via CMake.

      "Shake it, baby!"

    2. Re:What I would like to read: "1024 bugs fixed" by tap · · Score: 2

      but, hey, now it compiles with "strict" compile flags, and finally exports the install location for DBUS interfaces via CMake.

      Isn't that something dbus should do? The dbus-glib pkgconfig file has a partial set with interfaces_dir, system_bus_services_dir and session_bus_services_dir. The flaw is really with the kitware cmake module for dbus, which doesn't bother to expose any of those.

  4. Re: Is it problematic? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    If you have a problem with people who aren't white/male/straight/christian calling for the kind of basic decorum - not being insulted, harassed, belittled or threatened because of their skin color, religion, gender or sexual orientation - that white guys have taken absolutely 100% for granted as a birthright in America since day one, YOU are the problem.

  5. Re:So nothing new? by Gavagai80 · · Score: 1

    On what kind of machine is KDE slow? It's perfect on my 8 year old low end used PC I spent $150 on. Stable too, though I admit that stops being true for years when they launch a major version like KDE 4 or Plasma 5.

    --
    This space intentionally left blank
  6. features by DrYak · · Score: 1

    What in the world for and which "firmware"?

    In addition to MancunianMaskMan's excellent answer :
    fwupd itself is a command line tool.
    Gnome has a nice GTK UI to make firmware update user-friendly.
    KDE has probably added a similar tool, based on QT and KDElibs

    Seems rather odd considering most users will have no idea what either of those are. Bit of a backend way to push both those little policy agendas. It's the distribution's job to install such things not the desktop environment.

    The *whole raison d'être* of Flatpak, Snaps, etc. is to make end-user installable software that is *independent of the distribution*, somewhat reminiscent of Windows' SETUP.EXE. (as opposed to 3rd party package repositories, like Opensuse's OBS, Ubuntu's PPA, Gentoo's overlays and whatever the hell they are called with Fedora/Redhat).
    Thus it needs a different GUI than the one used for distro-package.
    Hence KDE providing a GUI for Flatpacks.
    (And as an added touch could ask the distro package management to ask missing dependencies to get Flat up. Probably over some standard scheme like PackageKit or something)

    I won't probably be using either tools (being mostly CLI), but it's still a nice touch.

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
  7. Que the nostalgia posts! by ausekilis · · Score: 1

    Something, something, 3 was the only true KDE!
    Pry 4.whatever from my cold, dead hands!