Now that some of us are already enjoying the newest KDE Plasma 5.7 desktop environment on our GNU/Linux operating systems, it’s time to take a look at the features of the upcoming major version.
Yes, we’re talking about KDE Plasma 5.8, about which ex-Kubuntu leader Jonathan Riddell had a few words to say today in a short blog post. According to Mr. Riddell, it would appear that the KDE development team started work on the KDE Plasma 5.8 desktop environment, which looks like it will be an LTS (Long Term Support) release.
We have to admit that we don’t remember the last time we saw an LTS version of the KDE desktop environment, but it sounds awesome, especially that when we’re talking about LTS software, we’re talking about stability and reliability. And yes, KDE Plasma 5.8 LTS will be all about stability and performance, accompanied by the KDE Applications 16.08 software suite.
“Plasma 5.8 has its Kickoff meeting yesterday and we Kickered the plans into shape. The big news is it’ll be an LTS release with bugfix releases coming out for 18 months after the .0. This matches Qt 5.6 which is also on an LTS schedule and we’ll still to 5.6 as the minimum Qt version for Plasma 5.8 LTS,” said Jonathan Riddell.
KDE Plasma 5.8 LTS arrives October 18, 2016
Being an LTS release, the development cycle of the KDE Plasma 5.8 desktop environment will be a long one, and the Beta version arrives only two days after the debut of the last maintenance update for the KDE Plasma 5.7 series, on September 29, 2016. Then, the final KDE Plasma 5.8.0 LTS release is set to arrive on October 18.
A lot of things will be improved during the entire development cycle of the KDE Plasma 5.8 LTS desktop environment. Some of the new features and enhancements can be viewed here, but it’s important to mention that the Wayland support should be finalized before the October 18 release of the desktop. However, the Wayland port won’t receive LTS support.
According to the official release schedule, KDE Plasma 5.8 LTS will have no less than nine point releases, with the first one, KDE Plasma 5.8.1, arriving on October 25. After that, KDE Plasma 5.8.2 is set to land on November 1, KDE Plasma 5.8.3 on November 15, and KDE Plasma 5.8.4 on December 23.
The KDE Plasma 5.8 development cycle will continue in 2017 with the fifth point release, KDE Plasma 5.8.5 on January 3, KDE Plasma 5.8.6 on March 7, KDE Plasma 5.8.7 on June 6, KDE Plasma 5.8.8 on October 31, and the last one, KDE Plasma 5.8.9, on April 24, 2018. So yes, KDE Plasma 5.8 LTS will be supported for two long years.
Via Softpedia