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KDE Plasma 5.17 Released! How to Install it in (K)Ubuntu 19.10

Last updated: October 16, 2019

KDE Plasma 5.16

KDE Plasma desktop 5.17 was released yesterday. Now you can install it in (K)Ubuntu 19.10 via KUbuntu Backports PPA.

Plasma 5.17 release highlights:

  • Night Color for X11.
  • Fractional scaling support on Wayland.
  • Faster startup performance.
  • New panel in System Settings for configuring Thunderbolt devices
  • Improved widget resizing, settings panels, and many other small feature additions.
  • For more details, see the release note.

How to Install Plasma 5.17 in (K)Ubuntu 19.10:

Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or by searching for ‘terminal’ from application menu. When it opens, do:

1. Add Kubuntu Backports PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it prompts and hit Enter to continue.

2. Install Plasma 5.17 in Kubuntu 19.10:

Either install all system update via Update Manager, or run command in terminal:

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade

3. For non-Kubuntu user:

Run command to install Plasma desktop:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install plasma-desktop

or install full KDE desktop environment via command:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install kubuntu-desktop

Uninstall:

You can purge the Kubuntu Backports PPA, which also downgrade Plasma desktop to the stock version (5.16.5) in Ubuntu 19.10 repository.

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports
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    5 responses to KDE Plasma 5.17 Released! How to Install it in (K)Ubuntu 19.10

    1. Charlie October 21, 2019 at 7:18 pm

      Thank you for the help!

    2. wasejawer October 22, 2019 at 10:34 pm

      Can not update to 5.15.17
      For some reason after adding ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports (I’m on Kubuntu 19.10)
      it only upgrades to 5.16.5

      And list command bellow shows that latest available version is 5.16.5
      $ sudo apt list plasma-desktop
      Listing… Done
      plasma-desktop/disco 4:5.16.5-0ubuntu1~ubuntu19.04~ppa1 amd64 [upgradable from: 4:5.15.4-0ubuntu1]
      plasma-desktop/disco 4:5.16.5-0ubuntu1~ubuntu19.04~ppa1 i386

      What’s wrong?

    3. philipC November 1, 2019 at 12:30 am

      I have installed Ubuntu 19.10 along with Plasma 5.17.1 (from Kubuntu ppa backports).

      Now i want to upgrade to Plasma 5.17.2, do i use the same command as Kubuntu :
      sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade ?