Is it a good idea to use the latest version of Plasma?

[Arnox]

Or, generally speaking, is it better to stick with the Debian 11 Stable 5.20.5? Normally, I'd say it would be better to stick with the Debian version, but it looks like the KDE team are on a bug-squashing spree at the moment.

Now, with that said, although I've noticed some minor graphical issues, I personally haven't run into any significant bugs yet at all using the Debian Stable Plasma.

[Solon]

I can't speak for the Devs, but as a Plasma user and someone who reads the Forum regularly, this issue has come up in the past. Basically MX is not for the adventurous, rather it sets up a very stable version of the latest Plasma (XFCE and Fluxbox), then locks it in.

It is important to realize that MX favors STABILITY over the latest and greatest programming out there. Put simply, people use MX because it is Reliable, NOT because it has the latest and greatest software. For that you can try plain old (anything goes) Debian, Neon or Manjaro (Arch). Or for that matter, you can set up a virtual box or use a USB and run the latest KDE there (Neon is great for that).

There is a relevant thread (Hopping... and always back Home!) from the Forums from the middle of last year (before the upgrade to 5.20), but the final comment is still useful, namely that as KDE progresses (and it is constantly putting out newer versions of Plasma), you can petition the Devs to ADD some later version to MX if it has something extremely useful.

Otherwise, wait two years, and you will get a newer version of KDE with MX-22, that is, at that point - entirely stable.

[MAYBL8]

You can follow us here where we have an experimental system using the latest KDE Plasma.
Warning do not use this on a productions system.
You can ask questions in the thread.
viewtopic.php?t=59398

[davemx]

KDE5.22 reintroduces "ghost windows", where closed windows, dialog boxes and menus occasionally remain on screen, when using translucency. KDE5.23 removes the rotating cube when switching windows, and they haven't fixed the ghost windows!

The only issue I get with MX21KDE is that the first time I use the dialog box to upload a file in Vivaldi, after logging in, there's a long delay.

[Bamber]

Plasma 5.20 is a gem. No objective reason to upgrade.

[fladd]

There are good reasons to switch to a newer Plasma version.

(1) The application launcher on the Plasma in MX21 is very slow:
https://i.imgur.com/xFo1MDO.gif
The new Kickoff launcher is much faster (without any visible lag on the same machine)

(2) The old Plasma in MX21 uses much more memory:
https://i.imgur.com/jFZmz9V.png
Other distros which use Plasma 5.23.x use significantly less (around 600 MB)

(3) The new Breeze theme (as of 5.23) looks much cleaner and is more usable (larger scrollbars, etc.)


(4) Many other small improvements in newer Plasma versions

I really hope once 5.24 becomes stable, MX will be updated to it (since it will also be the new LTE release).



Moderator: some images changed to links. Please read the forum rules.
viewtopic.php?p=255061#p255061

[WebHeer]

Maybe not for now, by next week MX is "only" 4 versions behind. But by the time MX22 comes out, that backlog will have grown to 9 or 10 versions. Do you still want to stay with the old trusted 5.20, that is the question.

[davemx]

Maybe not for now, by next week MX is "only" 4 versions behind. But by the time MX22 comes out, that backlog will have grown to 9 or 10 versions. Do you still want to stay with the old trusted 5.20, that is the question.

Yes, actually!

[baldyeti]

I am perfectly happy with 5.20, too. Plasma 5 has been very usable for a very long time, actually. If properly tested i wouldn't oppose to some intermediary update (between 5.20 as in bullseye and whatever bookwrm will ship), but I am not sure it would be the best usage of MX devs' time.