Today I released a fresh batch of KDE Plasma6 packages for 32bit and 64bit Slackware-current to my ‘ktown‘ repository.
You will find these packages at the origin location: https://slackware.nl/alien-kde/current/testing/ together with an expansive README which will help you remove KDE Plasma5 from your Slackware-current computer and install the ‘ktown‘ version of KDE Plasma6 instead.
My intention is to keep this new Plasma6 package repository in a ‘testing‘ state (as reflected in the repository URL) until KDE Gear (Applications and PIM) version 26.04 is released in April 2026
I expect that the few remaining Qt5 based KDE applications will finally have been ported to Qt6 by that time. That moment, the repository will be promoted from ‘testing‘ to ‘latest‘ and that will then reflect in the repository URL.
If you want to peek at the source code management, I track everything in a git repository. You will find the 6_26.02 branch at: https://git.slackware.nl/ktown/
Let me know what you think after trying out these Plasma6 packages. As usual you can leave your feedback in the comments section below.
Cheers, Eric
HI, Eric,
maybe added ‘aha’ for support network infos in the kinfocenter, (plasma-6.6.0)
but it need also a symlink /sbin/ip to /usr/bin/ip
https://github.com/theZiz/aha
i have a SlacBuild exemple here:
https://slackware.halpanet.org/gmgf/aha/
I am not able to change the location of the ‘ip’ tool. Perhaps when Patrick takes over ktown development and adds Plasma6 to Slackware-current you could ask this in the LinuxQuestions forum.
Ok, Eric,
we’ll see about that later, it’s just a cosmetic improvement. 😉
thank.
Hi Eric, thanks!! Installed and so far it’s going OK, no apparent issues.
Just for info,
krita -6.0.0 , requires ‘xsimd’, it does not build without it:
https://xsimd.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
https://github.com/xtensor-stack/xsimd
I had not realized that there’s a new dependency but I have already added the sources for xsimd to the “deps” section. Yesterday Beta 2 was released for Krita so I expect and hope that they have a stable release before KDE Gear 26.04 is available.
krita:
5.3/6.0 release schedule
November 21st Feature Freeze
December 21st String Freeze
January 21st Final Freeze
Feb 18: beta 2
Mar 4: beta 3
Mar 18: release
Do not release Krita 6.0 on Android (not ready yet)
We release 5.3 and 6.0 simultaneously. 6.0 will be marked as alpha except on linux distro builds.
For info:
Little bug in ‘qqc2-desktop-style’:
https://mail.kde.org/pipermail/distributions/2026-February/001672.html
Yes I am subscribed to the mailing list.
Little bugs are the ones that I will not fix – they will fix themselves when the new version is released.
Eric, for ‘krita’, the Qt5 version in Slackware-current is build with support for the ‘python’ extension (‘pyqt5’ itself depends on ‘pyqt5_sip’). krita-6-beta2 probably build without ‘pyqt6’, but if needed, I have SlackBuilds for pyqt6, they are basic, the source code is here (if it helps, just modify them as you wish):
https://slackware.halpanet.org/gmgf/kde6-plasma6/pkg-python-qt6/
Python plugins are optional. I’ll leave it to Patrick to introduce pyqt6 to Slackware. Currently there’s not so much in Slackware (read: nothing) that would benefit from pyqt6… only Krita essentially.
Eric,
fcitx5-configtool, kdevelop, subtitlecomposer, need rebuild with ‘libplasma-6.6.1’:
fcitx5-configtool, new and last version (work here):
https://github.com/fcitx/fcitx5-configtool/tags
I can see that fcitx5-plasma-theme-generator needs a rebuild, but I do not see what’s wrong with kdevelop or subtitlecomposer.
here, i have this:
/usr/lib64/qt6/qml/org/kde/plasma/private/kdevelopsessions/libkdevelopsessionsplugin.so:
libPlasma.so.6 => not found
Thanks 😉
Thank you to you, because you taught me a lot, with your scrypts among and other things. 😉
no ‘subtitlecomposer’ 🙂
Great Job
Hi Eric, I have this request because I got these image formats from a student.
¿Can you please add HEIC/HEIF image formats support in the upcoming release? Thanks in advance.
The HEIC format is heavily patent-encumbered. It is not advised that Linux distros add support for it, due to the risk for legal dispute. Therefore I am not going to honor your request.
Instead, ask your student to disable HEIC format in their phone app and use plain JPG or PNG.
Hi Eric, I understand. Thanks, anyway.
Hi Eric, I also saw in Kdenlive that some “restricted” formats are disabled, despite the fact that I have installed a “unrestricted” ffmpeg. Should Kdenlive need to be rebuilt against the “unrestricted” ffmpeg? What can I do to get Kdenlive to render to those “restricted” codecs again? Thanks !
According to its documentation, kdenlive should use the ffmpeg capabilities that are offered, and if you have an ffmpeg installed that can encode AAC, then kdenlive should support that.
I can’t give you an answer to your question, best is to bring it to kdenlve’s github or perhaps LinuxQuestions.org,
Thanks Eric. I re-installed your unrestricted ffmpeg and Kdenlive now can use all the customary codecs. Thanks!!
Eric, thanks for this! The only rough spot I’ve noticed so far is that under Wayland, many KDE apps (including Konsole, Kate, etc.) don’t handle alternate input methods (in my case, fcitx) correctly when QT_IM_MODULE is set. Unfortunately, you /do/ need to set QT_IM_MODULE, GTK_IM_MODULE, and sometimes SDL_IM_MODULE for alternate input handling in other desktop environments, including KDE under X11. More details are at https://fcitx-im.org/wiki/Using_Fcitx_5_on_Wayland.
It sounds like the situation will improve in Plasma 6.7, but my workaround for now is to leave QT_IM_MODULE=fcitx and GTK_IM_MODULE=fcitx in /etc/environment (for compatibility with other DEs), and to create a `~/.config/plasma-workspace/env/clear_wayland_input_vars.sh` containing
“`
#!/bin/bash
if [ “$XDG_SESSION_TYPE” = “wayland” ]; then
export GTK_IM_MODULE=
export QT_IM_MODULE=
export SDL_IM_MODULE=
fi
“`
XMODIFIERS=@im=fcitx should remain set. FWIW, I didn’t run into this issue when I was using lngn’s KDE package series through version 6.5.4, so I don’t know whether it’s a 6.5 to 6.6 regression, or if he found another workaround.