Every time I test ‘n review KaOS Linux I learn more about the KDE Plasma DE…and, Linux in general. Anyone thinking about trying the KDE Plasma DE should give KaOS a try…definitely! Windows users who have been considering giving Linux a test drive would have nothing to lose by starting wid KaOS first, IMHO.

For potential Windows users it is a well put together OS, wid a main focus on the OS user, and not a lot of confusing decisions on which Desktop Enviornment (DE) they should choose first. KDE Plasma DE is the only DE offered by KaOS ‘n is very suited towards Windows users, especially if they are looking into a possible secondary, tertiary, quaternary, quinary, senary, septenary, octonary, nonary, denary, elevenary, or duodenary OS to use behind their primary Windows 10/11 OS.

  • People have been using more than one operating system for years…even tho they might not even realize it. 😉

Previous Posts on KaOS & KDE Plasma

Search Results of my posts on KaOS. See the KaOS Linux 2022.02 series – Part 1 & Part 2 – for helpful installation steps & assorted pictures of the steps. I will do an installation section in this post, but Part 1 & Part 2 will have most of the steps I skip here.

The KDE Plasma – ‘Newb TidBits‘ page follows my earlier steps this year at trying to learn how to work wid KDE Plasma’s settings.

Installation of KaOS 2022.06

Downloaded the KaOS-2022.06-x86_64.iso @ 2.87 GB ‘n used balenaEtcher to create the ‘Live’ USB bootable media.

If you have a NVIDIA GPU, then select the KaOS “nonfree Nvidia” option at the ‘Live’ USB Grub during bootup, in order to have the driver installed automatically:

The “(default)” option is #2 on that menu, so if you have a Nvidia card be prepared to choose the #1 option. Also, later during the installation process you’ll see a “License Agreement” for use of NVIDIA Software:

  • Be sure to check the “I accept” box at the bottom of the page ‘n the installer will install the Nvidia driver.

There are some Package options: I went wid adding LibreOffice ‘n the default Systemd-boot options. Those pics are from the Part 1 & Part 2 series posts, so be sure to refer to them when needed.

It’s a fast install ‘n then you restart/reboot.

Post-Installation

Am a Fulltime Linux Root User on all the Linux OSes I use, since I can’t stand the annoying “Authenticate” popups or other pestering ‘Pesky Passwords’ demands over in the standard user’s section. Here’s how to login as “root”:

Select “Different User” to open the next option:

Then type in root for Username & your root password:

Not the best root user section, but I review KaOS mainly as a great ‘KDE Plasma Trainer‘ for those interested in an easier way of learning to use the KDE Plasma DE…or potential Windows users.

Updates and adding apps in the Root User section are difficult:

Octopi is a powerful GUI Package Manager for Pacman, so unless you want to use command lines in a terminal then you’ll need to use the standard user’s section to at least get Firefox & KDE Discover (another GUI Package Manager – Think Linux ‘n Fragmentation 😉 ) added easily. That also adds them to the root section…where this Pacman Commands Cheat Sheet comes in handy.

  • Yeah, stuff like ‘This & That‘ are why very very few Windows users have ever moved from MS Windows to Linux…in roughly 30-years. I’ve recently read where someone named ‘Sophia‘ supposedly moved to Linux, apparently because she never heard of regular Disk Checks & Defragmenting a disk, and she also didn’t know she still had over 3-years left wid Win10 before the EOL Oct. 14, 2025 date arrived. How old will her computer be after 3-years? Still, Linux offers many other ‘Special Purpose‘ options, e.g. installing Linux on old computers after Windows has moved onto newer hardware.

Adding App Icons to the Panel

Working wid KDE Plasma, in different Linux Distros, can be difficult on most anyone; however, I have found that KaOS Linux probably makes the learning process about as easy as it can get. I also learned an important lesson on the adding & moving of icons on the “Task Manager” as opposed to adding & moving them to the “Panel (Widget)”:

When you open the Application Launcher, to find an app that you want to add, you are given three options on adding it: 1) Add to Desktop. 2) Add to Panel (Widget). 3) Pin to Task Manager.

I had been using the second choice – “Add to Panel (Widget).” However, using the “Pin to Task Manager” is much easier (for KaOS anyway…).

Note: To the potential Windows users – there are over 3,000 versions of the Linux OS – so don’t let all the choices of literally *EVERY* ‘Thang about Linux from OS versions to Desktop Environments (DE) to Package Managers to adding an Application to a Panel/Taskbar to etcetera distract you. Linus Torvalds calls this issue Fragmentation:

Why Linux Hasn’t Succeeded on Desktop: ‘I still wish we were better at having a standardize desktop that goes across all the distributions … It’s more of a personal annoyance how the fragmentation of the different vendors have, I think, held the desktop back a bit … It seems to be that Chromebooks and Android are the paths towards the desktop.‘

Fragmentation is basically built into everything about Linux, so using the “Pin to Task Manager” in KDE Plasma might be much better in KaOS, but in another Linux OS version using the “Add to Panel (Widget)” in KDE Plasma might work better for adding app icons to the Panel. Fragmentation is just one of many reasons that Linux has failed as a Desktop OS; however, there is much much more about Linux, e.g. Special *PURPOSE* Linuxes. Makes a great Portable OS…install it onto a USB and take it where you want it. Some Linux OSes like Puppy Linux make great Rescue OSes.

KaOS has made the pinning of apps to the Task Manager widget (which is a part of the Panel) feel very close to the Windows Taskbar. The Cinnamon DE, found on some other Linux OSes, also has that Windows ‘Feel‘ about it.

Conclusion

KaOS Linux is a great OS that focuses on the KDE Plasma DE ‘n standard Linux OS users. It also offers a root user section, but more work is needed in that area before I would permanently install it to a USB as one of my favorites.

Here is a pic of the Nvidia 515.48.07 driver that was installed:

A pic of the installed KaOS onto a test 120GB SSD:

Last but not least, a pic About this System:

Oh, the little aliens (or humans?) in pink spacesuits DE:

Will add this post to the KDE Plasma – ‘Newb TidBits‘ page_AND_ to the Special *PURPOSE* Linuxes page (specialty would be as a ‘KDE Plasma Trainer‘). 😉

Since I have mentioned potential Windows users, will also add this post to the Windows 11 page. Will leave it at that same position in Tier Three…on the Karmi’s Top 10 Linux Distros page.

LINUX IS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES – you never know what you’re gonna get!

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