Developers from the KDE have unveiled their creation of a new independent distribution KDE Linux, developed under the codename “Project Banana”. This new distribution is being designed to cater to both KDE developers, regular users, and OEM equipment manufacturers. To keep track of the ongoing development, a daily system image suitable for USB drive booting is being generated.
The main objective of the project is to establish an official Linux distribution within the community that seamlessly integrates with KDE technologies and comes highly recommended for users and OEM manufacturers. Some key highlights include providing a top-notch graphical interface, easy restoration in case of failures, maintaining robust security, prioritizing the latest technologies, seamless pre-installation and new hardware adaptability, serving as the primary platform for KDE developers, facilitating smooth transitions between different editions and releases, and laying the groundwork for KDE distribution in other modern updated versions.
There are plans in place to develop three main editions of the distribution:
- Testing – updated daily to reflect GIT’s Master testing state, intended for testing, quality control, and development monitoring.
- Enthusiast – targeted towards experienced users and enthusiasts, with releases synchronized with KDE’s releases and beta versions.
- Stable – comprises only stable KDE component releases, delayed post KDE releases for additional testing and stabilization.
The underlying structure of KDE Linux revolves around an atomic image formed using Arch Linux repositories without dividing into separate packages, set to read-only and updated atomically. Updates use two disk partitions – one for loading updates passively which becomes active post reboot, while the previously active section becomes passive awaiting the next update. System separation from applications is implemented by installing additional programs in Flatpak format.
Support for repeated assemblies allows individuals to verify the distribution assembly process. User and system data are kept encrypted, with systemd-boot serving as the bootloader and default usage of Wayland protocol in the graphic environment. Specific applications include a backup control interface similar to Apple Time Machine and a configurator based on konfig XT.