KDE Plasma 5.16 Released

Long-time Slashdot reader jrepin writes: The KDE community has released Plasma 5.16, the newest iteration of the popular desktop environment. It features an improved notification system, Not only can you mute notifications altogether with the Do Not Disturb mode, but the system also groups notifications by app.

Developers also focused on user's privacy. When any application accesses the microphone, an icon will pop up in your system tray, showing that something is listening. Vaults, a built-in utility to encrypt folders, are easier and more convenient to use.

Dolphin file and folder manager now opens folders you click on in new tabs instead of new windows. Discover software manager is cleaner and clearer as it now has two distinct areas for downloading and installing software. The Wallpaper Slideshow settings window displays the images in the folders you selected, and lets you select only the graphics you want to display in the slideshow.

For a more comprehensive overview of what to expect in Plasma 5.16, check out the official announcement or the changelog for the complete list of changes.

Re: Microphone?

[zawarski]

Hey good lookin, I'll be back to pick you up later.

KDE's good.

[Anonymous Coward]

I keep trying other desktops, and keep coming back to KDE.

It's got annoyances, sure ... what doesn't? But it seems like the most polished and powerful desktop around on the balance.

I wish more distros would package it as the default, instead of these ultrasimplified phonesque desktops that are all the rage now.

Re:

[unixisc]

I've tried both, and both KDE and GNOME are pretty bloated. So the last time I installed TrueOS, I just kept it at Lumina, which was the DE installed by default. If I were on Linux, I'd have gone w/ Razor-qt

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Define "bloated". KDE is pretty damned lean actually, if you disable the retarded "desktop search". And don't forget that the more KDE applications you use, the leaner it will be compared to using a bunch of mixed applications trying to match the functionality. It's not the desktop that will kill you, it's the bloated applications that will eat you alive.

Re:

[Barsteward]

in most cases "bloated" is used as a baseless attempt at an insult

Re:

[unixisc]

I just use the browsers and email client (both Thunderbird and Trojita), and for office applications, Calligra.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

KDE Plasma runs great on all of my computers, even the low end ones with Pentium CPUs and IGPs. If it feels bloated to you, then you must be running a positively ancient computer. Perhaps it's time for you to upgrade to something that was made this century.

Re:

[unixisc]

KDE Plasma runs great on all of my computers, even the low end ones with Pentium CPUs and IGPs. If it feels bloated to you, then you must be running a positively ancient computer. Perhaps it's time for you to upgrade to something that was made this century.

Dell Inspiron 17. 8GB RAM, 1TB hard drive. Core i7. Bought in 2014. Anything you suggest I upgrade? Oh, one more thing - I use FreeBSD (TrueOS).

Re:

[Barsteward]

oh jeez.. off the meds again?

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

I fondly remember it's super easy to change your theme. Look, it is! And it's super-effective! It's literally just a few clicks away, and you can chose from an endless variety, some as gaudy as anyone could wish for.

Re:

[RoccamOccam]

Exactly! This is why I like KDE so much: endlessly and easily configurable.

Dolphin Sucks Hard

[StormReaver]

Ever since the Konqueror file manager developers threw their hands up and quit, we've been stuck with this abortion called Dolphin. To be fair, Konqueror has started turning into a pile of shit, too; probably because it borrows so heavily from Dolphin.

But not all is lost. There are two features that Dolphin lacks that could bring it out on top: profiles (which Konqueror developers stupidly killed) and arbitrary split panels (which Konqueror still has). With those two things, it would become a worthy successor to Konqueror. Without those two things, it's just another useless Windows Explorer clone.

Re:

[JThundley]

It's still there. Click on the disk usage bar in the bottom right hand corner.

Re:

[fustakrakich]

Personally, I miss kuser the most. The user manager is totally lame now with no options to adjust. Oh well, it's back to the terminal..

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't want to waste mod points so this is as AC

Windows explorer sucks so hard you can't even put it in a comparable league to Dolphin. The simple split screen option (F3), the previews,configurable skins and menus and possibility to have individual displays per directory are just way ahead of anything else.
And for those with a nostalgic lifestyle, Midnight Commander and Krusader are still available.

Teun

Kubuntu?

[w1z7ard]

Kubuntu packages haven't landed for me yet. Looking forward to trying it out though when they're ready!

Re: Kubuntu?

[Anonymous Coward]

You have to add the Kubuntu backports PPA if you want more bleeding edge style releases of plasma versus the default K/Ubuntu packages.

Plasmashell 100%

[RoccamOccam]

Here's hoping that they've fixed whatever bug was causing me to get 100% CPU usage on my plasmashell process, occasionally. As it seems to be related to notifications, my current fix is to remove the system tray, which I'd prefer to have.

Re: Plasmashell 100%

[Maelwryth]

The only problem I have ever had with 100% processes were caused by baloo. Try disabling it. https://masonbee.nz/baloo-file... [masonbee.nz]

Re:

[RoccamOccam]

Thanks, but running top, I see plasmashell running at 100%. Your link says that baloo would show up, if that was my problem. I've read of others having the plasmashell problem and it seemed to be related to notifications. I tried to disable various notifications as they appeared, but it didn't solve the problem. The simplest fix seemed to be just disabling the system tray.

Thank you!

[Anonymous Coward]

I've been using KDE for over 15 years.
Looking forward to another 15!

Thank you developers, thank you community.