KaOS 2025.11 adds Limine bootloader, Linux 6.17 kernel, KDE Plasma 6.5 & updated packages

KaOS 2025.11, an independent Linux distribution focused on Qt and KDE, introduces a major change to its installation process by offering Limine as an optional bootloader for UEFI installs using the Calamares installer. While Limine is not yet set as the default, it is planned to replace systemd-boot after more extensive testing. Powered by the Linux 6.17.9 kernel, this release features KDE Plasma 6.5.3, along with KDE Gear 25.08.3 and Frameworks 6.20.0, providing a modern desktop environment for users.

Continuing its emphasis on up-to-date system software, KaOS 2025.11 ships with systemd 257.10 and numerous updated core packages. These include Boost 1.89.0, ICU 77.1, Glib2 2.86.2, Opencv 4.12.0, Poppler 25.11.0, Gstreamer 1.26.8, Pipewire 1.4.9, ZFS 2.3.5, Cmake 4.2, OpenSSH 10.2, Bash 5.3, Protobuf 33.1, and Mesa 25.2.7.

Among the new packages are Niri, a scrollable-tiling Wayland compositor; Quickshell, a toolkit for developing desktop shells with QtQuick for Wayland; and Noctalia, a minimal shell for Wayland. Building on advancements for the Qt6 ecosystem, the default Phonon sound backend now uses phonon-mpv instead of VLC, ensuring complete Qt6 compatibility. Additionally, SDDM 0.20.0 introduces beta support for running the display manager in Wayland mode, taking further steps away from X11. This version also includes Kjournald for log viewing through a graphical interface, and applies several other minor enhancements.