Hi Guys,

Is it possible to have KDE Plasma under Debian have the exact same layout structure as in Kubuntu? If so, how?

https://imgur.com/aJYwu0f.png - Kubuntu layout

The Kickoff menu style will depend on the Plasma version you have in Debian, as compared to Kubuntu. I believe this layout came out with Plasma 5.21, so if your version is older you won't be able to get the same layout.

However, there should be a number of launcher widgets that might be useful or interesting, and work on your Plasma version.

claydoh wrote:The Kickoff menu style will depend on the Plasma version you have in Debian, as compared to Kubuntu. I believe this layout came out with Plasma 5.21, so if your version is older you won't be able to get the same layout.

@claydoh

100%.
Will i be able to install Plasma 5.21 in Debian Stable 11.5?

claydoh wrote:However, there should be a number of launcher widgets that might be useful or interesting, and work on your Plasma version.

Launcher widgets and infinite tweaking possibilities are great and what makes Linux so versatile.
I really love the plasma version used in Kubuntu. I want to start this way before considering tweaking.

zm wrote:Will i be able to install Plasma 5.21 in Debian Stable 11.5?

it doesn't look like it., not without going to Unstable or something. I am not terribly familiar with what is available in Debian

claydoh wrote:

zm wrote:Will i be able to install Plasma 5.21 in Debian Stable 11.5?

it doesn't look like it., not without going to Unstable or something. I am not terribly familiar with what is available in Debian

Yeah one Debian user confirmed it will not work.

I am a bit specific about how i like my KDE to look and behave like. I love KDE Plasma 5.21 on Kubuntu. Unfortunately i cannot install it on latest debian stable, or future releases.

Seems like the right opportunity to move to Gentoo, and configure it the way i like.

The solution for this is to use the source code from KDE Plasma 5.21 and maintain my own Desktop Environment based on this version.
Is this possible?
Is it feasible or just too much work for 1 person alone?
Are there widgets to make the layout behave like it does on current kubuntu, (indefinitely)?
I don't like how it behaves on debian stable 11.5.

Current Plasma versions and theming are mostly identical from version 5.21 to now (5.26). Kubuntu is not using anything special or unique here to have that look or theming. Your image shows the default stock Application Launcher widget, and the Breeze Dark theme, which is one of the stock themes included by default in Plasma.

What I might suggest is to try a recent distro install via virtual machine, if possible, or even a live session, and play with the themes and widgets available.
You will not in any way want or need to build Plasma 5.21 to get this stock appearance at all. It looks this way in Plasma 5.24 in Kubuntu 22.04 LTS, as well as something using the current Plasma 5.26, as well as anything that uses Plasma versions going back to 5.21.

I believe that 5.24 is KDE's current LTS version of Plasma, if that helps any.

@claydoh

Current Debian Stable 11.5 ships Plasma 5.20.
I have it in virtualbox. I'll play with it and see if i can get the kubuntu layout.
I don't care about the color as that's just black transparency and easy to achieve.
It's the layout of plasma 5.21 i want