Users of Kubuntu 17.10 Artful Aardvark can now update to the newly released Plasma 5.12.0 via our backports PPA.
See the Plasma 5.12 release announcement and the release video below for more about the new features available.
To upgrade:
Add the following repository to your software sources list:
ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports
or if it is already added, the updates should become available via your preferred update method.
The PPA can be added manually in the Konsole terminal with the command:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports
and packages then updated with
sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade
IMPORTANT
Please note that more bugfix releases are scheduled by KDE for Plasma 5.12, so while we feel these backports will be beneficial to enthusiastic adopters, users wanting to use a Plasma release with more stabilisation/bugfixes ‘baked in’ may find it advisable to stay with Plasma 5.10.5 as included in the original 17.10 Artful release. Likewise, users who already have Plasma 5.11.5 via the backports PPA can disable the PPA temporarily and wait for more updates before upgrading. KDE will release bugfix updates to Plasma 5.12 following a Fibonacci sequence of weeks since the last release (i.e. 1, 1, 2, 3, 5 etc week gaps) detailed in the Plasma release schedule.
Other upgrade notes:
~ The Kubuntu backports PPA includes various other backported applications, and KDE Frameworks 5.42, so please be aware that enabling the backports PPA for the 1st time and doing a full upgrade will result in a substantial amount of upgraded packages in addition to Plasma 5.12.
~ The PPA will also continue to receive bugfix updates to Plasma 5.12 when they become available, and further updated KDE applications.
~ While we believe that these packages represent a beneficial and stable update, please bear in mind that they have not been tested as comprehensively as those in the main Ubuntu archive, and are supported only on a limited and informal basis. Should any issues occur, please provide feedback on our mailing list [1], IRC [2], and/or file a bug against our PPA packages [3].
1. Kubuntu-devel mailing list: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/kubuntu-devel
2. Kubuntu IRC channels: #kubuntu & #kubuntu-devel on irc.freenode.net
3. Kubuntu ppa bugs: https://bugs.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa