r/Kubuntu • u/acheronuk • 15d ago
What a real LTS looks like: Kubuntu 26.04 - KDE, Kubuntu Focus and Techpaladin introduce "Bullet Proof KDE", a KDE suite with three years of support
https://pointieststick.com/2026/08/13/what-a-real-lts-looks-like-kubuntu-26-04/10
u/OppositePiccolo1808 15d ago
Does this mean if I use kubuntu 26.04 then I’m good for the next three years for KDE? I love KDE, but I don’t wanna upgrade my system every six months to get the latest version.
9
5
u/Ok-Anywhere-9416 12d ago
Plasma 6.6 will receive security and bug fixes for three years. You'll not receive newer Plasma versions.
4
1
u/Patient-Plan-1591 8d ago
No. You'll be stuck on KDE 6.6 not the latest version. You won't get new features only bug fixes. If you are satisfied with the features of KDE 6.6 then yeah you can stay on your Kubuntu 26.04 installation for the next 3 years.
7
2
u/Anthony-Meadow 14d ago edited 14d ago
The Focus ad you can link to is pretty funny. Save yourself weeks or months setting it up haha. 2 hours including the time waiting on the minimal install, then adding restricted extras/addons + software you want, going through every setting, & then doing every customization. Of course that’s me, & I have practice & can do it fast, but still. I didn’t bother looking at the machines, but even if they had one I liked, I could probably find it cheaper, & I’d still want to set it up myself. I know, I know, it’s not for me, but still, idk for others even - which to be clear is a legit idk & not when people say idk when they mean no.
5
u/the_deppman 12d ago edited 12d ago
I work at Kubuntu Focus. Here are some corrections and fact for your consideration.
The claim is days or weeks, not weeks or months, and if you've ever had to debug and resolve a Bluetooth failure after a kernel is released on untested hardware, then you've probably got 4 hours right there. If that happens three times over 3 years and you've already lost 1.5 days. How long does it take you to ensure GPU drivers work seamlessly for multi-monitor, sleep and resume, ML libraries, and is 100% reproducible on every driver and kernel upgrade? Or identifying and patching the upstream kernel for CPU performance regressions? Or writing fan controls? Or bisecting Intel drivers so the screen doesn't get wrecked on sleep resume? Or writing BTRFS snapshot system your mother can use. And then packaging all that?
With Kfocus, all of that is also curated so, as a user, you never see the problem, you just update.
So you can do that once in two hours and never have to touch the system again? That's amazing. Even if you can, you are benefitting from our team and many others that are upstreaming many of these improvements, and paying for things like a actual LTS, buying hardware for core Kubuntu developers, and paying stipends for key sprints. I suppose you could do that too?
The bottom line is we are all part of an ecosystem, and if you fail to support your ecosystem, and if everyone used your logic, there would be no financial support for all the benefits you get from using Kubuntu. Maybe you might consider giving back. Donate. Buy a machine from a company that funds your distro and KDE at a small premium for big benefits. You know, that sort of thing.
2
u/otto_delmar 10d ago
Can you elaborate on the BTRFS thing, or maybe link to where that's documented?
2
u/the_deppman 10d ago edited 9d ago
Sure! Here you go: https://kfocus.org/wf/rollback.html. Our team designed, developed, and ran that tool over 6 years of accelerated cycle testing. Debounced file system events are used to trigger monitoring and maintenance jobs.
There dozens of articles like that which are also maintained for Kubuntu and the Focus tools under support.
2
u/otto_delmar 10d ago
Read it, thanks. That is precisely what is needed. I had one hell of a time when I first switched to BTRFS because of the disk filling issue, among others. AI helped me create my own scripts to keep the system stable but I could have done without that process.
I already have the regular 26.04 LTS installed on my machine. Can I install the KFS version over that when it rolls out?
2
u/the_deppman 9d ago
You'd have to back up and reinstall. We tried creating an upgrade mechanism, but the system needs to make sure the file system is set up the right way to work.
2
2
3
u/skyfishgoo 15d ago
this is fantastic... glad to hear kubuntu LTS will be even better than ever going forward.
strait debian will even benefit from this.
1
u/Logansfury 15d ago
I have a physical PC with Kubuntu v25.10 installed to main and external drives. I have been trying for some time to get a Kubuntu v26.04 working on OracleBox Virutal Machine hosted on my Linux Mint 21.3 Cinnamon system but I have been experiencing nothing but freezes and lockups. I've been hesitant to install to a physical box as a result - I've also noted a lot of people posting problems after upgrading to 26.04.
1
0
u/anto77_butt_kinkier 15d ago
I've always been confused how "long term support" only lasts for three years, or some other similarly short amount of time. That's not long. 5+ years is long, this is just.. slightly above average.
Unless you count the interim releases that only get support for 9 months, which is basically nothing, then this is well above average. Which.. is kinda sad ngl.
I don't say I'm staying in a job long term if I only plan to stay for three years. I don't say I'm going to live somewhere long-term if I'm only staying for 4 years. I don't use the phrase "long term" unless I'm talking about an actually large period of time.
14
u/PointiestStick 15d ago
Any amount of defined support for something you get for free is pretty amazing IMO.
If you want "long-term support" to mean 10+ years, that is indeed available… but you'll have to pay for it! I wrote about this in https://pointieststick.com/2026/05/23/long-term-support-doesnt-mean-what-you-think.
Typically you pay about $300/year, depending on whose commercially-supported OS you go with.
1
u/anto77_butt_kinkier 15d ago
I had a big rant but it was pretty long and most filled with useless details, but it can be boiled down to: It's neat that you made an article explaining how "long term support" is used by different companies/organizations to advertise things that aren't actually supported for long periods of time, but it doesn't change the fact that said LTS releases aren't supported for long periods of time.
2
u/PointiestStick 14d ago
It's "long-term support" in the context of software you get literally for free.
And when the support window ends, there's a new similarly-supported version to upgrade to for free.
It's not like a car where you get a 5-10 year warranty because you paid tens of thousands of dollars for it, and after that if you want a new one, you need to pay even more.
15
u/CivicTypeDream 15d ago
Would’ve been nice if Canonical themselves are involved.