Hello, I would like to ask a question

meeger

I am looking to switch from Arch Linux, does KaOS utilize modern technology such as Wayland and PipeWire? unfortunately, my laptop does not support Xorg/X11 or PulseAudio, due to having a high-DPI display - fractional scaling is impossible without (largely inefficient) xrandr scripting, and my ThinkPad's speakers simply do not function whatsoever on PulseAudio, I have tried many times on Arch-based distributions to no avail.

I am also seriously interested in using the Niri compositor within KDE Plasma as it was shown yesterday, Niri is my favourite window manager (and in my opinion - the best Unix window manager ever made), and Plasma is my favourite DE, so this goes like peanut butter & jelly, how is the experience so far?

demm

Before switching to KaOS, make sure you know what it is and what it is not. For one, it is NOT Arch linux based, should you be looking for such a distro.
Best to read about this distro:
https://kaosx.us/#repo
https://kaosx.us/#faq

Both Wayland & Pipewire are default here, you can always try the Live mode to see if your hardware is working correctly with KaOS.
Niri is not planned to be used within Plasma (as in, kwin replacement), what is tested now is Niri with Noctalia-shell as a complete separate setup (so, the shell is still Qt/QML based, apps will be mostly Qt/KDE, just like they are with a Plasma session).

But again, do not expect it to be Arch based/compatible, and know the repositories are limited.

meeger

demm

Hello,

Both Wayland & Pipewire are default here, you can always try the Live mode to see if your hardware is working correctly with KaOS.

Thank you

for one, it is NOT Arch linux based

I am aware, KaOS is very clear about it being independent.

Niri is not planned to be used within Plasma (as in, kwin replacement)

Oof, I might have misunderstood, I thought you had found a way to use KDE without KWin for once... I think I (and many others) would not be happy about this change from KDE to a window manager, I don't think window managers w/desktop shells could ever emulate the experience of a full desktop environment, there is still a significant amount of scripting and manual labour required to do much of anything, I had daily-ran Niri for a long time on CachyOS, still found myself having to set file associations manually, still found myself having to download things for power daemon & drawing tablet control because Noctalia simply cannot emulate the KDE Settings, and don't get me started on anything to do with the display...

Should this change happen in the future, would there be, perhaps, two different "flavours" of KaOS? one that breaks foundational design to upkeep systemd demands and maintain 100% KDE software, and one that is like "classic" KaOS, but with Niri?

demm

No, there will never be 2 versions.
Please read:
https://forum.kaosx.us/d/3285-niri-compositor
https://forum.kaosx.us/d/3285-niri-compositor/9
for the background of checking out Niri.
Plasma is in the process of making systemd fully mandatory, so should a switch happen to another init system, Plasma can't be used in the foreseeable future.

meeger

demm
I hope that you might reconsider this, Niri being a GTK window manager simply cannot fill the roles of Plasma, which is more or less the most mature graphical shell on any desktop...

demm

meeger Niri being a GTK window manager

What makes you think it is GTK? There are zero toolkit dependencies for this Wayland compositor (window managers are for X11). What is tested now is fully Qt/QML based, with, by default, still no GTK (as is with a default Plasma install on KaOS).
But this whole discussion is a moot point should systemd stay a possibility. Or if Dinit can be fully used with Plasma. It all is a matter of trying to figure a way to continue with this distribution, with the new, clashing demands that systemd has implemented.