kaOS 2022.10 arrives with improvements for Squids, updates and more

Few days ago the release of the new update version of KaOS 2022.10 was announced, version in which they have been implemented various changes to the Calamares installer, as well as improvements to the virtual keyboard, changes to the startup wizard, besides that in this new update KaOS has moved to Dracut as the new initramfs infrastructure, among other things.

For those unaware of Shirt should know that this is a distribution that was created by Anke "Demm" Boersma, who initially worked on Chrakra Linux. KaOS unlike other distros was developed from scratch. According to its developers, its goal is to be more differentiated. Among them, a limited selection of applications or exclusive support for 64-bit architecture.

KaOS is characterized by being a Linux distribution independent which includes the latest version of the KDE Plasma desktop environment and other popular software programs that use the Qt toolkit.

The packaging is managed by the team itself, only for the stable versions, and controlled by the Pacman installer. KaOS uses a Rolling Relase publishing development model and it is only available for 64-bit systems.

Main news of KaOS 2022.10

In this new version of kaOS-2022.10 that is presented, as we mentioned at the beginning, the installer of Squid has been updated, so has received improvements as installation is possible completely typical from a touchpad or mouse. In addition to this, it is also highlighted in kaOS 2022.10 that support for a virtual keyboard for those modules that need text input.

We can also find the corresponding updates of KDE Plasma 5.25.90, KDE Frameworks 5.78, KDE Gear 22.08.1 and Qt 5.15.6 desktop components with patches from the KDE project (Qt 6.4 is also included).

Another of the changes that stands out is the improved compatibility with Wayland in Plasma 5.25.90 with the ability to select whether apps will be scaled by the compositor or by themselves to avoid having blurry apps in Wayland.

Also in kaOS 2022.10, for those who prefer PulseAudio over Pipewire, added a module that gives users the option to select which sound server they prefer (with Pipewire set as default).

Moreover, mention is made of the inclusion of Qt 5.15 (which receives no updates or maintenance from the Qt company, but KDE has stepped up and released a maintained 5.15 fork). As of this release KaOS now does a monthly patch update from this fork for all of Qt 5.15, so basically you're now at 5.15.7.

Qt 6.4.0 is also included, with which some test applications have been built on qt6-webengine, including some web browsers. The latest applications now using Qt6 are Obs-studio and Avidemux. Also, the Kvantum theme has support for Qt6.

Of the other changes that stand out from this new version:

• Updated package versions including Linux kernel 5.19.13, Gawk 5.2.0, Bash 5.2, Systemd 251.5, DBus 1.14.4, Git 2.38.0, Mesa 22.1.7, Texlive 2022, Openssh 9.1, Libssh 0.10.4, ZFS 2.1 .6.
• Obs-studio and Avidemux were ported to build with Qt6.
• Dracut is used to create initramfs images instead of mkinitcpio.
• The slideshow shown during installation has been completely redesigned.
• An option has been provided for use on installed ZFS file system partitions.

Finally for those interested in knowing more about it about this launch, you can check the details within the official announcement In the following link.

Download KaOS 2022.10

Finally, if you don't have KaOS installed on your computer yet and you want to download and install this Linux distribution focused on the KDE desktop environment on your computer or you want to test it under a virtual machine.

You just have to go to the official website of the distribution and in its download section you can get the system image. The link is this.

You can save the downloaded image to a USB device with the help of the Etcher application.

Si you are already a KaOS user, you must have received these updates in the last few days. But if you don't know if you already have them installed, just open a terminal and run the following commands in it:

sudo pacman -Syuu

With this, you only have to accept the updates if they exist and I recommend restarting your computer.