SDDM is now the default display manager.

Nov 9, 2015 02:55 GMT  ·  By

On November 8, Neofytos Kolokotronis from the Chakra project had the great pleasure of informing us of the release and immediate availability for download of the Chakra GNU/Linux 2015.11 computer operating system.

Being a rolling release OS, Chakra GNU/Linux 2015.11 is only an installation media that contains all the updated software packages that had been released on the official software repositories of the distribution since the previous ISO image.

Probably the most important new feature of Chakra GNU/Linux 2015.11 is the addition of the KDE Plasma 5 as the default desktop environment, replacing the old KDE 4 Plasma Workspaces interface that has been used until today.

Of course, this also means that all the latest KDE technologies were implemented as well, including KDE Plasma 5.4.2, KDE Applications 15.08.2, KDE Frameworks 5.15.0, Qt 5.5.1, as well as Calligra 2.9.8.

"Unfortunately Kapudan, our desktop greeter that runs after the first boot and allows users to adjust some personal settings, hasn't been ported to Frameworks 5 yet, so it will be missing from this ISO," says Neofytos Kolokotronis.

Powered by Linux kernel 4.1 LTS

Besides the KDE technologies mentioned above, Chakra GNU/Linux now features SDDM as the default display manager (also known as login screen) because it integrates better with the KDE Plasma 5 desktop environment.

Moreover, the new Calamares distro independent graphical installer was added as a replacement for the outdated Tribe installer, the software repository has a new structure, and new artwork and wallpapers were implemented.

Powered by Linux kernel 4.1.4 LTS, Chakra GNU/Linux 2015.11 comes with X.Org Server 1.16.4, systemd 227, Qt 4.8.7, Mesa 10.5.0, Nvidia 352.30, AMD Catalyst 15.5, xf86-video-intel 2.99.917, xf86-video-ati 7.5.0, and xf86-video-nouveau 1.0.11.

Those of you who want to reinstall Chakra GNU/Linux or deploy it on new computers can download Chakra GNU/Linux 2015.11 right now from Softpedia, where the OS is distributed as a 64-bit Live DVD ISO image.