KDE Plasma 6.6 beta ships a login manager that won't log in without systemd
(2026/01/26)
- Reference: 1769442306
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/01/26/plasma_6_6_systemd_login/
- Source link:
KDE Plasma 6.6 is approaching, and one of its more controversial changes is a new login screen that depends on systemd – meaning that it won't work on the non-Linux operating systems KDE still nominally supports.
The [1]first beta is now available. The KDE project has published a [2]full changelog covering the differences between the current Plasma 6.5.5 release and what's internally known as Plasma 6.5.90, although, at nearly 2,500 lines, it's not exactly light reading. The KDE Wiki has a [3]more digestible list that summarizes just under 40 significant changes.
One of these looks relatively inconspicuous. There's a new login screen called the [4]Plasma Login Manager , which is forked from the existing [5]SDDM . SDDM stands for Simple Desktop Display Manager and as the [6]Arch Wiki describes : "It is the recommended display manager for the LXQt desktop environment."
[7]
However, the Plasma Login Manager depends upon the [8]systemd-logind service. It will only work on Linux distros that use systemd; indeed, the developers of the new project [9]explicitly dropped FreeBSD support in December 2025. The developers have defended the move in a [10]Reddit discussion , and don't look likely to change their minds. This isn't stopping distros adopting it: it's already [11]available in Arch Linux and the performance-oriented Arch variant CachyOS's [12]new January 2026 release defaults to using the Plasma Login Manager.
[13]
[14]
This does not mean that KDE Plasma 6.6 as a whole will require systemd. There's no particularly close connection between any graphical login screen and whatever desktop or desktops it launches. For a Qt-based login manager, SDDM itself is still around, and there are lots of alternatives available. GhostBSD uses the Gtk-based [15]LightDM , as do many Linux distros. On FreeBSD, the old but simple [16]SLiM is a common choice, although its [17]long unmaintained upstream , and the developer of the continuation [18]SLiM fork reported serious health problems.
Even so, this is suggestive for the future direction of the KDE Plasma project. As we [19]reported back in November , KDE's stated future direction is to go Wayland-only. Wayland already [20]works on FreeBSD , and that [21]includes in KDE Plasma . That shouldn't be a problem.
[22]
Support on the other BSDs is more preliminary. OpenBSD developer [23]Matthieu Herrb reported that he [24]had it running [PDF] back in 2023. Even earlier it was [25]possible to run it on NetBSD , and we do like that developer's [26]later summary : "The bad news is that to have applications running we require access to a larger open source ecosystem, and that ecosystem has a lot of churn and is easily distracted by shiny new squirrels."
[27]Emmabuntüs DE 6: A newbie-friendly Linux to help those in need
[28]MX Linux 25.1 brings back switchable init systems
[29]pearOS is a Linux that falls rather close to the Apple tree
[30]Linux 6.18 crowned LTS kernel – and Alpine 3.23 wastes no time adopting it
Calling Wayland a "shiny new squirrel" seems quite charitable to us. We feel that decisions like these, to favor Linux-centric tech such as systemd and Wayland, do represent the general direction of the GNOME and KDE projects. GNOME 49 [31]came out in September 2025 and developer Adrian Vovk, whose [32]work on GNOME OS we mentioned in 2024, earlier in 2025 explicitly said that future releases would be [33]introducing stronger dependencies on systemd .
Among the BSDs, only FreeBSD and OpenBSD offer recent versions of the big two. In 2024, we [34]reported on OpenBSD getting KDE Plasma 5 , and [35]last October's OpenBSD 7.8 offers KDE Plasma 6.4.5. We fear this will become more difficult for them as both GNOME and KDE become increasingly Linux-centric.
In July 2025, we reported that [36]FreeBSD 15 would offer a minimal KDE desktop . That didn't make it in, but the team is still working on it – it's [37]on the roadmap for 15.1 .
In our humble opinion, perhaps the FreeBSD contributors should divert the targets of their efforts elsewhere – to a project less distracted by shiny new squirrels. Our suggestion would be the desktop whose release schedule has a similar cadence to their own: [38]Xfce .
[39]
In 1982, the comic strip [40]Frank and Ernest coined [41]the line generally paraphrased as "Of course, Fred Astaire was a wonderful dancer, but Ginger Rogers did everything he did backwards and in high heels." Well, Xfce does everything that the bigger headline-hogging desktops do, but it does it quicker, in less code and with less memory. ®
Get our [42]Tech Resources
[1] https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/6/6.5.90/
[2] https://kde.org/announcements/changelogs/plasma/6/6.5.5-6.5.90/
[3] https://community.kde.org/Plasma/Plasma_6#Plasma_6.6
[4] https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-login-manager/
[5] https://github.com/sddm/sddm
[6] https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/SDDM
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aXedxmUpTMwko5BdQgzvYgAAAk8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/systemd-logind.service.html
[9] https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-login-manager/-/merge_requests/42
[10] https://www.reddit.com/r/kde/comments/1qi9vo5/would_the_new_plasmaloginmanager_be_usable_on/
[11] https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Plasma_Login_Manager
[12] https://cachyos.org/blog/2601-january-release/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXedxmUpTMwko5BdQgzvYgAAAk8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aXedxmUpTMwko5BdQgzvYgAAAk8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/LightDM/Design/
[16] https://www.freshports.org/x11/slim
[17] https://github.com/iwamatsu/slim
[18] https://slim-fork.sourceforge.io/
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/28/kde_6_8_wayland_only/
[20] https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/wayland/
[21] https://euroquis.nl/kde/2025/09/07/wayland.html
[22] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXedxmUpTMwko5BdQgzvYgAAAk8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[23] https://www.herrb.net/
[24] https://www.openbsd.org/papers/eurobsdcon2023-matthieu-wayland-openbsd.pdf
[25] https://blog.netbsd.org/tnf/entry/wayland_on_netbsd_trials_and
[26] https://blog.netbsd.org/tnf/entry/x_org_on_netbsd_the
[27] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/25/emmabuntus_6_charitable_linux/
[28] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/21/mx_25_1_init_diversity/
[29] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/19/pearos/
[30] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/05/new_lts_kernel_and_alpine/
[31] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/23/systemd_258_gnome_49/
[32] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/29/kde_and_gnome_distros/
[33] https://blogs.gnome.org/adrianvovk/2025/06/10/gnome-systemd-dependencies/
[34] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/15/kde_6_kde_5_openbsd/
[35] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/23/openbsd_78_and_9front_release/
[36] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/25/freebsd_15_installer_offers_kde/
[37] https://github.com/FreeBSDFoundation/proj-laptop/blob/main/monthly-updates/2025-12.md
[38] https://xfce.org/
[39] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aXedxmUpTMwko5BdQgzvYgAAAk8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[40] https://www.frankandernest.com/
[41] https://quoteinvestigator.com/2025/07/26/dance-heels/
[42] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The [1]first beta is now available. The KDE project has published a [2]full changelog covering the differences between the current Plasma 6.5.5 release and what's internally known as Plasma 6.5.90, although, at nearly 2,500 lines, it's not exactly light reading. The KDE Wiki has a [3]more digestible list that summarizes just under 40 significant changes.
One of these looks relatively inconspicuous. There's a new login screen called the [4]Plasma Login Manager , which is forked from the existing [5]SDDM . SDDM stands for Simple Desktop Display Manager and as the [6]Arch Wiki describes : "It is the recommended display manager for the LXQt desktop environment."
[7]
However, the Plasma Login Manager depends upon the [8]systemd-logind service. It will only work on Linux distros that use systemd; indeed, the developers of the new project [9]explicitly dropped FreeBSD support in December 2025. The developers have defended the move in a [10]Reddit discussion , and don't look likely to change their minds. This isn't stopping distros adopting it: it's already [11]available in Arch Linux and the performance-oriented Arch variant CachyOS's [12]new January 2026 release defaults to using the Plasma Login Manager.
[13]
[14]
This does not mean that KDE Plasma 6.6 as a whole will require systemd. There's no particularly close connection between any graphical login screen and whatever desktop or desktops it launches. For a Qt-based login manager, SDDM itself is still around, and there are lots of alternatives available. GhostBSD uses the Gtk-based [15]LightDM , as do many Linux distros. On FreeBSD, the old but simple [16]SLiM is a common choice, although its [17]long unmaintained upstream , and the developer of the continuation [18]SLiM fork reported serious health problems.
Even so, this is suggestive for the future direction of the KDE Plasma project. As we [19]reported back in November , KDE's stated future direction is to go Wayland-only. Wayland already [20]works on FreeBSD , and that [21]includes in KDE Plasma . That shouldn't be a problem.
[22]
Support on the other BSDs is more preliminary. OpenBSD developer [23]Matthieu Herrb reported that he [24]had it running [PDF] back in 2023. Even earlier it was [25]possible to run it on NetBSD , and we do like that developer's [26]later summary : "The bad news is that to have applications running we require access to a larger open source ecosystem, and that ecosystem has a lot of churn and is easily distracted by shiny new squirrels."
[27]Emmabuntüs DE 6: A newbie-friendly Linux to help those in need
[28]MX Linux 25.1 brings back switchable init systems
[29]pearOS is a Linux that falls rather close to the Apple tree
[30]Linux 6.18 crowned LTS kernel – and Alpine 3.23 wastes no time adopting it
Calling Wayland a "shiny new squirrel" seems quite charitable to us. We feel that decisions like these, to favor Linux-centric tech such as systemd and Wayland, do represent the general direction of the GNOME and KDE projects. GNOME 49 [31]came out in September 2025 and developer Adrian Vovk, whose [32]work on GNOME OS we mentioned in 2024, earlier in 2025 explicitly said that future releases would be [33]introducing stronger dependencies on systemd .
Among the BSDs, only FreeBSD and OpenBSD offer recent versions of the big two. In 2024, we [34]reported on OpenBSD getting KDE Plasma 5 , and [35]last October's OpenBSD 7.8 offers KDE Plasma 6.4.5. We fear this will become more difficult for them as both GNOME and KDE become increasingly Linux-centric.
In July 2025, we reported that [36]FreeBSD 15 would offer a minimal KDE desktop . That didn't make it in, but the team is still working on it – it's [37]on the roadmap for 15.1 .
In our humble opinion, perhaps the FreeBSD contributors should divert the targets of their efforts elsewhere – to a project less distracted by shiny new squirrels. Our suggestion would be the desktop whose release schedule has a similar cadence to their own: [38]Xfce .
[39]
In 1982, the comic strip [40]Frank and Ernest coined [41]the line generally paraphrased as "Of course, Fred Astaire was a wonderful dancer, but Ginger Rogers did everything he did backwards and in high heels." Well, Xfce does everything that the bigger headline-hogging desktops do, but it does it quicker, in less code and with less memory. ®
Get our [42]Tech Resources
[1] https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/6/6.5.90/
[2] https://kde.org/announcements/changelogs/plasma/6/6.5.5-6.5.90/
[3] https://community.kde.org/Plasma/Plasma_6#Plasma_6.6
[4] https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-login-manager/
[5] https://github.com/sddm/sddm
[6] https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/SDDM
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aXedxmUpTMwko5BdQgzvYgAAAk8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/systemd-logind.service.html
[9] https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-login-manager/-/merge_requests/42
[10] https://www.reddit.com/r/kde/comments/1qi9vo5/would_the_new_plasmaloginmanager_be_usable_on/
[11] https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Plasma_Login_Manager
[12] https://cachyos.org/blog/2601-january-release/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXedxmUpTMwko5BdQgzvYgAAAk8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aXedxmUpTMwko5BdQgzvYgAAAk8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/LightDM/Design/
[16] https://www.freshports.org/x11/slim
[17] https://github.com/iwamatsu/slim
[18] https://slim-fork.sourceforge.io/
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/28/kde_6_8_wayland_only/
[20] https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/wayland/
[21] https://euroquis.nl/kde/2025/09/07/wayland.html
[22] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXedxmUpTMwko5BdQgzvYgAAAk8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[23] https://www.herrb.net/
[24] https://www.openbsd.org/papers/eurobsdcon2023-matthieu-wayland-openbsd.pdf
[25] https://blog.netbsd.org/tnf/entry/wayland_on_netbsd_trials_and
[26] https://blog.netbsd.org/tnf/entry/x_org_on_netbsd_the
[27] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/25/emmabuntus_6_charitable_linux/
[28] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/21/mx_25_1_init_diversity/
[29] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/19/pearos/
[30] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/05/new_lts_kernel_and_alpine/
[31] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/23/systemd_258_gnome_49/
[32] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/29/kde_and_gnome_distros/
[33] https://blogs.gnome.org/adrianvovk/2025/06/10/gnome-systemd-dependencies/
[34] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/15/kde_6_kde_5_openbsd/
[35] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/23/openbsd_78_and_9front_release/
[36] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/25/freebsd_15_installer_offers_kde/
[37] https://github.com/FreeBSDFoundation/proj-laptop/blob/main/monthly-updates/2025-12.md
[38] https://xfce.org/
[39] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aXedxmUpTMwko5BdQgzvYgAAAk8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[40] https://www.frankandernest.com/
[41] https://quoteinvestigator.com/2025/07/26/dance-heels/
[42] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
wolfetone
No problem.
I've been using KDE on Debian 13 for a few months now, can't say I find it overwhelmingly great to use. But if this is the way they want to be, and Debian included, I might just skip Linux altogether and opt for *BSD.
It's disappointing that for an ecosystem that prides itself on choice, more and more of these choices seem to force you in to a choice of systemd or nothing at all.
I guess Devuan are going to keep using SDDM or fork it themselves.