"The first beta is now available. The KDE project has published a 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 more digestible list that summarizes just under 40 significant changes. One of these looks relatively inconspicuous. There's a new login screen called the Plasma Login Manager, which is forked from the existing SDDM."
"However, the Plasma Login Manager depends upon the systemd-logind service. It will only work on Linux distros that use systemd; indeed, the developers of the new project explicitly dropped FreeBSD support in December 2025. The developers have defended the move in a Reddit discussion, and don't look likely to change their minds. This isn't stopping distros adopting it: it's already available in Arch Linux and the performance-oriented Arch variant CachyOS's new January 2026 release defaults to using the Plasma Login Manager."
KDE Plasma 6.6 has a beta release, a nearly 2,500-line changelog, and a wiki summary listing just under 40 notable changes. A new Plasma Login Manager, forked from SDDM, requires the systemd-logind service and thus only operates on Linux distributions using systemd. The project removed FreeBSD support in December 2025. Developers defended the decision publicly, and some distributions like Arch Linux and CachyOS already package or default to the new manager. Plasma as a whole will not require systemd because display managers are separable from desktops. Alternatives such as SDDM, LightDM, and SLiM remain available.
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