10 Reasons for Ubuntu to use KDE instead of GNOME
This is not a GNOME vs KDE comparison, specifically for Ubuntu and its users, considering the innovative vision they had until now. Just personal thoughts, ordered by importance to Ubuntu's success in my opinion.
1 ➜ A Windows-like experience
The most important reason for me is that a new Ubuntu user was usually a Windows user. KDE Plasma looks like Windows by default: a panel at the bottom with an icon to open a menu and search/launch applications and files, a task manager, and a system tray. I have installed Plasma for many Windows users over the years, and they found it more intuitive than Unity and probably GNOME 3. In fact, I tried GNOME 3 many times, but it took a while before I could understand GNOME's workflow vision. It is very interesting and innovative, but it is imposed by default, and you will learn to use it well only if you want to or if you are a very experienced user of another interface (UI, desktop). A Windows user trying Linux just wants a working environment. I saw that Windows users who tried KDE Plasma were happy from the first moment, started working, and after a while (days, weeks) customized their user interface and explored new workflows, probably when they had free time and were not stressed by work.
2 ➜ A Unity-like experience in one click
Anyone who likes the Unity experience can easily get it in KDE Plasma using a Look&Feel package. A package for this already exists in the KDE Store. Eventually, the Ubuntu installer could offer a choice at the end of the process asking which experience the user prefers (Windows/Plasma, Unity, MacOS, etc.).
3 ➜ Simple, powerful when needed
KDE software, including Plasma and KDE Applications, is generally very simple and intuitive by default, but provides advanced features users can easily discover through their own curiosity. GNOME instead has a precise vision of minimalism, which means a very elegant product, but often also missing very important productivity features.
4 ➜ Plasma Mobile
KDE is developing its alternative to Android with many technologies in common with Ubuntu Touch. Ubuntu enthusiasts' Qt and QML experience could be used in the Plasma Mobile world. Currently, Ubuntu Touch and its applications can run on Plasma Mobile.
5 ➜ Convergence is the future
The original idea of UI convergence was born in KDE. Canonical developed it with Ubuntu Touch, and now Plasma Mobile and Kirigami continue that vision. Convergence is also pursued by Google and Microsoft and will be a very common feature in the future. Smartphones becoming desktop PCs when connected to a keyboard, mouse, and monitor, tablets becoming laptops, and files and settings shared across different devices are here. Plasma and Kirigami leverage the best technologies for this purpose, such as Qt/QML and Wayland.
6 ➜ Kirigami apps that work everywhere
Let's be honest: Plasma Mobile and others will not be real alternatives to Android in the short term. But being in the mobile world, on Android or iOS, is very important for all software makers, and KDE has indeed made a revolution with KDE Connect, which improves the desktop experience with Android. Also consider apps such as Nextcloud, available on both Linux desktops and Android, which synchronize our files. To provide a better experience in Plasma and KDE software, we need these kinds of companion apps on Android and iOS. Kirigami is here to provide a cross-platform user interface framework for Linux desktops, Windows, Mac OS, Android, iOS, and Plasma Mobile.
7 ➜ Qt is not just a Linux thing
Although GTK may be a good product, its focus is the Linux desktop and it is developed mainly for GNOME's vision. KDE software uses Qt, which is one of the industry's best products and is available on Windows, MacOS, Android, and iOS. While many developers prefer GTK for their Linux apps, if the goal is to promote free software, we must open up to other platforms and, as I said, especially Android and iOS, because we currently have no alternative mobile platform.
8 ➜ KDE Neon and its innovations
KDE Neon provides a new way to join development by offering a complete set of builds, including directly from git-stable and git-unstable repositories. In addition, using Docker images lets KDE Neon users quickly test new features, provide feedback, or hunt bugs. I find it very useful to run a daily build to check whether a bug has been fixed before reporting it.
9 ➜ KDE Store integration
KDE software, including Plasma and Applications, can download very different kinds of addons from the KDE Store without visiting any web page, directly from applications: Plasma widgets, Plasma themes, Freedesktop icons, Service Menus for Dolphin, Yakuake skins, and many others. We all see the success of the Google Play Store and Apple's store; the KDE Store and OpenDesktop in general take a step further by hosting addons. KDE's integrations with them keep improving: Plasma Discover, KDE's software center, can also manage KDE Store addons.
10 ➜ Breeze
A very personal thought: the Breeze theme looks more modern and is also adopted in non-KDE products; for example, Breeze icons are now used in LibreOffice.
Nine years later: the score
The text above is an opinion piece from 2017, written when Canonical had just killed Unity and the question “which desktop will Ubuntu adopt?” was genuinely open. The answer came months later — and it was not the one the author advocated.
What happened to Ubuntu
Ubuntu moved to GNOME, in 17.10, and never looked back. In 2026, Ubuntu 26.04 LTS remains on GNOME — now version 50, with no Xorg session at all, only Wayland. KDE remains in the Ubuntu ecosystem through Kubuntu, an official flavor, but it was never the default.
In other words: as a recommendation to Canonical, the post got it wrong. As a technical assessment of Plasma, that is another conversation.
The twist nobody predicted
Here is the part that vindicates the author through a path he did not imagine. In 2022, Valve launched the Steam Deck — and chose KDE Plasma as SteamOS's desktop mode.
Think about what that means for argument no. 1 in the post. Valve needed a desktop that a Windows user with no Linux experience could use on a handheld device without a manual. It chose Plasma for exactly the reasons listed in 2017: familiarity, a taskbar, configurability, and adaptation to a small touchscreen.
Plasma ended up becoming the Linux desktop with the most nontechnical users on the planet — not through Ubuntu's door, but through gaming's. And it is worth remembering that SteamOS runs on Arch, not Ubuntu.
Argument by argument
- 1. A Windows-like experience — Confirmed, and validated by Valve. It remains the strongest argument for Plasma for people switching.
- 2. Imitating Unity in one click — Lost its purpose. Unity died; nobody wants to imitate it anymore. The deep reconfigurability behind the argument remains Plasma's hallmark.
- 3. Simple, powerful when needed — Still accurate, and it is the underlying philosophical difference between the projects: GNOME hides options by design, KDE exposes them. People who like one tend to hate the other.
- 4. Plasma Mobile — Did not take off as a phone, but the effort was not wasted: touch and small-screen adaptation are precisely what made Plasma suitable for Steam Deck.
- 5. Convergence is the future — Missed the target, got the idea right. Phone-desktop convergence did not happen; console-desktop convergence did.
- 6. Kirigami — It exists and is used in KDE apps, but did not become the universal standard the text imagined.
- 7. Qt is not just a Linux thing — Confirmed beyond doubt. Qt is in cars, medical equipment, and industrial equipment. It formed the basis of Plasma 6, fully migrated to Qt 6.
- 8. KDE Neon — Still exists, in the same showcase role.
- 9. KDE Store integration — Continues and has improved. The same warning still applies: store widgets and themes are third-party code running in your session.
- 10. Breeze — Remains the visual identity, updated in Plasma 6.
Where the two stand in 2026
The rivalry cooled because both matured and chose different audiences:
- KDE Plasma 6, released on 28 February 2024, migrated to Qt 6 and adopted Wayland by default. It became lighter and much more stable than its old “pretty but crashes” reputation.
- GNOME followed the opposite, consistent path: fewer options, more predictability, tight Wayland integration. It is the default on Ubuntu, Fedora, and RHEL.
Today the choice is one of temperament. Want a desktop that behaves the same on every machine and does not demand attention? GNOME. Want to shape every corner and put the taskbar wherever you say? Plasma. Neither is the wrong answer — and you can install the other in five minutes and switch back at the login screen.
On the graphics layer supporting both: Wayland will be the new X and the case of Mir, the third competitor from that era. And if desktop disappointment is the topic, the reasons users give up on Linux.
Links
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzZ1kg-yU7U
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1i7jAtHcw4
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=056O13Hkgbg
- http://www.alexl.netsons.org/blogposts/10-reasons-why-ubuntu-should-use-kde-plasma-instead-of-gnome/
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