Installing KDE Plasma & GNOME | Nitro OS Documentation

Overview & Desktop Options

While Nitro OS comes standard with a tuned Hyprland tiling compositor, the operating system is fully compatible with major desktop environments including KDE Plasma 6 and GNOME. You can install them alongside Hyprland or use them as your primary daily desktop.

Environment	Architecture	Idle RAM	Repository Status	Best For
Hyprland	Tiling Wayland Compositor	~900 MB	Pre-installed (Default)	Keyboard-driven modal productivity
KDE Plasma 6	Full Desktop Environment	~650 MB	Official Repo	Extensive GUI customization & widgets
GNOME 46+	Full Desktop Environment	~750 MB	Official Repo	Focused gesture-driven modern workflow

Installing KDE Plasma 6

KDE Plasma 6 offers rich visual customization, Wayland support, Dolphin file manager, and Qt-accelerated performance:

Full Plasma 6 Desktop + Applications Suite

# Install complete KDE Plasma 6 desktop and utility apps
npk install plasma-meta kde-applications-meta sddm

# Enable SDDM display manager
sudo systemctl enable --now sddm

Minimal Plasma 6 Installation (Lean Setup)

# Install core Plasma shell and essential tools only
npk install plasma-desktop sddm dolphin konsole

# Enable SDDM display manager
sudo systemctl enable --now sddm

Installing GNOME Desktop

GNOME provides a distraction-free, gesture-centric user interface with native Wayland scaling and GTK4 Libadwaita styling:

Full GNOME Desktop + Extra Apps

# Install complete GNOME environment and GDM display manager
npk install gnome gnome-extra gdm

# Enable GDM display manager
sudo systemctl enable --now gdm

Minimal GNOME Shell Installation

# Install minimal GNOME shell and Nautilus file manager
npk install gnome-shell nautilus gnome-terminal gdm

# Enable GDM display manager
sudo systemctl enable --now gdm

Display Manager Setup (SDDM / GDM)

Ensure only one graphical display manager is active at a time to prevent boot-time service conflicts:

Switching to SDDM (KDE)

sudo systemctl disable gdm
sudo systemctl enable --now sddm

Switching to GDM (GNOME)

sudo systemctl disable sddm
sudo systemctl enable --now gdm

Switching Sessions & Desktop Portals

Once installed, you can switch between Hyprland, Plasma (Wayland), and GNOME directly from your login screen:

Session Selection: Click the gear or session dropdown menu on SDDM/GDM to select your desired desktop session before entering your password.
XDG Portals: Nitro OS automatically coordinates the correct portal (xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland, xdg-desktop-portal-kde, or xdg-desktop-portal-gnome) based on the running session.
Audio & Bluetooth: PipeWire and WirePlumber automatically provide sound and microphone access across all installed desktop environments without extra configuration.