Setting up KDE Neon

Introduction

Over the years I tried Gnome, KDE, XFCE, and Unity for the graphical user interface. In the end, KDE won this intense battle for me. And now I am trying to have only Qt-based software for everyday use cases. And here comes KDE Neon, a Linux distribution from KDE developers with the LTS version of Ubuntu as a base and the latest KDE builds as updates.

Here are steps on how I usually configure freshly installed Neon. These are just notes for the future. Maybe someone will find it helpful.

Website of KDE Neon: https://neon.kde.org/.

It would be best if you had a 4 GB or more flash drive and image writer software. Use the one you are comfortable with. Installation is straightforward if you have installed any Linux distribution before.

Software

Open Konsole and run:

sudo apt install kontact
sudo apt install keepassx
sudo apt install kmymoney
sudo apt install gimp
sudo apt install libreoffice
sudo apt install elisa
sudo apt install nmap
sudo apt install traceroute

Syncthing

I use a stable version of Syncthing. To install it run the following commands:

curl -s https://syncthing.net/release-key.txt | sudo apt-key add -
echo "deb https://apt.syncthing.net/ syncthing stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/syncthing.list

sudo apt-get update 
sudo apt install syncthing

echo "fs.inotify.max_user_watches=204800" | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf

Open search, type Autostart, and then add Start Syncthing application to run Syncthing on user login.

Obsidian

Obsidian is my digital brain and can be downloaded from the following link.

Element

Element is the most popular client for the Matrix messaging protocol.

Configuration

• Add language layouts
• Configure Dolphin: Press Togler Button on the right side and choose Configure Dolphin.. or use 'Ctrl + Shift + ,'. Choose Delete service from services and press apply.

To be able to see thumbnails of video files in Dolphin first install the required package:

sudo apt install ffmpegthumbs

And then check and apply:

• Configure Dolphin -> General -> Previews -> Video Files (ffmpegthumbs)

Also, install the Event Calendar widget.

Theme and Look

• Go to Settings -> Appearance -> Global Theme and choose Breeze Dark
• Go to Settings -> Appearance -> Plasma Style and choose Breeze Dark
  

Kontact Data Migration

Copy ~/.local/share/local-mail and press check email before adding identities and emails to sync emails with Akonadi. Spoiler: Resources will be used greatly depending on your total mailbox size.
and then add identities and Emails again.

Contact - Export to vCards 4 and then import on the new host machine. This step gives you synchronization of Calendar, To-do List, and Journal data.

Update KDE Neon

To update KDE Neon from Konsole instead of Discover run:

sudo pkcon refresh
sudo pkcon update