Soplos Tyson (Plasma) Guide

Overview

Soplos Tyson is the modern variant of Soplos Linux, built around the KDE Plasma desktop environment. Tyson focuses on a polished visual experience, powerful customization, and integrated desktop features while remaining responsive on mid-range hardware.

Visually Rich

Plasma offers advanced visual effects, native widgets and smooth animations while remaining configurable to reduce effects on older machines.

Extremely Customizable

From widgets to panels, Plasma can be tailored to any workflow. Use System Settings or Soplos Welcome for quick configuration.

Integrated Tools

Native KDE utilities (KWin, KRunner, Discover) provide a cohesive desktop experience with deep integration options.

Modern Session

Tyson ships with SDDM login and a polished welcome desktop tuned for out-of-the-box visual consistency.

Perfect for: Users who want a full-featured, attractive desktop with deep customization and integrated features—good for everyday workstations and creative setups.

Interface Tour

Desktop Layout

Tyson uses Plasma's default layout: a top or bottom panel (configurable), system tray, application launcher, and desktop widgets (Plasmoids).

Application Launcher

Plasma's launcher provides fast search, categories and a compact or full-screen view depending on your preference.

Panels & Widgets

Plasma panels are flexible: add widgets, applets, and configure multiple panels on any screen edge.

KRunner

Press Alt+Space to launch KRunner — a powerful command, calculator and launcher bar that accelerates workflows.

SDDM Login

Tyson ships with SDDM for a polished graphical login and session manager. The greeter is themed to Soplos styling.

Screenshots

Example Tyson screenshots from the ISO:

Customization

Appearance Settings

Open System Settings → Appearance to change themes, colors, fonts and icon sets. Plasma supports global themes that can apply multiple settings at once.

Global Themes

Switch complete desktop themes from System Settings or Soplos Theme Manager (if installed)
Download KDE store themes directly from the settings dialog
Dark and light options available

Icons & Cursors

Manage icon packs and cursor themes easily
Soplos-provided icon theme available
Per-application icon overrides supported

Window Management

Fine-grained KWin settings for effects and tiling
Keyboard shortcuts and window rules
Compositor settings to trade visuals for performance

Wallpapers & Lock Screen

Set wallpapers per activity or screen
Configure lock screen background and widgets
Animated or slideshow wallpapers supported

Pro Tip: Use Activities to create different layouts for work, gaming or presentations and switch them quickly.

Default Applications

Tyson ships with a curated set of KDE and cross-desktop applications chosen for balance between features and integration. For additional software, use Soplos Welcome → Software.

Need more applications? Soplos Welcome provides access to APT, Flatpak and curated recommendations to extend your desktop quickly.

Soplos Exclusive Applications

Tyson includes the Soplos system utilities accessible through Soplos Welcome (icons shown from the packaged apps):

Soplos Welcome

Central hub for initial setup, software management, drivers, kernels and customization. It detects hardware, recommends drivers and simplifies common tasks.

Soplos Welcome Live

Live-ISO variant of Welcome used on the installer image to select language, test hardware and launch the Calamares installer.

Soplos GRUB Editor

Graphical GTK3 tool for editing GRUB2 settings and themes. Create backups, edit boot entries and manage kernel parameters safely.

Soplos Plymouth Manager

Manage Plymouth boot themes: preview, install and apply custom boot animations with a simple GUI.

Soplos Repo Selector

Choose fastest mirrors, enable additional repositories and manage GPG keys with an easy interface designed to simplify package sources.

Note: Some Soplos utilities are shared between Tyron and Tyson. On Plasma you can use native panel widgets instead of dock-specific tools if you prefer.

Performance Tips

Plasma is configurable to be lightweight or visually rich. Use these tips to balance performance and effects:

Memory Optimization

Disable or reduce desktop effects in System Settings → Workspace Behavior → Desktop Effects
Limit startup services and autostart entries
Prefer lightweight alternatives for background services

Compositor

Configure KWin compositor to use XRender for older GPUs or OpenGL 2/3 for better performance
Turn off blur and transparency effects to save GPU cycles

Storage

Keep your home on fast storage where possible
Clean caches regularly and monitor disk health

System Tuning

Try Liquorix/XanMod kernels via Soplos Welcome → Kernels
Adjust swappiness and CPU governor for laptops

Common Issues

Panel or widgets not showing

Try restarting Plasma shell:

# Restart Plasma shell
kwin_x11 --replace &
plasmashell --replace &

Login screen issues

Check SDDM configuration and greeter logs in /var/log. Reconfigure SDDM if needed:

Inspect /var/log/sddm.log
Try: sudo dpkg-reconfigure sddm
Test with a different session from the greeter

Slow animations or effects

Disable or tune effects in System Settings → Workspace Behavior → Desktop Effects and adjust compositor backend.

Need more help? Check the troubleshooting section in the wiki or ask on the community forums for help with specific hardware.