Many of you have heard of, and in fact already use, of Kde neon, but it is likely that many others are reading about it for the first time. Other users may have heard about this operating system, but you will not know exactly what it is. Regardless of the group you are in, the first thing you have to know is that they are not rivals, but brothers who come from the same family.
When I thought about writing this article, I thought to include the letters "VS" in the headline, but reading a little more about the subject I have discovered that KDE Community doesn't like us to confront them. Both operating systems are developed by the KDE community, but each has a different philosophy and Kubuntu is the official flavor of Ubuntu. Below you will understand why there are two versions of what a priori looks like the same operating system.
KDE neon and Kubuntu are developed by the KDE Community
I think I am not wrong in saying that Kubuntu is more famous, and it is because it is officially part of the Ubuntu family. KDE neon is also developed by the KDE Community and, in fact, many of its developers work on both projects. If so, why release two versions of "the same" operating system? As I mentioned above, because they do not share the same philosophy and one of them wants to have more freedom.
The first thing to consider is what each one is based on: Kubuntu is based on Ubuntu, so there is a new release every 6 months. On the other hand, Neon is based on Ubuntu LTS, so there is a new version of the operating system every two years, in April. This means that Kubuntu receives the new functions of the base operating system long before KDE neon, but beware that if we thought that all the news arrived before Kubuntu we would be making a lot of mistakes.
As you all know, and if I do not explain it right now, the KDE world does not remain based on an operating system, but is made up of Plasma, KDE Applications, Frameworks, etc. In this sense, KDE neon will receive the updates first. As they have explained on their website, «KDE neon is a rapidly updated software repository" Y "provide users with the most up-to-date Qt packages in addition to cutting-edge KDE offerings«. I think it's not exactly like that, but one of the most important differences between Neon and Kubuntu we have it in the repositories that each one uses.
KDE neon repositories offer the most up-to-date software
The repositories used by KDE neon assure us that we will enjoy much of the new KDE Community creates as soon as it is ready, which includes Plasma and KDE Applications. If they have a correction ready, the can deliver before an official launch. On the other hand, Kubuntu has to wait 6 months to update any KDE component. For example, Kubuntu 19.04 came with KDE Applications 18.12 because KDE Community did not arrive in time to deliver KDE Applications 19.04, so it stayed with v18.12 unless the KDE Backports repository was added. The same will happen with Plasma and other KDE components.
At the opposite extreme we have KDE neon, which is based on Ubuntu 18.04 and will continue to be until April 2020, at which point it will become based on Ubuntu 20.04. Like the LTS versions of Ubuntu, KDE neon only update your operating system database when necessary due to a security breach but for example your kernel will stay on Linux 4.18.x until you upgrade to the next LTS version of Ubuntu.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the repository that KDE neon uses does not have any restrictions imposed by Canonical, so they have more freedom when to add features or when they will release the software.
The best summary
The best summary of the similarities and differences between the two KDE Community operating systems can be read at an answer from Valorie on the KDE Community forum:
"To clarify from a Kubuntu perspective - there is no 'cons' in our relationship with Neon. Many of us are part of the two teams and all of us cooperate to bring the best software to our users as soon as possible. We work hand in hand with Ubuntu, Debian and KDE. Your choice should be based on your needs, not personal ties. If you need the latest KDE software, you should find it at Neon. If you want Kubuntu, our team works tirelessly to give you friendly computing. "
With everything explained here and what Valorie explains: what do you get: with KDE neon or with Kubuntu?
I want to try kde neon although I have been using kubuntu for a long time, it does not seem annoying to reinstall it every nine months