Hi everyone,
First of all, I’d like to thank everyone involved in KDE Plasma. We have been using KDE in our company for around ten years, and it has been an excellent desktop environment for our business.
Around ten years ago, we migrated our company from Windows Remote Desktop Services to xrdp + KDE Plasma. The main reason was the high Windows Server and RDS licensing costs. Since then, the solution has been extremely reliable and has exceeded our expectations.
The migration has saved us a significant amount in licensing costs over the years. We have chosen to reinvest part of those savings by making regular donations to KDE and several other open-source projects that our business depends on. We are grateful to everyone who contributes to these projects.
Today, around 15 employees connect remotely to a headless Linux server using xrdp, each with their own independent KDE Plasma desktop session.
One of the main reasons we chose KDE was that, in our opinion, Plasma provides the best desktop experience available on Linux. It has been intuitive for users coming from Windows while offering the flexibility and stability of Linux.
Another pleasant surprise has been how energy-efficient the overall solution is. Even with multiple connected users, idle CPU usage and power consumption remain remarkably low, making it an excellent platform for an always-on business server.
We have also had an excellent experience with system suspend and hibernation. During planned maintenance or power-related events, the server can suspend or hibernate and later resume with users reconnecting to their existing sessions. In practice, this has provided a user experience very similar to Windows Server with Remote Desktop Services.
Overall, xrdp + KDE Plasma has proven to be an outstanding business solution for us.
The only minor drawback we have noticed is that, when moving windows over slower mobile data connections, the entire window contents are continuously redrawn, making window dragging feel slower than on Windows RDP. Apart from this, the solution has worked exceptionally well.
Our use case
Our requirements are quite simple:
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Headless server (no physical monitor)
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One independent desktop session per user
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Sessions persist after disconnect
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Users reconnect to their existing sessions
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Multiple concurrent users
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Low CPU usage
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Low power consumption
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Native RDP protocol
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Not screen sharing or remote assistance
In other words, we rely on true remote desktop sessions, similar to Windows Remote Desktop Services, rather than sharing an already running desktop.
My question
I understand that Plasma 6.8 will remove support for X11 sessions.
What concerns us is the future of this business workflow.
Is there a roadmap for KWin, KRdp, or another KDE component to eventually support true headless RDP login sessions for Wayland?
By this I mean:
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A headless Wayland session started after RDP login
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One independent session per user
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Session persistence after disconnect
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Multiple concurrent users
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No physical monitor required
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Efficient remote rendering suitable for business environments
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A solution comparable to today’s xrdp + xorgxrdp workflow
I am not asking about screen sharing, remote assistance, or controlling an already running desktop. Those are different use cases.
I realize we may represent a niche use case compared to desktop and laptop users. However, I also believe there are businesses that have adopted KDE in a similar way, using it as a lightweight and cost-effective alternative to Windows Remote Desktop Services.
If there are already plans in this direction, I would love to hear about them. If not, I hope this post helps illustrate that there is real business value in supporting this workflow in the future.
We would also be happy to help test such functionality if it is ever developed.
Thank you again for all the work that has gone into KDE Plasma over the years. It has been a fantastic platform for our company, and we hope to continue using it for many years to come.