Ubuntu – How to update to KDE Plasma 5.9

This issue has been discussed in some forums. For example, reddit, kubuntuforums etc.

What they essentially said is -

From a user point of view, Neon is more bleeding edge but mostly stable, Kubuntu + backports should be reasonably up to date without being the absolute latest version of each package, and a little bit more stable due to extra testing.

you may agree that Kubuntu 16.04 LTS with the backports installed may be closest to KDE Neon User LTS Edition but the former includes a lot of software not present in KDE Neon because KDE Neon's primary focus appears to be to provide a way to experience KDE, per se, rather than to be used for "productivity".

I found a important bit of information in linustechtips. It said,

You won't get new KDE software as soon with Kubuntu, even with the Kubuntu backports PPA, but you will get new non-KDE software sooner since KDE neon is based on LTS Ubuntu.

So, My understanding is,

• KDE Neon gives you the freshest (KDE) apps straight from the devs. So, KDE app in KDE Neon are more up to date than Kubuntu + Backport.
• non-KDE app in Kubuntu or Kubuntu + Backport are more up to date than KDE Neon.

Please note that all these information are from forums. So, you might have to Take with a grain of salt.

The best solution would be to check both their software repository -

1. install both KDE Neon and Kubuntu + Backport side by side.

2. Update them both to the latest.

3. Compare the version of random KDE application in KDE Neon with Kubuntu + Backport.

4. I do not think KDE Neon has Non-KDE application in its software store. If it has then you can also compare their version with Kubuntu + Backport.

I'm using Kubuntu 16.04 but with a newer version of Plasma: KDE Plasma 5.8.8 (Qt 5.6.1). For this reason, my answer may not apply to you.

Please check via System Settings > Shortcuts that you do have F2 selected for renaming files as shown in the image below. On my system, I can rename files visible on the desktop using F2.