On the heels of running Ubuntu on the Nexus 7, I thought I'd try KDE's Mer based (partly derived from MeeGo) Plasma Active as well. As their documentation states: "Even though very much already works reasonably well, there are still some glitches. So, please don’t expect a 100% working system." And it is indeed a bit more than small glitches which have to be fixed before it is a usable system.

Using Ruediger Gad instructions, I downloaded the boot and userdata images, and proceeded with the installation steps. Although not one-click like Ubuntu, it is reasonable straight forward, however, once it is time to boot the new OS, there are some problems: I only see a "dead" Android on its back with a red exclamation mark. (This is of course Google's fault, who have hidden any useful information one might get a further clue from, and gone for a "IT for Dummies" mode). It seems Gad had anticipated some problems though, since he has provided a helpful fastboot command to load the boot image dynamically. This works, with the caveat that the MOSLO (MeeGo OS Loader) will go into a USB slave mode if a USB cable is detected. Therefore, I had to issue the fastboot command and then quickly jerk out the cable, and the OS would boot. (Skipping the MOSLO altogether failed to boot at all (Stuck on "Waiting for root device /dev/mmcblk0pX")).

Once finally in the UI, I don't seem to have the same luck as Gad. On the first try, even the most basic clicks and moves left the whole screen hanging for up to 30 seconds, and it failed to render the application icons seen on his blog. Trying to boot a second time, I got so far as to open the browser and terminal. Typing with the on-screen keyboard in the URL did not work, since it loses focus once another part of the screen is touched. Looking at dmesg in the terminal, I could see that my USB-OTG adapter, USB Hub, keyboard and mouse were detected correctly, however there seems to be drivers missing, since nothing happened when moving the mouse or typing. So yeah, some glitches, which hopefully will be ironed out in a new release.

What's a bit more worrying, is the impression of the overall UI, and usefulness on a small touch screen. Just like the Ubuntu UI, Plasma Active is still stuck with a desktop centric view: Small icons and buttons, difficult to interact with. Setting up the Wifi dumped the user right in to an old desktop dialogue, complete with small text fields, and OK / Cancel buttons in the far bottom corner. This was probably the most disappointing bit, since I had expected the Plasma Active interface to be designed specifically for small touch screens. Clearly I was wrong.

Overall then, KDE Plasma Active is an interesting initiative, and one to watch in the future. However, just like Ubuntu, these are still very early days for new alternative OSes on tablets and phones. Given some more time, things will look a lot more promising, for sure.