Hynek Schlindenbuch, a full-time PHP programmer, has fixed a long-standing KDE Plasma issue allowing independent virtual desktops on each screen. The feature, requested since 2005, landed in KWin's master branch for Plasma 6.7 on Wayland. It addresses demands from users with multi-monitor setups.
In 2005, Kjetil Kjernsmo filed a bug report for KDE 3.3.2 on Debian Stable, seeking the ability for each connected screen to display a different virtual desktop independently. Over the years, more than 15 duplicate reports accumulated as multi-monitor configurations grew common. The challenge stemmed from X11's EWMH specification, which lacked support for multiple active virtual desktops simultaneously. KDE maintainer Martin Flöser noted in 2013 that this ruled out implementation for the KDE 4.x series, pointing to Wayland as the viable path forward. Hynek Schlindenbuch, with no prior KDE contributions, opened and merged the request into KWin's master branch. Each screen now tracks its own virtual desktop, with any desktop viewable on any screen and duplicates allowed. Windows tie to specific screens—even those spanning multiple—and can assign to one or more desktops, remaining visible when shown. Keyboard shortcuts affect only the active screen by default, with an opt-in setting for per-output switching. Schlindenbuch designed it to avoid pulling focus to a new desktop's screen, unlike Hyprland. Available solely on Wayland, the feature aligns with Plasma 6.8's planned X11 support drop. A PHP developer with over six years' experience, Schlindenbuch had limited C++, Qt, or CMake background and only recently set up Plasma on an old laptop. His motivation: switching to Wayland for fractional scaling, blocked by this missing functionality.
