I tried to make a very ordinary Plasma panel today: application launcher on the left, task list in the middle, clock and tray on the right, two rows high. The exciting new desktop framework objected chiefly to the phrase “two rows high.”

My naive attempt was to unlock widgets and drag everything until the intended geometry emerged. Instead, spacers collapsed, the task list consumed surprising amounts of space, and a widget escaped onto the desktop. Locking widgets prevented accidents but also concealed the controls I needed. The panel toolbox and I are no longer exchanging holiday cards.

The underlying Plasma idea remains compelling. Applets are not written solely for one fixed panel. A containment provides an environment, and a widget can adapt its presentation to a desktop or panel form factor. Data engines separate obtaining information from drawing it, which should stop every clock, weather display and device monitor from inventing its own polling machinery.

The current limitation is that abstraction has advanced farther than ordinary control. Layout negotiation needs better constraints and better feedback. A widget may technically adapt to a narrow panel while becoming practically useless. Removing a panel or moving an applet should be easy to undo. Multi-screen behavior also needs to preserve placement reliably; a temporary display change should not redecorate the entire desktop by surprise.

I had better results after creating a fresh panel, adding the expanding task list first, and placing fixed-size widgets around it. That is a workaround, not a discoverable interaction. The framework knows which item expands, but the user receives little explanation of why dragging another item does nothing.

Plasma’s spectacular jobs, such as transformed widgets and alternative containments, demonstrate the architecture. Its success will depend on boring jobs: stable panel sizing, predictable alignment, keyboard access, recovery from mistakes and sensible behavior when a screen disappears.

My practical conclusion is to keep the panel simple and lock it once arranged. I am optimistic about Plasma, but novelty does not excuse friction in actions performed every day. A desktop earns trust by remembering where the clock was. Rotating the clock is strictly optional.