Canonical Pulls Financial Plug on Kubuntu

[FuturePilot]

http://lwn.net/Articles/479710/

I am greatly disappointed, especially since I just recently switched to KDE. What does this mean for the future? Will KDE still be in the repositories?

:cry:

[Linuxratty]

http://lwn.net/Articles/479710/

I am greatly disappointed, especially since I just recently switched to KDE. What does this mean for the future? Will KDE still be in the repositories?

:cry:

Here is more comprehensive info:


This decision, it must be emphasized, does not mean the end of Kubuntu. Rather, Kubuntu will be realigned with the rest of the Ubuntu flavor distributions with Edubuntu and Xubuntu.

http://www.itworld.com/it-managementstrategy/247708/canonical-aligns-kubuntu-community-flavor

[FuturePilot]

Here is more comprehensive info:



http://www.itworld.com/it-managementstrategy/247708/canonical-aligns-kubuntu-community-flavor

Oh good.

[Linuxratty]

Oh good.

I panicked at first as well,then I kept reading and got to the part I posted for you and went:"Whew!":D

[BBQdave]

I am curious if this is because of Spark (http://hothardware.com/News/Details-Emerge-About-the-Spark-LinuxBased-Tablet/)?

Interesting that KDE shows up on a tablet and then Canonical pulls the plug on Kubuntu.

Is Canonical not happy about the KDE tablet competition against it's home grown Unity?

Just thinking :p

[Linuxratty]

Maybe it's just a case of them thinking KDE has fledged with Spark and no longer needs their funding?

[overcast]

I don't know if they should be worried about spark. They have big droid to worry about right now. Only google privacy policy stuff will drive users away from droid, for the rest droid doing fine. It'll take some time for ubuntu and spark to get marketshare of android.

[Copper Bezel]

It's not surprising to see Canonical narrowing their focus onto the Gnome desktop as they continue to push toward variations on Unity for more form factors. The more they tweak Gnome, the more they're bound to it. It's less that I see this being a reaction to something like Spark and more that they're being moved in the same direction.

Spark, remember, is KDE, but not (K)Ubuntu.

[WinterMadness]

If Canonical knew what was good for it, it would switch Ubuntu to KDE period.

Unity is a disaster, Gnome is out dated. Gnome 3 is fine, but apparently not ready according to them.

[shovenose]

Yeah Unity is quite bad.
Gnome is outdated, even 3...

[BBQdave]

It's not surprising to see Canonical narrowing their focus onto the Gnome desktop as they continue to push toward variations on Unity for more form factors. The more they tweak Gnome, the more they're bound to it.

Yeah, I think that is the vision at Canonical, iUnity on something shiny and chewable.

But is that seen saturated? You can laugh at me for being a dinosaur, but I do not see the iShiny being sustainable. People like to consume and play games... but I think the iShiny will fade, just another Game-Boy that will have it's time and then be replaced by the next shiny chewable object.

And too, maybe I am misunderstanding Canonical. Maybe Unity is a push in a new direction, and not a copy of iOS :P

[Copper Bezel]

Well, if anything, it would be a copy of Android. It's more open and more powerful than Android in the ways that Android is more open and more powerful than iOS, and it's also nichey, with less brand recognition and fewer and uglier but generally more capable applications.

I'd love to see Ubuntu ship on some genuinely nice-looking hardware, but I don't expect to see that happen.

In any case, it's still not that the focus is going to jump all of a sudden to tablets. I don't think they're going to chase that market as aggressively as Microsoft is.

[hildenbrandsteven]

I agree that switching 100% to KDE over the new Unity interface is a great idea, but I'm sure the community support and development will keep Kubuntu working perfectly!

[viperdvman]

Well, it does suck that Kubuntu isn't getting funding from Canonical anymore. At least it's still a Canonical official Ubuntu derivative, like Xubuntu, Edubuntu, Lubuntu, and Ubuntu Server Edition.

I can understand why Canonical would stop officially funding Kubuntu. Ubuntu is becoming a unique operating system that stands out above the other GNOME-based distros. That, and their ambitious plans to put Ubuntu on everything from Desktops and laptops, to tablets, to even TV's. In order to do that, they need to put their resources into perfecting Unity and staying cutting-edge.

Look at it this way, Kubuntu may not have Canonical providing the funding, but that also means they won't have Canonical deciding which way they should go. Being an official Ubuntu derivative, they'll still have the dedicated developers from the Ubuntu team as well as Canonical's support (just not the funding). Maybe once Kubuntu becomes more community-driven and less corporate-driven, some good things will come out of it. Look how well Linux Mint is doing, and they're very much community-driven.

So yeah, this gives the community the opportunity and the room to step in and take over :)

[sffvba[e0rt]

Looking at how amazing Xubuntu and Lubuntu is I can't see why Kubuntu can't do the same getting the same resources from Canonical.


404

[KBD47]

The cynic in me thinks it is more about this:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2012/01/new-kde-tablet-to-liberate-linux-enthusiasts-from-walled-garden.ars
than anything else.
KBD47

[KiwiNZ]

The cynic in me thinks it is more about this:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2012/01/new-kde-tablet-to-liberate-linux-enthusiasts-from-walled-garden.ars
than anything else.
KBD47

I think it's about this .....

"Canonical wants to treat Kubuntu in the same way as the other community flavors such as Edubuntu, Lubuntu, and Xubuntu, and support the projects with infrastructure."

[Copper Bezel]

KBD47, That's not the first time that idea has been raised in this thread, so try this.

Do you seriously find it likely that Canonical would object to Ubuntu running on something like the Spark, even under the new Plasma environment, in place of whatever this thing is it's running now? That would still be to their benefit, better than no tablet exposure at all.

Canonical doesn't gain anything by sabotaging Kubuntu's chances of getting into the tablet world. They do gain from focusing their own resources on getting the core Ubuntu brand on tablets instead, so that's what they're doing.

It's really that simple.

[overcast]

I don't know how come gnome is outdated and KDE should be the priority. In my opinion KDE is ugly and is the last thing i am going to run on phone or tablet. it is no differnt than windows 8. Gnome, android and ios are cute, lol, atleast for me.

[robsoles]

Mmmh, title seemed a bit discouraging but reading the thread has made me fairly cheerful.

Thanks guys.

[silentdrgn]

As long as I can get my Xubuntu I am happy. Loving XFCE so far.

[elliotn]

this is great news, I mean as long as u can install KDE from the repos then no need to worry

[forrestcupp]

I wonder if Jonathan will still have a job with Canonical. Hopefully they're just shifting his responsibilities and not just giving him the boot.

[sffvba[e0rt]

I wonder if Jonathan will still have a job with Canonical. Hopefully they're just shifting his responsibilities and not just giving him the boot.

The way I read it he just won't be getting paid to work on Kubuntu... there is nothing about him stopping to work.


404

PS - I don't see Kubuntu going away any-time soon...

[mips]

I wonder if Jonathan will still have a job with Canonical. Hopefully they're just shifting his responsibilities and not just giving him the boot.

Well if they stop financial support for Kubuntu and he was the only paid dev on the project then it would be safe to assume that he will no longer get paid and essentially got the boot. If he continues his work it will be unpaid voluntary work like any other community contributor. That's just me reading between the lines though.

[Dragonbite]

Maybe this will open Kubuntu up to innovate on its own?

It did look like a good project, just needed more people in development. Hopefully people can rally to the cause.

Who knows, it could resurge more powerful than it has ever been?

[grahammechanical]

Now I know that Ubuntu was once said to be the most popular of all the Linux distributions but are we not forgetting that Canonical is not in the same league as Microsoft. It just does not have the money to spend on developing products as does Microsoft.

So, a small group of people take Ubuntu and remove Gnome and stick KDE on it and also stick the letter K in front of the word Ubuntu and Canonical does not sue them into personal financial oblivion. In fact it gives encouragement and support without removing the independence of the developers.

Do you now complain that Canonical is failing to give financial support to Kubuntu?

I must have missed something over the last five years since I installed Ubuntu. I thought that Canonical was responsible for Ubuntu. When did it take financial responsibility for every version of Ubuntu?

I am just thankful that I am not having to buy a licence for using Ubuntu.

Regards.

[vasa1]

I wonder if Jonathan will still have a job with Canonical. Hopefully they're just shifting his responsibilities and not just giving him the boot.

http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/02/canonical-ending-support-for-kubuntu-reassigning-lead-developer-1.ars


Riddell will continue to be employed by Canonical, but working on Kubuntu will be confined to his free time. In order for the Kubuntu project to continue operating, Riddell says that community members will have to take a more active role in doing unpopular tasks such as ISO testing.

[mack_guy911]

Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning 'humanity to others'. It also means 'I am what I am because of who we all are'. The Ubuntu operating system brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the world of computers.

1st Canonical did to Gnome and banshree now KDE :popcorn:

by why way what does ubuntu really means now .............:confused:

[Simian Man]

If Canonical knew what was good for it, it would switch Ubuntu to KDE period.

Unity is a disaster, Gnome is out dated. Gnome 3 is fine, but apparently not ready according to them.

I agree, but am kind of glad that they leave KDE mostly untouched. If they added all of the crap to it that they add to Gnome, it would just give KDE a bad name.

[Dragonbite]

I agree, but am kind of glad that they leave KDE mostly untouched. If they added all of the crap to it that they add to Gnome, it would just give KDE a bad name.

+1 for keeping KDE as close to upstream as possible. They could use a dose of Ubuntu-quality wallpapers (or *gasp* even the same images?! :o)

I don't think they ever brought out a KDE/Kubuntu version of UbuntuOne synchronizer, and the Software Store is kinda a second-thought.

So other than the "ubuntu" in the name, and recognized status, with this change how is Kubuntu different than a derivatives such as Mint?

[SeijiSensei]

Riddell's original message includes this puzzling statement:


This is a rational business decision, Kubuntu has not been a business success after 7 years of trying, and it is unrealistic to expect it to continue to have financial resources put into it.

I didn't think any of the flavors of Ubuntu were "a business success." I'm not even sure what business Canonical is in. Ubuntu Server certainly isn't going to displace RedHat from server rooms any time soon, and admins are more likely to choose CentOS or Debian over Ubuntu Server anyway. Canonical has made a couple of minor forays into systems pre-configured with Ubuntu, but those efforts have mostly been limited to Europe. I don't see any evidence for Ubuntu expanding its presence on the desktop in the US. It's still impossible to buy an Ubuntu (or any Linux) system at Best Buy or any other mainstream retailer. The business marketplace isn't especially Ubuntu-friendly either.

I'll be taking a new look at Fedora and Debian in the months ahead.

[mips]

I agree, but am kind of glad that they leave KDE mostly untouched. If they added all of the crap to it that they add to Gnome, it would just give KDE a bad name.

:biggrin: yeah, it's probably a blessing in disguise.

[Dragonbite]

I didn't think any of the flavors of Ubuntu were "a business success." I'm not even sure what business Canonical is in. Ubuntu Server certainly isn't going to displace RedHat from server rooms any time soon, and admins are more likely to choose CentOS or Debian over Ubuntu Server anyway.

I'll be taking a new look at Fedora and Debian in the months ahead.

The only other derivative I can see as a possible business orientated version is Edubuntu.

Since they haven't become as successful as Red Hat, then they shouldn't pursuit business servers?!

I sure hope you aren't only looking at Fedora and Debian because *gasp* Canonical dropped financial support for Kubuntu?!

I just don't see the relevance.

[KBD47]

It is just hard for me to buy that Canonical is dropping Kubuntu because, they say, it has not been successful after 7 years and it was just announced that KDE is going onto tablets, has Unity got onto tablets yet? Maybe I missed that announcement.
Anyway, I don't really care what they do. The world moves on with or without Canonical.
KBD47

[forrestcupp]

It is just hard for me to buy that Canonical is dropping Kubuntu because, they say, it has not been successful after 7 years and it was just announced that KDE is going onto tablets, has Unity got onto tablets yet? Maybe I missed that announcement.
Anyway, I don't really care what they do. The world moves on with or without Canonical.
KBD47

I highly doubt if that's what it is, at least directly. Kubuntu is not going on tablets, so it's not like Kubuntu is a competitor. Shutting down Kubuntu is not going to affect KDE going onto tablets in the least.

The simple truth is that they want to use their paid resources to focus on Unity, and why shouldn't they? I guess you could look at this decision as being indirectly influenced by KDE on tablets, but honestly, KDE on tablets isn't going to be a threat to anyone. I'm sure Canonical has Google and Apple on their minds a heck of a lot more than KDE. That's why they want to redirect their resources to Unity.

It doesn't matter, anyway. Windows 8 has 1000x greater chance of succeeding on tablets than Unity, and Windows 8 doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell.

[SeijiSensei]

Since they haven't become as successful as Red Hat, then they shouldn't pursuit business servers?!

Well, it seems to me business is about making strategic decisions to invest in projects that will have positive returns, not just throwing money at everything. Leaving aside the broader question I raised about whether any of Canonical's endeavors have positive returns, the server market is hardly where I'd invest my energies.

I don't see the tablet marketplace as a strong alternative either given the tight relationship, in the US at least, between cellular carriers and the devices they sell. Google was successful in pushing Android because they were a large, well-established enterprise with enough cash to market an alternative to the iPhone and cozy up to the cell carriers. The future for hand-helds that don't run iOS or Android looks pretty bleak for now. I doubt WinPhone 8 is going to be a big hit regardless of the ties between Microsoft and Nokia. As for RIM, the recent extensive service outage probably was the straw the broke the Blackberry camel's back. If MS is having trouble breaking the iOS/Android duopoly, what chance does Canonical have?

Until Canonical can make deals with hardware manufacturers and retailers to put Ubuntu-based machines in stores, it will remain a niche player.


I sure hope you aren't only looking at Fedora and Debian because *gasp* Canonical dropped financial support for Kubuntu?!

I've used Kubuntu for a few years now despite the spotty support Canonical provides. (The transition from KDE 3 to KDE 4 was pretty much a disaster precipitated by the need to adhere to Canonical's fixed release dates. 10.04 was certainly "not-ready-for-primetime" despite being an LTS release.) This decision just indicates where KDE stands in the list of Canonical's priorities, near the bottom as far as I can tell.

I'll probably take another look at OpenSUSE as well. The fascination with GNOME among mainstream distributions has always puzzled me. I don't understand why KDE isn't the default desktop for contemporary Linux distributions. The traditional arguments like "bloat" aren't really applicable to current KDE versions, and modern hardware is certainly capable of running KDE just as well as GNOME.

[BrokenKingpin]

If Canonical knew what was good for it, it would switch Ubuntu to KDE period.

Unity is a disaster, Gnome is out dated. Gnome 3 is fine, but apparently not ready according to them.
++

I don't use KDE is a my primary DE (using Xfce currently), but I think Canonical could have done a lot of good things with KDE instead of putting all that dev effort into Unity. It is so customization they could have configured it any way they wanted.

[Dry Lips]

The fascination with GNOME among mainstream distributions has always puzzled me. I don't understand why KDE isn't the default desktop for contemporary Linux distributions. The traditional arguments like "bloat" aren't really applicable to current KDE versions, and modern hardware is certainly capable of running KDE just as well as GNOME.

Hear, hear!

[Version Dependency]

I wonder if Jonathan will still have a job with Canonical. Hopefully they're just shifting his responsibilities and not just giving him the boot.

Looks like he will be working on Unity2D now instead of Kubuntu.

[Dragonbite]

The fascination with GNOME among mainstream distributions has always puzzled me. I don't understand why KDE isn't the default desktop for contemporary Linux distributions.

I have heard that in the early stages of Linux desktops, Gnome got a leg-up because KDE had some questionable licensing (which has been rectified), plus Red Hat jumped in with Gnome and had a lot of clout to push it to mainstream.

The rest, as they say, is history.

[philinux]

This is from the Kubuntu dev.

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/kubuntu-devel/2012-February/005782.html

[sffvba[e0rt]

Reading a lot of posts here it is always facinating how people "react" to any change in the Linux world.

Case in point a blog post which initial title was - "Kubuntu Is Dead, Time To Switch To Linux Mint KDE, openSUSE?"... I am not sure how the post itself went but now the title has changed to: Canonical Changes Treatment For Kubuntu! [Updated] (slightly better but still seeking attention).

Source (http://www.muktware.com/news/3287/kubuntu-dead-time-switch-linux-mint-kde-opensuse)

If there are enough people in the world that has this itch to needs scratching then Kubuntu will be fine (and will have more freedom to do what they want to I suspect).


404

[lykwydchykyn]

To me the bottom line is that Jonathan did a ton of work on Kubuntu, and his changing of roles means there's a big hole to be filled. Will it get filled by volunteers? Who knows, but unless it does the Kubuntu experience will surely go down hill.

I think the big difference between Kubuntu and other community distros is the KDE/Qt thing. Xubuntu and Lubuntu can borrow all the gtk applications they want to. On top of that, they're both billed as "lightweight" variants, so everyone expects a little less functionality.

But for a KDE distro, there's this unspoken imperative that everything's got to be KDE or QT software (hence muon, adept, rekonq, et al), so it ends up sharing a bit less DNA with Ubuntu proper.

I guess my plan is "wait and see". Mark has already stated that they plan to shift focus from desktop to mobile post-12.04, so this move dovetails with that nicely. Whether or not the Ubuntu family of distros will remain desktop-friendly in the process is just something I'll be gauging release-by-release. There are other distros out there if it falls short.

[Version Dependency]

The cynic in me thinks it is more about this:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2012/01/new-kde-tablet-to-liberate-linux-enthusiasts-from-walled-garden.ars
than anything else.
KBD47

Reassigning one of their employees to Unity2D (an important part of the main Ubuntu distro) rather than the Kubuntu project has something to do with the Spark tablet? Obviously, this is just wild-assed guessing on your part, but I would like to hear your reasoning behind this theory. Connect the dots for us.

[click4851]

well, wouldn't you if you were grooming unity/HUD as your holy grail OS for all computers, tablets, mobile devices, wrist watches, and such...Why pay someone to develop a competitor?

[KiwiNZ]

In the beginning ubuntu was only Gnome. Community based forks added other versions some of which became supported by Canonical to varying degrees. ubuntu has always been Gnome centered.

Linux being the most intrenched and change unfriendly sector will react with doom, gloom and the inevitable conspiracy theories.

[QIII]

Sheesh! Is everyone done running around with their hair on fire and wetting their pants?

Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Edubuntu, *buntu seem to be getting along just fine.

KDE is not on course to fall off the edge of the world.

KDE e.V. will find funding. openSUSE developers will continue to be the largest group of contributors.

I have KDE running on my Fedora machine. My openSUSE machine uses it by defailt.

I'm sure Kubuntu will continue as a flavor just as the other *buntus do. If not, use another distro. If you can get over "zypper update" and "yum update" you won't be in terribly unfamiliar territory.

[Dragonbite]

Sheesh! Is everyone done running around with their hair on fire and wetting their pants?

Wait a moment!





*pause*


Ahhh.... all better! :)

[keithpeter]

Looks like he will be working on Unity2D now instead of Kubuntu.

Well, I hope his recovery from the illness mentioned in the mailing list message linked to earlier in this thread continues.

Unity 2d is a nice relatively light GUI but the speed of response of the dash and other 'dynamically populated' bits could use tweaking. HUD on 2d would be something amazing to see.

Canonical appears to be quite a small concern (£22 million sales and 70 staff according to one company report), and the 2008 interview with Shuttleworth mentioned 'break even in a few years'.

Open source/free software allows a lot of leverage does it not? £22 million is probably Microsoft's budget for paper clips, and might keep Apple in decent coffee :twisted:

[Dragonbite]

Looks like he will be working on Unity2D now instead of Kubuntu.

That makes sense
Canonical focusing on their primary products (Ubuntu w/Unity)
Unity 2D uses a bit of Qt from what I've read
They are keepign an experienced developer who already knows the ropes


They could have done things terribly, terribly bad. Hopefully this means good things in the future for Unity 2D.

[neu5eeCh]

How will this effect other Ubuntu based Distros using KDE, like Linux Mint KDE or Netrunner? Are they based on Kubuntu or are they "parallel" KDE/Ubuntu Distros?

[Elfy]

http://www.nixternal.com/kubuntu-is-not-dead/


Jumping ship in a time like this equates to nothing more than a slap in the face of everyone who has worked their asses off to offer to you, free in every sense of the word, Kubuntu. Remember, Jonathan was the only paid Kubuntu developer, everyone else did it for free. Don’t disrespect their hard work with your flawed logic.


and some other stuff

[QIII]

I wish Jonathan a swift recovery and continued success in his new role.

Beyond that this is a tempest in a tea cup. No asteroid impacts. No frogs falling from the sky. No zombie invasion.

[Elfy]

No zombie invasion.Bet it get's a spam post though, especially if I say spam. Spam.

[drmrgd]

Sorry this is slightly off-topic, but I noticed this in Jonathan's email that was posted in this thread:


If it does then we need people to step up and take the initiative in
doing the tasks that are often poorly supported by the community
process. ISO testing, for example, is a long, slow, thankless task,
and it is hard to get volunteers for it.
</snip>

How does one go about being an ISO tester for Kubuntu? I looked around quickly on the web and couldn't figure it out. Given that I am really enjoying Kubuntu so much more than Unity, it really only makes sense to try to help the community out in some way (and hopefully my ignorance doesn't get in my way!).

[BBQdave]

That makes sense

Canonical focusing on their primary products (Ubuntu w/Unity)
Unity 2D uses a bit of Qt from what I've read
They are keepign an experienced developer who already knows the ropes


They could have done things terribly, terribly bad. Hopefully this means good things in the future for Unity 2D.

+1

And how are you getting along with openSUSE (KDE) 12.1, Dragonbite?
Just curious, as I will be looking at different DE's after Debian 6 (Gnome 2) reaches EOL.
I really dig Synaptic Package Manager in Debian, but Yast looks interesting too. So KDE and Yast could pull me away from my beloved Debian :)

[Supermouse]

I like openSUSE, and I like Debian too.

But the thing is, I try to use openSUSE, then I see that the tools are different from the Debian ones (no apt, etc), then I go and put an Debian-based distro over it (usually Ubuntu). Then I use Ubuntu untill a new openSUSE version, and try it again. Then it all starts again...

I have yet to try 12.1, maybe it will be an weekend project...


The thing is, I like KDE, it was the first DE I used, but nowadays I find it easier to use an gtk-centric qt-free environment than to use an pure qt environment...

[andrew.46]

Canonical appears to be quite a small concern (£22 million sales and 70 staff according to one company report), and the 2008 interview with Shuttleworth mentioned 'break even in a few years'.

The Canonical model contrasts quite sharply with the Slackware model, which is the distro I have migrated to. Slackware pays a wage for only one person, Patrick Volkerding, with a small innner circle who package specific areas on a volunteer basis. Having said this, with the realisation that the Slackware audience is substantially less than the Ubuntu audience, Slackware maintains packages for kde that are very much up to date and beautifully done.

It all depends on the goals of the organisation involved, Slackware goals are more to do with producing a quality distro. I am no longer entirely sure what Canonical and Ubuntu are after...

[vasa1]

Reading a lot of posts here it is always fascinating how people "react" to any change in the Linux world.
...
404
Exaggeration seems to have become a very popular writing tool and it maybe a sad reflection on the quality of readers!
Here's one more title: "Canonical kicks Kubuntu to the kerb (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02/07/canonical_cuts_off_kubuntu/)"

[vasa1]

Isn't it irrelevant to mention the distro one is currently using?

As for "what Canonical and Ubuntu are after", I'm quite happy that they bring Linux to the non-elite. It is a puzzle to me that the self-professed elite seem extraordinarily concerned about Unity and take to the streets about it. It's another matter if someone has contributed extensively by way of finance or coding to any of the various Ubuntu flavors.

[Copper Bezel]

It all depends on the goals of the organisation involved, Slackware goals are more to do with producing a quality distro. I am no longer entirely sure what Canonical and Ubuntu are after...
Every distro tries to be a "quality distro." Slackware defines that as one with as little change to upstream packages as possible. Ubuntu defines it by a focus on usability and marketability. So yes, as you say, project goals have a huge impact on the software that's actually produced.

[philinux]

Sorry this is slightly off-topic, but I noticed this in Jonathan's email that was posted in this thread:



How does one go about being an ISO tester for Kubuntu? I looked around quickly on the web and couldn't figure it out. Given that I am really enjoying Kubuntu so much more than Unity, it really only makes sense to try to help the community out in some way (and hopefully my ignorance doesn't get in my way!).

Here http://packages.debian.org/sid/all/brasero-common/download and lurk here http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=412

Good post here and thread. http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=11658644&postcount=3

[Dragonbite]

And how are you getting along with openSUSE (KDE) 12.1, Dragonbite?

I have it on my older laptop (which the kids have lost the power chord to) and it has been a big improvement over all of the other distributions. It does take a bit to get used to. I finished my presentation where we had a Mac, Windows and Linux system side-by-side going round-robin on how to do some basic tasks.

While Kubuntu loses a paid developer and any boost from being an "official" Ubuntu distribution rather than a "spin" like Xubuntu or Lubuntu, the question that comes to mind is how big is the rest of the Kubuntu team. Just because one was paid, doesn't mean he did it alone.

The strength of the rest of the team will determine if they can pick up the slack, or if there is enough energy for people to step in and pick it up.

Anybody have any idea on how many other people routinely work on Kubuntu?

[Dry Lips]

I'm sure this decision is rational. Ubuntu is seeking to gain an entrance to the phone/tablet/television/netbook marked. They've spent lots of resources on Unity and KDE doesn't really fit in with their strategy, so they they give the Kubuntu dev another assignment.

Unless Kubuntu gets new funding, or a few good dedicated developers who can work on it in their spare time, the project is going to deteriorate.

Of course Canonical has the right to decide how they are going to use their resources, but hey, they've got over 400 staff, and they give the single developer working on KDE another work. I think that fact speaks volumes about what Canonical thinks about KDE.

The Kubuntu community will have to think about what their next step will be. Perhaps two KDE distros based on Ubuntu perhaps is a bit unnecessary; what if the people behind Kubuntu and Mint KDE joined their forces?


Linux Mint KDE was just released: http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1927

[BBQdave]

I like openSUSE, and I like Debian too.

But the thing is, I try to use openSUSE, then I see that the tools are different from the Debian ones (no apt, etc), then I go and put an Debian-based distro over it (usually Ubuntu). Then I use Ubuntu untill a new openSUSE version, and try it again. Then it all starts again...

I have yet to try 12.1, maybe it will be an weekend project...


The thing is, I like KDE, it was the first DE I used, but nowadays I find it easier to use an gtk-centric qt-free environment than to use an pure qt environment...

Yup, that is me too.

I get curious and try other distros, but always end up back with Debian :) it just fits me best.
One of the main applications I use is Scribus, and it is in QT. So I get curious about using it in a QT environment (KDE), if Scribus is different or better in KDE. But I am used to Gnome 2 and Scribus works well in that environment.

Most the time my need for stability and a great DE (Debian 6) out weigh my curiosity, so I am happy hanging with Debian 6 :D

[Dry Lips]

Most the time my need for stability and a great DE (Debian 6) out weigh my curiosity, so I am happy hanging with Debian 6 :D

There's a KDE version of Debian too, isn't it?

[cariboo]

I have it on my older laptop (which the kids have lost the power chord to) and it has been a big improvement over all of the other distributions. It does take a bit to get used to. I finished my presentation where we had a Mac, Windows and Linux system side-by-side going round-robin on how to do some basic tasks.

While Kubuntu loses a paid developer and any boost from being an "official" Ubuntu distribution rather than a "spin" like Xubuntu or Lubuntu, the question that comes to mind is how big is the rest of the Kubuntu team. Just because one was paid, doesn't mean he did it alone.

The strength of the rest of the team will determine if they can pick up the slack, or if there is enough energy for people to step in and pick it up.

Anybody have any idea on how many other people routinely work on Kubuntu?

There are 25 other developers working on Kubuntu. Most of the blog posts on the Planet (http://planet.ubuntu.com/), see this as a positive change. You may have to scroll down a bit, as this is yesterdays news. :)

[drmrgd]

Here http://packages.debian.org/sid/all/brasero-common/download and lurk here http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=412

Good post here and thread. http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=11658644&postcount=3

Very cool! Thanks Phil!

[Dry Lips]

There are 25 other developers working on Kubuntu. Most of the blog posts on the Planet (http://planet.ubuntu.com/), see this as a positive change. You may have to scroll down a bit, as this is yesterdays news. :)
Sure, but those 25 other developers are working on Kubuntu in their spare time. According to one of the comments in the response to the OMGUBUNTU post about this, Canonical at one point had 6 people working full time on Kubuntu.
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/02/canonical-withdraw-financial-support-from-kubuntu/

I think the people behind Kubuntu need to figure out an alternative source of funding. They could definitively learn something from Mint in this respect.

[cariboo]

Sure, but those 25 other developers are working on Kubuntu in their spare time. According to one of the comments in the response to the OMGUBUNTU post about this, Canonical at one point had 6 people working full time on Kubuntu.
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/02/canonical-withdraw-financial-support-from-kubuntu/

I think the people behind Kubuntu need to figure out an alternative source of funding. They could definitively learn something from Mint in this respect.

Why would they need an alternate source of funding, Kubuntu still has full access to Ubuntu's infrastructure. It's is just the one paid developer that is no more. I suspect that one of the reason Johnathan was moved to other projects, was that not enough people bought Kubuntu support contracts to pay for a full time developer.

[pbpersson]

I suspect that one of the reason Johnathan was moved to other projects, was that not enough people bought Kubuntu support contracts to pay for a full time developer.

Ah yes, that makes sense! Since the main features of Ubuntu are supported by the Ubuntu developers and KDE is produced by the KDE team, how much real work is involved in working on Kubuntu? Not to oversimplify, but it seems that KDE would be placed on top of the core just like an automobile body is bolted onto the chassis at the factory. Aren't these things standardized so they just plug in?

[forrestcupp]

Aren't these things standardized so they just plug in?I don't claim to have a great understanding of how it works, but from what I've seen about it, things do mostly just plug in. But there is a lot of plugging in and configuring involved. The preinstalled Kubuntu system has a lot of differences from the preinstalled ubuntu system. But it is true that they still have the standardized infrastructure available.

[del_diablo]

They also replace quite a few screws, with poorer ones.
Well, most of the problems is caused by the REPO freeze, and vanilla KDE is better than whatever modifications the ubuntu team ever made.

[SeijiSensei]

I suspect that one of the reason Johnathan was moved to other projects, was that not enough people bought Kubuntu support contracts to pay for a full time developer.

Isn't that rather a self-fulfilling prophecy given how little effort Canonical spent on getting people to adopt Kubuntu? The only Kubuntu support contracts I could imagine them selling would be to pre-existing business customers already running KDE on their desktops. That's got to be a pretty small market. Beyond that, most people coming to Ubuntu for the first time have no idea there are other "flavors" like Kubuntu or Xubuntu. Nor can I imagine many individual users buy support contracts for any version of Ubuntu. Why would they, given the amount of free support available over the Internet?

Support contracts make sense in the server room, or in large desktop deployments. Kubuntu isn't the appropriate flavor for the first of these, and large KDE/Kubuntu deployments are pretty rare.

[Roasted]

If Canonical knew what was good for it, it would switch Ubuntu to KDE period.

Unity is a disaster, Gnome is out dated. Gnome 3 is fine, but apparently not ready according to them.

Because opinion = factual statements, ya know. :roll:



Yeah Unity is quite bad.
Gnome is outdated, even 3...

LOL??

[lykwydchykyn]

Ah yes, that makes sense! Since the main features of Ubuntu are supported by the Ubuntu developers and KDE is produced by the KDE team, how much real work is involved in working on Kubuntu? Not to oversimplify, but it seems that KDE would be placed on top of the core just like an automobile body is bolted onto the chassis at the factory. Aren't these things standardized so they just plug in?

Yes, but there's still testing and packaging to do, Ubuntu-specific changes (e.g., using kdesudo instead of kdesu), and some specific software. I know Jonathan was the primary author of muon, for instance, which is Kubuntu-specific. (oops wrong Jonathan). He was also a regular upstream contributor, which means KDE just lost a contributor as well.

It's not the end of the world, but don't discount what one full-time developer can contribute to a project.

[WinterMadness]

Because opinion = factual statements, ya know. :roll:




LOL??

Do you even know what im talking about?

[PaulW2U]

I know Jonathan was the primary author of muon, for instance, which is Kubuntu-specific.

That's Jonathan Thomas, not Jonathan Riddell. :)

[philinux]

More info.

http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/02/ubuntu-12-04-development-update-13/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+d0od+%28OMG%21+Ubuntu%21%29

[lykwydchykyn]

That's Jonathan Thomas, not Jonathan Riddell. :)

Yeah, just realized that. My bad. Thanks for pointing it out.

[Linuxratty]

And yet more...This is interesting.



Kubuntu maintained packages will be moving from Main to Universe. This will allow the community to have larger control of what Kubuntu will look like. We will no longer have to run to Canonical to get approval for software. This will also allow us to align more toward KDE without running into any conflicts of vision with Canonical.

This will allow the community to run full control of Kubuntu. Instead of this being a bad thing, we, the community have been let off the leash so to speak. This is something that I fully expect the developers to take on and run with.

Overall, this new arrangement will bring Kubuntu to new heights. With taking off the restrictions and allowing the community to fully run the show, Kubuntu will not only move forward but, I fully expect to see Kubuntu rise above and be more successful then ever before.

I would like to note that Kubuntu has been approved for a 5 year LTS (Long Term Support) with the 12.04 release in April and that has not changed from all of this.
http://ubuntumanual.org/posts/609/the-future-of-kubuntu

[forrestcupp]

And yet more...This is interesting.



http://ubuntumanual.org/posts/609/the-future-of-kubuntu

Lol. That's their way of trying to make us like getting the shaft. :)

Actually, I hope that is the result. I'm probably never going to use Kubuntu, but it would be nice to see it turn into something closer to upstream. That's been one of the big complaints.

[Juan Largo]

I was saddened to learn that Canonical is dropping support for Kubuntu:

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/opensource/ubuntu-pulls-the-official-plug-on-kubuntu/3417

Kubuntu is the one thing that has kept me on the farm, so to speak. What a pity.

[philinux]

I was saddened to learn that Canonical is dropping support for Kubuntu:

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/opensource/ubuntu-pulls-the-official-plug-on-kubuntu/3417

Kubuntu is the one thing that has kept me on the farm, so to speak. What a pity.

It's only dropping financial support. Big difference.
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/02/canonical-withdraw-financial-support-from-kubuntu/

Kubuntu will join Lubuntu and Xubuntu and Edubuntu in the way they are officially supported. Kubuntu is not going to disappear. There already has been a number of threads on this in the cafe a while back.

Moved to recurring discussions.

[PaulW2U]

From the quoted article:


the dropping of Kubuntu does a number of things:


it means it will get no financial support from Canonical.
the distribution will lose what little marketing it received from Canonical.
Kubuntu most likely will flounder and die.



Point three is just the author's opinion. ](*,)

I'm sure there are a lot of users and unpaid volunteers who will continue to do whatever they can to support Kubuntu. Most of them seem very enthusiastic and loyal to the brand. :D

[Dry Lips]

Check out the thread about this over at Kubuntuforums:

http://www.kubuntuforums.net/showthread.php?57271-Kubuntu-s-New-Future

There's currently some discussion and uncertainty about whether or not Kubuntu 12.04 will be a LTS release.

[philinux]

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/daily-live/current/

[StephanG]

Am I the only one thinking this might be good for Kubuntu?

Canonical only paid for one developer to work on Kubuntu. But, it sounds to me as if that small contribution came with quite a few strings attached.


Is this good?
Moving to universe bares a great deal of opportunities for Kubuntu. Primarily it gives the community yet bigger control over what the distribution looks like as we do not need to get software approved to be worthy of Canonical’s support. At the same time it also reduces the policy overhead (main inclusion for those who have heared of it). The detanglement allows us to move even closer to KDE without having to worry about conflicting interests, as what is good for KDE is not necessarily what is good for Canonical.
All in all I expect Kubuntu to become more agile and continue to regularly deliver an easy to use Linux distribution featuring the latest and greatest KDE software.

It sounds almost to me as though Kubuntu will finally have the flexability it needs to make the changes that it NEEDS to make. For example, we might see it change it's release date to better match up with the KDE release schedule instead of the Canonical release schedule, and get patches and updates through more quickly. And, it sounds almost like it will enable them to get a little bit more "daring" with the changes they can make, as it sounds almost as though they were hindered by Canonical policies who were put in place to prevent Kubuntu from straying too far from what is "safe" for enterprise users. I for one would love to see Lancelot become the default main menu.

[Version Dependency]

<snip>
Kubuntu, the KDE-based derivative of Ubuntu, is entering a new era. Blue Systems (http://blue-systems.com/)will be sponsoring Kubuntu from the 12.10 cycle starting in May. Canonical recently stopped sponsoring Jonathan Riddell's work on KDE. Jonathan gave indications of this sponsorship during a recent meeting when he asked if it was OK with the Technical Board of Ubuntu if someone else sponsored Kubuntu.

What does this sponsorship mean for Kubuntu?

In an exclusive interview with Muktware Jonathan Riddell told us, "Blue Systems will sponsor my time to work on it and will have a budget for conference travel (e.g. to UDS and Akademy) as well as Kubuntu promotion such as CDs or posters."Jonathan will no longer be working as a Canonical employee. He will be leaving Canonical after the Ubuntu Developer Summit. "But I'll be working with Canonical just as any Ubuntu developer works with Canonical. I expect to keep being an important part of the Ubuntu project e.g. by being a release driver or archive administrator," says Jonathan.

<snip>

Read the whole article: here (http://www.muktware.com/news/3516/kubuntu-be-sponsored-blue-systems). They may need to rename the distro as well since Canonical holds the Kubuntu trademark.

[kio_http]

See the announcement on kubuntu.org (http://www.kubuntu.org/news/kubuntu-to-be-sponsored-by-blue-systems) and here (http://www.muktware.com/news/3516/kubuntu-be-sponsored-blue-systems). The previous announcement (http://www.kubuntu.org/news/12.04-lts-announce) of canonical's ceased sponsorship.

Brighter or darker prospects for Kubuntu? what do you think?

[Dry Lips]

Hey, hey! Interesting!

Just one question, though... Will Canonical still continue to sponsor the infrastructure of Kubuntu?

---

edit:

I've never heard about "Blue Systems"... Who are they, and what are they doing?

[cariboo]

Merged to similar threads.

[santosh83]

Hey, hey! Interesting!

Just one question, though... Will Canonical still continue to sponsor the infrastructure of Kubuntu?

I wouldn't expect them to, since that was part of the support that they have decided to withdraw.

[forrestcupp]

Hey, that's great news! I'm happy for Jonathan. That had to suck being forced to move to other development after all he invested in Kubuntu.

[Version Dependency]

I've never heard about "Blue Systems"... Who are they, and what are they doing?


They have been in the news lately as they are the sponsors of Linux Mint KDE...and of Netrunner. Not sure why they were sponsoring two (now three!) KDE distros. Seems like a bit of a waste sponsoring three teams working on essentially the same project.

[Copper Bezel]

Netrunner is Kubuntu-based, though. It's not just three KDE distros - they're three KDE Ubuntu derivatives. (And Kubuntu apparently needs a new name, so.)

[neu5eeCh]

Netrunner is Kubuntu-based, though. It's not just three KDE distros - they're three KDE Ubuntu derivatives. (And Kubuntu apparently needs a new name, so.)

Why so? The article states: "We will still be part of Ubuntu which uses Launchpad as the platform for code hosting, package management, bugs etc."

Or am I missing something?

[Copper Bezel]

I can't tell if it's entirely speculative, but there's this bit at the end of the Muktware article:


Blue Systems sponsored Kubuntu may need a new name as "Canonical holds the Kubuntu trademark and gives a generous license for community use but does not allow commercial use. It's unclear if that means sponsorship such as we are getting is allowed. So we might have to end up renaming, that would be effort but not entirely bad as the current name makes people think it is only a 'derivative' of Ubuntu rather than one of many flavours within Ubuntu," says Jonathan.
But I don't really follow. I don't see how this makes Kubuntu any more commercial than it was before.

[neu5eeCh]

Seems to me that it adds to a distribution's cache if they have a presence in different DE's, like PCLos, Mint, OpenSuse and Fedora (to a limited extent). Then again, no other distro is so identifying itself with its own unique DE, like Unity.

[kio_http]

I can't tell if it's entirely speculative, but there's this bit at the end of the Muktware article:


But I don't really follow. I don't see how this makes Kubuntu any more commercial than it was before.

Commercial support cannot be provided as canonical does not license the Kubuntu name for commercial use.

[Dry Lips]

They have been in the news lately as they are the sponsors of Linux Mint KDE...and of Netrunner. Not sure why they were sponsoring two (now three!) KDE distros. Seems like a bit of a waste sponsoring three teams working on essentially the same project.


Netrunner is Kubuntu-based, though. It's not just three KDE distros - they're three KDE Ubuntu derivatives. (And Kubuntu apparently needs a new name, so.)

Blue Systems must be a fan of KDE as well as Ubuntu based distros! If they can afford to sponsor 3 projects, I don't see why they shouldn't continue to do so.

[kio_http]

Blue Systems must be a fan of KDE as well as Ubuntu based distros! If they can afford to sponsor 3 projects, I don't see why they shouldn't continue to do so.

They are basically sponsoring the same project now that they sponsor Kubuntu, as mint kde and netrunner are basically the same as Kubuntu with different default software and themes.

[tadcan]

I wonder will they get merged into one version?

[Primefalcon]

Kubuntu should probally think about changing their name now... if canonical havn't licenced the name for commercial use... the name is more of a limition now.. for them since they are externally sponsored

[GeneralZod]

Aurelien is moving from Canonical to Blue Systems, too:

http://agateau.com/2012/04/11/into-the-blue/

[Redblade20XX]

This will be a quite interesting event.

-Red

[lincoln32]

I have nor read everything but canonical only had one paid person on Kubuntu
and planned to move him to another part of canonical but he decided to move to Blue systems and stay on KDE devel. Canonical still had plans on distibuting Kubuntu but since most of the work was done by Blue systems anyway. I assume Kubuntu should stay in the family but with the push on unity only time will tell. and they still have Lubuntu Xubuntu and I think studio with no in house devel why would it change unless user drop too low:KS

[Sableyes]

If Xubuntu, Studio, & other *Buntu's went seperate ways, and continued with new sponsors, would that be a bad thing? The options would still be there, and Canonical could focus its time / public image onto Ubuntu / Unity.

[forrestcupp]

If Xubuntu, Studio, & other *Buntu's went seperate ways, and continued with new sponsors, would that be a bad thing? The options would still be there, and Canonical could focus its time / public image onto Ubuntu / Unity.

I don't think Canonical ever was focusing much time on the other versions, other than Kubuntu. I'm pretty sure they were all community maintained. So I don't really think it would make any difference at all. I believe that Kubuntu was the only one who had a Canonical paid developer.

[sffvba[e0rt]

I don't think Canonical ever was focusing much time on the other versions, other than Kubuntu. I'm pretty sure they were all community maintained. So I don't really think it would make any difference at all. I believe that Kubuntu was the only one who had a Canonical paid developer.

Yup.

Not sure what the future holds for "Kubuntu", but I hope it is awesome.


404

[Copper Bezel]

I really assumed that the most "generous" support any of the derivatives had was the Ubuntu name. I get why this is a windfall for Riddell, but if Kubuntu has to rebrand itself, I have to wonder what's really coming with the Blue Systems deal that makes it a good thing for Kubuntu.

I mean, when my students can't afford MS Word, they use OpenOffice. I've never run into anyone who has heard of LibreOffice. A name with a following can be a powerful thing.

[forrestcupp]

I'll bet they don't end up having to change the name.

[Primefalcon]

I'll bet they don't end up having to change the name.
probally be smart if they do though

[kio_http]

I'll bet they don't end up having to change the name.

They plan to change the name only if canonical denies permission for the "Kubuntu" name to be used for commercial purposes by Blue Systems.

Changing the name can be both a good thing and a bad thing.

If they change the name and can't get the word out and do marketing, they will be stuck with the existing user base only and few new users. But if they do get the word out, people will consider it as an option when shifting from their previous OS rather than considering it after trying Ubuntu.

However keeping the name will continue the current trend of its users coming from


People wanting to shift to Ubuntu but already using KDE from another distro
People who were Ubuntu users and have moved because of disliking Gnome


The people who want to shift from Windows and OS X almost never even hear about Kubuntu until they are already settled and familiar with Ubuntu.

[Paqman]

Just one question, though... Will Canonical still continue to sponsor the infrastructure of Kubuntu?


Yep, Kubuntu now has the same status as Xubuntu/Lubuntu. It's still an officially "blessed" derivative of Ubuntu. It'll still get built on Canonical hardware, be tracked on Launchpad, use the same repos, etc, etc. They just won't be paying anybody's wages to work on it.

[inashdeen]

Hi, I was shocked to hear Canonical withdrew fund for Kubuntu. anyone knows why?

[BigCityCat]

This is like soo 30 days ago. lol

[inashdeen]

Haha. I know. but I go exams this few days. seriously, I would like to know why, that is.

[BigCityCat]

Well they didn't actually give a reason as far as I can tell. I think the consensus was that Unity would become their main concern at this point and Kubuntu really wasn't part of their plans, but actually Kubuntu picked up more support not long after by Blue Systems. I really think that as bad as Unity and Gnome Shell are that a lot of people are discovering Kubuntu and finding it a much better alternative. At least for me anyway.

http://www.kubuntu.org/news/kubuntu-to-be-sponsored-by-blue-systems

[oldos2er]

Moved to Community Cafe.

The latest news (from kubuntu-users mailing list) is:

"Earlier this month, developer Jonathan Riddle and I were both at UDS (Ubuntu Developer Summit) and during that time we had a meeting with Canonical about the trademark. While not all of the paperwork is signed or finalized just yet, I wanted to update everyone on what happened and where we are at in this Trademark thing.



For starters, I know that there has been a lot of talk about changing the name of Kubuntu. As of right now there are plans to change the name. Any name change talks were to prepare for a worst case scenario. Seeing how well the talks went with Canonical, I cannot see any reasons we would change our name.



Another thing I want address and make very clear is the role Blue Systems is playing in Kubuntu.



Blue Systems is a small company that is paying people to develop key pieces of the KDE ecosphere. This means that their role is a monetary role. They are helping to sponsor the development of Kubuntu with the hiring of Jonathan Riddell. Kubuntu is still sponsored by Canonical as well.



Now I can hear everyone now, "But didn't they drop sponsorship of Kubuntu that started this whole thing?"



Sort of.



What Canonical dropped was COMMERCIAL support of Kubuntu. This means that companies can no longer buy paid support from Canonical for Kubuntu. It means that Jonathan Riddell was going to be reassigned within the Desktop Team at Canonical. And lastly, it means that Canonical will no longer be making Swag or Pressed CDs for Kubuntu.



Canonical still pays for a lot in Kubuntu. The hosting of code and providing the infastructer that we have, provides the iso spinning services, QA tools, sponsorships to UDS, Trakemark fees for 33 countries for the name Kubuntu (not just under the *buntu protection but, full on Kubuntu) and lastly, the legal protection for all of this.



So as you can see, our relationship has not chnaged all that much within the Kubuntu/Canonical relations. Yes, there has been some changes but, there are benifits to the changing as well and I firmly believe that the benifits greatly outweigh anything else.



There are talks about Kubuntu being able to create a non profit foundation to become a legal entity. This will allow the Kubuntu council to push Kubuntu to new heighths and also allow us to do a few very important things. it will allow us to build a Kubuntu store and it will also allow us to take donations, money to be placed in a budget and receive finactial support.



From a developers view, we are moving from the msin repositories and inti universe. This will give us more freedom of what we can include into our distro.



Overall, I think we can all see how much better and stronger we can be when this is all said and done. Working together, I am beyond confident that not only can we make Kubuntu the best KDE distro on the planet but, we can put Kubuntu on the map in very large ways.



Another amazing thing that happened is that Kubuntu was given an HUGE opportunity to push Kubuntu Active (KDE Plasma Active for tablet) onto actual tablet hardware.



ZaReason is a company here in the US that builds and ships computers with Linux, Ubuntu and distros, preinstalled. Later this year, they will be selling the ZaTab. It's a tablet with the same size and feel of the iPad2. It already will be shipping with CyanogenMod 9 on it. Well, we were given a couple of these tablets to development reasons so that we can also give them the option to ship Kubuntu Active 12.10 on them at the end of the year. This is very very exciting for us as it moves us ahead in the tablet ready distros. "

[BigCityCat]

I'm really excited about the direction of Kubuntu. 12.04 is really a joy to work with.

[Bandit]

I hate to see Kubuntu go. But there needs to be more focus on Unity. Currently many of the files for the desktop are still GNOME 3ish. Which means the distros direction is still at the mercy of GNOME devs. So I hope this means that in the future we can move away completely from GNOME and just stick to the GTK3 tool kit and put full control of the direction of Ubuntu and Unity into our communities and canonicals hands.

[weasel fierce]

It seems Kubuntu was always seen as more of a "community" distro in any event, and I think they'll do just fine going forward.

[Erik1984]

I hate to see Kubuntu go. But there needs to be more focus on Unity. Currently many of the files for the desktop are still GNOME 3ish. Which means the distros direction is still at the mercy of GNOME devs. So I hope this means that in the future we can move away completely from GNOME and just stick to the GTK3 tool kit and put full control of the direction of Ubuntu and Unity into our communities and canonicals hands.

Kubuntu isn't going anywhere but yes Canonical's commercial focus will be on Ubuntu with Unity.

[oldos2er]

I'm really excited about the direction of Kubuntu. 12.04 is really a joy to work with.

That's a big +1.

[forrestcupp]

Moved to Community Cafe.

The latest news (from kubuntu-users mailing list) is:Thanks for the update. That sounds exciting.


I hate to see Kubuntu go. But there needs to be more focus on Unity. Currently many of the files for the desktop are still GNOME 3ish. Which means the distros direction is still at the mercy of GNOME devs. So I hope this means that in the future we can move away completely from GNOME and just stick to the GTK3 tool kit and put full control of the direction of Ubuntu and Unity into our communities and canonicals hands.I'm actually excited about the complete opposite of what you said. Starting with Quantal, they're planning to have a Gnome Shell version that is completely free of Unity. Supposedly, it's going to be closer to vanilla Gnome3.

[MisterGaribaldi]

http://lwn.net/Articles/479710/

I am greatly disappointed, especially since I just recently switched to KDE. What does this mean for the future? Will KDE still be in the repositories?

:cry:

Well, I mean there's only like 5 or 6 people who like KDE anyway.

Ok, ok, I didn't mean to be ignorant or rude. With you, now there's 7 people using KDE.

[inashdeen]

Hey, I love KDE too!

[josephmills]

I always like to think of the opensource world. Kinda like art. mostly like music art.

Art is a refection of the time that we live in. If you do not like the music/art that is coming out or you do not like the album that your next door neighbor is blaring at the top of there speakers then there is nothing that you can do but change the Time it's self.

If you do not like the "art" of changing time, then you will get left behind, And you will listen to music that you like and think about a time when that music or art "brought you somewhere" ,"or brings you back to that place". There is nothing wrong with this one bit. But why pay a band a too play a huge arena when they only fill a 10th of it?
KDE UDS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMHephQXGzg&list=UUWUDCz-Q0m4qK7lkK4CevQA&index=9&feature=plcp

In ending. Don't blame the people that are artist they are just doing there job by being artist.

Just do what you do best be human and buy what you like.

So mad that Kubuntu is not getting funding ?
Go by some Kubuntu shrits cds whatever
The people at Canonical will see this and listen.
Stand up say this is my art style and I love it. and I love where this artwork is going.
do you buy gas that goes in your car ?
do you buy tires that go on your bike ?
do you buy rubber that goes on your shoes ?
why cant you buy or send a donation to Kubuntu its-self?
after all. It is The art that you like.


BTW I love Kubuntu and KDE but I can see why there is options to drop it.

nothing personal wait its art :rolleyes:


EDIT

I also recommend watching this video from 29:54 ON
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu3pT_9nb8o&list=UUWUDCz-Q0m4qK7lkK4CevQA&index=4&feature=plcp

[inashdeen]

I am not mad if the fund stops. just got a bit annoyed if all the curse goes on KDE. it should be given equal voices to other DE :)

[MisterGaribaldi]

Hey, I love KDE too!

Alright, that makes 8 so far. :lolflag:

[Dry Lips]

I LOVE KDE/Kubuntu! (I guess that makes me the 9th person then ;)

However, I just ditched Kubuntu as my main OS (with a sad heart) because I experienced too many glitches with it. (Nothing serious though, just annoying). In addition it was a little too sluggish for my single core AMD Sempron/crappy onboard Nvidia adapter.

I'll continue to pay attention to Kubuntu/KDE, and if I get a better processor I might even switch back to KDE at some point.

[inashdeen]

Have you tried Chakra . LOL

[Dry Lips]

Have you tried Chakra . LOL

Chakra is a very good distro, but I think the repos are a bit too small IMO.

[inashdeen]

Yeah, agree! but I manage to get dpkg running on Chakra. So kind of Okay for me. plus, i already all my essential

[Bandit]

Kubuntu isn't going anywhere but yes Canonical's commercial focus will be on Ubuntu with Unity.

Yea I just noticed I worded that wrong. :)
Just feels like they are leaving the community in a way, every time a new company takes up funding for a distro its like getting your chevy replaced by a ford. Funding has a way of steering the direction of projects.

[Dragonbite]

I LOVE KDE/Kubuntu! (I guess that makes me the 9th person then ;)

However, I just ditched Kubuntu as my main OS (with a sad heart) because I experienced too many glitches with it. (Nothing serious though, just annoying). In addition it was a little too sluggish for my single core AMD Sempron/crappy onboard Nvidia adapter.

I'll continue to pay attention to Kubuntu/KDE, and if I get a better processor I might even switch back to KDE at some point.

I've used KDE with openSUSE and Fedora. Both of them have been great. Fedora even upgraded my KDE mid-release (4.n to 4.(n+1), I don't remember which ones they were).

[BigCityCat]

Alright, that makes 8 so far. :lolflag:

I'm on board. KDE rocks.

[KBD47]

+1 kde

[ExSuSEusr]

I like the look of gnome 3 - has a nice professional polish to it. But using it is more tasking than Unity, I think.

I can get around Unity pretty quick - gnome 3 takes a little more time - and it's sluggish and breaks all my wine games for some reason.

[Randymanme]

The way I have it in my mind, Kubuntu, like some other Ubuntu derivatives like, say, Ultimate Edition, Super OS, and a dozen plus others were allowed to ride along in the Ubuntu airplane until they matured enough to make it on their own.

Then they were proverbially pushed out of the nest, so to speak, to discover that they could fly by themselves. I believe that Canoncial's discontinuance of Kubuntu's funding is, in reality, a vote of confindence that Kubuntu has matured to the degree of being able to fly on its own as an independent OS in its own right.

Objective proof of Kubuntu's maturity is demonstrated in the fact that it is listed on DistroWatch (# 28; Ubuntu is #2). For a distro to get listed on DistroWatch requires some rigorous qualifying, see https://www.ultimateeditionoz.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=293&t=4139&p=32041&hilit=distrowatch#p32041.

I think that the fact that Canonical didn't discontinue Kubuntu's funding until after it (Kubuntu) was listed on DistroWatch shows that it (Canonical) funded Kubuntu long past reasonable justification for doing so.

[Paqman]

The way I have it in my mind, Kubuntu, like some other Ubuntu derivatives like, say, Ultimate Edition, Super OS, and a dozen plus others were allowed to ride along in the Ubuntu airplane until they matured enough to make it on their own.

Then they were proverbially pushed out of the nest, so to speak, to discover that they could fly by themselves.

Except that Ultimate Edition et al were never officially blessed derivatives. Kubuntu still is (and has been since day one). You can't compare Kubuntu to a respin cobbled together in Remastersys by some one-man band.

[Randymanme]

Except that Ultimate Edition et al were never officially blessed derivatives. Kubuntu still is (and has been since day one). You can't compare Kubuntu to a respin cobbled together in Remastersys by some one-man band.

Just so I'll know, which derivatives are/have been "officially blessed?" And, like with DistroWatch, is/are there established criteria whereby Canonical's "official blessing" might be obtained?

Can I assume that because of Linux Mint's numerous contributions to Linux (a lot of which, like, say, Mint Tools, Mint Menu, Cinnamon, Mate, etc. have been reworked by other developers so that they can be installed on Ubuntu by popular demand) is "officially blessed" by Canonical?

[PaulW2U]

That's a big +1.

Can I make that a big +2 :lolflag:

I now have three installations of Kubuntu 12.04.

Although I have Ubuntu and Lubuntu installed on my netbook I wouldn't use anything other than Kubuntu on my PC or laptop now.

[forrestcupp]

I think that the fact that Canonical didn't discontinue Kubuntu's funding until after it (Kubuntu) was listed on DistroWatch shows that it (Canonical) funded Kubuntu long past reasonable justification for doing so.Kubuntu has been on DistroWatch for years.


Just so I'll know, which derivatives are/have been "officially blessed?" And, like with DistroWatch, is/are there established criteria whereby Canonical's "official blessing" might be obtained?

According to Canonical's website about this (http://www.ubuntu.com/project/about-ubuntu/derivatives), the only officially recognized derivatives are Xubuntu, Ubuntu Studio, Mythbuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, and Lubuntu. There is also a link on that page to a list of other known derivatives that aren't officially recognized.

I may be wrong, but I think the only ones that were ever funded by Canonical were Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and Edubuntu.

[Randymanme]

You know, it just hit me a few minutes ago -- I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier. Mark Shuttleworth is the First Patron of KDE -- KDE's highest honor. That's why Canonical funded Kubuntu for so long.

And as someone else noted: Canonical will continue to support Kubuntu in other ways.

Cheers

[Paqman]

You know, it just hit me a few minutes ago -- I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier. Mark Shuttleworth is the First Patron of KDE -- KDE's highest honor. That's why Canonical funded Kubuntu for so long.


Probably more like the other way around. He became a patron because he was financially supporting a major KDE distro. You'd have to ask him or someone high up in KDE whether the chicken or egg came first.