I’m sure everyone has seen the proverbial “nail-in-the-coffin” for the big blue gears, but Kubuntu is a largely populated distribution that I think it going to bounce right back.
Kubuntu is a Ubuntu based distribution that opened it’s doors seven years ago with version 5.04. It has often been on the bleeding edge of KDE development. Featuring KDE 3.4 in it’s initial release and KDE 4.7 in the current 11.10 release, Kubuntu has garnered a large community following during the last several years. It is due to this simple fact that I doubt we’ll see the ditribution disappear entirely.
One of many advantages that Linux has over “pure” commercially developed OSs, such as Windoze, is that you’ve got the community there to assist and pick up the pieces if the financial backing goes south. I would see this as a challenge and a excellent chance for the Linux community to really shine after the hand-off has taken place.
Strangely though, all the news posted today paints a picture of the sky falling and the end of days. Kubuntu is a distribution that I think you’ll see propped up by the community and it’s loyal followers. I’m sure that a group of community developers and maintainers will pick up the pieces after the release of 12.04 LTS and it will continue to be a highly respected distro.
Already there is some rallying to be had on the Kubuntu forums.
Simply put, if your a fan of Kubuntu, don’t give into the doom and gloom. Go out there and save your distro!