Canonical To Drop Support For Kubuntu

After the forthcoming 12.04 "Precise Pangolin" release, Canonical will no longer be sponsoring the Kubuntu derivative and will be dropping support for this KDE-based alternative.

Word got out last night and since then it's been quickly spreading about Canonical abandoning the Kubuntu work.

Canonical will no longer be sponsoring Kubuntu's development after the 12.04 LTS release and they will be assigning Johnathan Riddel (the lead Kubuntu developer) to other work. Kubuntu will just be living around in the community-managed form like the Xubuntu and Lubuntu alternatives that just ship the Xfce and LXDE desktops, respectively.

Canonical decided to drop Kubuntu after this KDE version of the Ubuntu desktop not being a business success after seven years of work.

Jorge Castro of Canonical/Ubuntu getting ready to go in for the kill...

Ending his mailing list message, "I hope and expect Kubuntu can continue. I encourage Kubuntu devs to apply to UDS so we can have discussions on how to continue it and keep the dream alive."