Both projects contribute to Ubuntu MATE's success

May 4, 2015 11:21 GMT  ·  By

The Ubuntu MATE project is known for the fact that it contributes back, and it rewards developers for their work. It happened a few times already, and the latest projects awarded are Ubuntu and Debian.

It might seem weird to see developers of other systems donating money to Debian and Ubuntu, but that happens more than you think. In fact, both Ubuntu and Debian accept donations from the community. For Debian, at least, this is a big chunk of their funds, so it's not to be taken lightly. On the other hand, this is not about money, it's about recognition.

Ubuntu MATE is based on Ubuntu, which in turn is based on Debian. This means that Ubuntu MATE could not exist without the two projects, so the makers of these Ubuntu flavors decided that they needed to recognize that dependency. It's not a big sum of money, and Ubuntu and Debian are huge projects so they won't feel it, but it sends a signal to other users for those distros. People tend to forget that many of these developers work voluntarily and that they need to be rewarded.

Ubuntu MATE is setting an example

One thing is clear, Ubuntu MATE is definitely one of the most interesting distros available right now, and its makers are using its popularity to raise awareness regarding donations and the impact that some projects have in the FOSS ecosystem.

"Ubuntu MATE is built on top of Ubuntu, which in turn is derived from Debian. With Debian and Ubuntu both having releases in April 2015, it is fitting that Ubuntu MATE recognise the two distributions on which is so depends. We are therefore delighted to be able to donate $75 to Debian and also $75 to Ubuntu. The Ubuntu donation was split equally between Ubuntu Desktop, Ubuntu for Phone and Community Projects," said Martin Wimpress, one of the Ubuntu MATE developers.

You can download Ubuntu MATE 15.04 right now from Softpedia and give it a spin.