14 DAY TRIAL // The Ubuntu MATE team makes monthly donations to other projects that are being used by this distribution and this month's targets are Geany and Transmission, along with a couple of MATE developers.
Not too many developers think about contributing back to the projects they are using, but Ubuntu MATE is leading here by example. The fact that Ubuntu MATE is now an integral part of the greater Ubuntu family also comes with some financial perks, albeit they aren't as impressive as you might think. All the official Ubuntu flavors get a part of the money that are donated by the community, but Ubuntu MATE is also gathering its own donations.
In order to make this process as simple and as easy as possible, the team has set up a very transparent process in which anyone can see what they are doing with the money from donations. A part is going to the project itself, but a good chunk is actually going to developers who are building tools used by Ubuntu MATE. This is pretty cool if you think about it and their behavior is not nearly as widespread.
Ubuntu MATE recognizes outside contributions
The money that are being donated doesn't represent large sums, so the actual numbers are not all that important. This is about recognition, and Ubuntu MATE wants to make sure people understand that the project is using the work of other people, who should also be compensated.
"Ubuntu MATE is comprised of many Open Source projects, we recognise that. Each month that Ubuntu MATE has a surplus of funds we will make a contribution to an Open Source project that Ubuntu MATE directly benefits from. For June 2015, Ubuntu MATE have sponsored Geany and Transmission. We also approached the lead developer of guvcview, but he politely declined our donation, simply explaining that he makes guvcview for the love of it," noted Martin Wimpress on the official blog.
He also explained that a couple of MATE developers, who are also contributing to other distros, have been rewarded as well. Now, if we could only convince other users and projects to do the same thing.