"Jonathan Riddell, the former leader of both the Kubuntu and KDE neon distributions, has published an emotional blog post titled " Adios Chicos, 25 Years of KDE." In it, he describes how changes in the corporate structure behind the KDE organization have resulted in his departure. Riddell describes himself as a "Canoeist, Quaker, and Computer Person." It's a modest summary. Over the years, he's been featured on The Register a few times. For instance, in 2020, he talked to the Reg about the importance of KDE. In a touch of foreshadowing, back in March, we reported that he planned to step down after the Plasma 6.3 release cycle."
"Back in 2020, the Reg reported that he was employed by KDE backers Blue Systems, but no longer. Blue Systems used to be the company behind the Netrunner distro as well as Kubuntu's corporate sponsor after Canonical, but no longer. In his post, Riddell says: Last winter [...] the guy who pays us started off by saying he was dying and the company would be shutting down. Which was very sad but it makes sense to end it on a high."
"The KDE project now has some commercial backing. KDE is the default desktop of Valve's SteamOS, the Arch Linux-based OS of the multi-million selling Steam Deck handheld console. Several of the developers on the project also work for Spanish FOSS workers' cooperative Igalia, which is also the company bringing the Rust-based Servo web-renderer back into active development."
Jonathan Riddell, longtime contributor and leader of Kubuntu and KDE neon, has left due to changes in corporate structure and funding. Blue Systems previously employed or backed KDE contributors but its backer’s health and potential shutdown prompted instability. Riddell reported that the company behind funding indicated it would close, and he framed the ending as understandable given circumstances. KDE now has some commercial backing, including inclusion as the default desktop on Valve's SteamOS for the Steam Deck and developer ties to the Spanish cooperative Igalia and Rust-based Servo work.
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