Future of Ubuntu MATE

Thomas Ward has publishedan update about the future of the Ubuntu MATE project, which did not have a26.04release with the other Ubuntu flavors inApril:

There is a new team working on Ubuntu MATE who have stepped up tohelp take over flavor management. They haven't formally introducedthemselves yet, but I can safely say that other developers HAVEstepped up for the future of the MATE flavor, despite its prior teamlead having stepped down.

[...] Ultimately, this means that they are working to cover themissed items and gaps, and may quite possibly have a 26.10 release inOctober of 2026, which I believe they most likely are targeting.

This also means that bugs in the MATE environment and in packagesthey normally would have shipped had they have a 26.04 release arestill going to get attention and fixes. So, effectively, nothing haschanged. The only difference is that there was no 26.04 installerimage released.

For those looking to install a MATE desktop on a "clean" install ofUbuntu26.04, Ward suggests installing Ubuntu Server and theninstalling the ubuntu-mate-desktop package.