Former director of desktop systems development at Canonical and co-founder of Ubuntu MATE, Martin Wimpress, has declared that his involvement in the Ubuntu MATE project is winding down. Wimpress is now in search of dedicated developers who are willing to carry on the work on the Ubuntu MATE distribution and are capable of maintaining packages related to the MATE desktop environment in the Ubuntu repository. This shift comes as Wimpress has expressed a change in interests, indicating that he no longer has the time or enthusiasm to focus on the Ubuntu MATE project. Therefore, he aims to pass on the management of the project to individuals who have the necessary time and energy to devote to Ubuntu MATE.
Currently, Ubuntu MATE remains on the MATE 1.26 branch, which was established in 2021. The distribution is facing unresolved issues and a shortage of developers. Notably, the decision has been made to not designate LTS (Long-Term Support) status to the upcoming release of Ubuntu MATE 26.04. The uncertainty surrounding the publication of this release persists, as beta versions for Ubuntu 26.10 have commenced testing while builds for the beta version of Ubuntu MATE 26.04 have yet to be generated. Furthermore, development of the MATE desktop environment has stalled since the spring of 2024.