Puppy Project in Peril as Founder Retires

It's been over a week since Barry Kauler announced his retirement (again) and the Puppy project's future is now very unclear. Saying Woof and Puppy are now in "maintenance mode," where essential fixes are made, Kauler stated no new features or releases will be planned. Instead, he'd like to develop for the Ubuntu phone.

In a blog post September 20, Kauler said, "I started the Puppy Linux project in 2003, so I have been at it for ten years. Enough, it is finally time to retire." Kauler says he knows he announced retirement before in 2008 and changed his mind, but this time it's "much more certain." His blog has been almost silent in recent months and speculation of Puppy's demise was already being whispered around water dishes.

As a result Woof and Puppy are officially in maintenance mode while Kauler is "sorting things out." He's looking for folks to take over the some of the file hosting and web presence, but then says he will likely remain involved developing "Puppy-related things." Kauler said, "I am interested in the Ubuntu Phone project, and if it does get to actual released converged phone-desktop hardware, I would like to play with that. Another idea is to create a DEB package that 'puppyfies' an Ubuntu installation."

Right now, users and forum goers are still discussing the implications of this announcement. Most are just hoping it's not the end of the distribution. While there were a few posts not sharing that sentiment, most thank Kauler for his wonderful contribution to Linux and Open Source software, as do we.