14 DAY TRIAL // Ubuntu Builder, a project that was made for users and developers alike and that helped them construct their own Ubuntu version, has been discontinued.
The Ubuntu Builder project has been around for quite a few years and the developers implemented a lot of features over time. The tool was able to download, extract, and customize the Linux distribution in many ways, and there are very few alternatives that can perform the same actions.
“Ubuntu Builder was born as a joke, an unpretentious project that I did in my spare time. The success and the positive opinions of those who have used it have prompted me to do more, to integrate new features, solve problems and translate it into various languages,” said its developer, Francesco Muriana, on Launchpad.
The last version to make it out the front door was Ubuntu Builder 2.5.2, which provided support for Ubuntu 13.10 (Saucy Salamander), Linux Mint 16, and Ubuntu Remix 13.04. There were a lot of users who were waiting for the Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) support, but the developer said that too much had changed with the distribution, making it difficult to follow up with updates.
“The many changes that have occurred in recent times in the distribution, my basic knowledge of programming and the decreasing of my available time have forced me to make this decision,” also said Francesco Muriana.
When the last version was released, the developer gave no indication that he considered stopping the project. He, in fact, switched from using gambas2 to gambas3, and said that the next version of the application would be ready sometime in May.
A tool that would be capable of performing some of the same tasks is Ubuntu Customization Kit. According to its developer, UCK is able to customize official Ubuntu Live CDs, including Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and Edubuntu, by adding or removing any package to the live system, regardless of whether it's an application or just a language pack.
Unfortunately, getting the Ubuntu Customization Kit can prove to be quite a challenge because users have been encountering some bugs. The same happened with Ubuntu Builder, and despite the advanced version and the four years of development, it wasn't always a reliable software.
Now that the Ubuntu Builder project has been discontinued, it doesn't necessarily mean that the application is actually dead and buried. It's a very common practice for other developers to pick up the slack and we might see the Ubuntu Builder being released in the future.