Reports of Kubuntu's death may well be greatly exaggerated. Ceasing paid development means pulling the funding of one developer, a developer who was previously absent for a release cycle when he was on he Bazaar rotation instead - and Kubuntu still managed to make a release. At the same time, other Kubuntu developers have pointed out how this change will actually make it easier for the community to put Kubuntu together in some ways, due to the move of their packages from main to universe removing the need to get Canonical's sign-off for various things.