ELEMENTARY, DEAR WATSON
We’ve mentioned before how excited we are for elementary OS 6.0, but elementary releases are task-based, rather than time based, so that release will happen, teasingly, at its own pace.
Supporters (financial, rather than moral) of the svelte OS have been treated to early access builds of the upcoming release. These shouldn’t be considered stable and certainly shouldn’t replace your 5.1 install at this stage, but we’d wager there’s a fair few folks (us included) who would be happy to pay to glimpse the next evolution of the ever-so-pretty distro. If this sounds like you, then you can gain access to these early builds by donating more than $10/month through Github sponsors.
Said distribution also generates income from its app store and in particular the curated apps thereon, which have been carefully crafted and tested to fit with their surroundings. That app store is also levelling up, and will be known as Appcenter for Everyone in future releases. A successful campaign on Indiegogo raised $14,000 to fund the new, Flatpak-based, store. This will bring more of the latest applications to elementary OS, and obviate any difficulties with underlying Ubuntu LTS libraries being too old. Fans of mystery and intrigue will also remember that a couple of years ago a large private donation enabled elementary to hire Cassidy James Blaede, previously a part time volunteer, as a full-time developer.