For Derivatives

The Xubuntu team welcomes everybody to work with the team and improve Xubuntu in the spirit of free and open source software. If for any reason contributing back directly isn’t an option, you are free to create your own derivative as long as you follow the guidelines listed below.

Guidelines for Xubuntu derivatives

Do not use the name “Xubuntu” or the Xubuntu logo

Both the name “Xubuntu” and the Xubuntu logo with the wordmark “xubuntu” are protected by a Canonical trademark and should not be used by derivatives.

For clarity, we recommend avoiding the use of the Xubuntu icon in derivatives as well.

Please note: This restriction and requirement applies to all artwork shipped with a derivative, from the installer slideshow to the documentation and all artwork across packages. The intention of the Xubuntu team is to keep the Xubuntu trademarks to the packages starting with “xubuntu-“; if you find trademarked assets outside these packages, please be in touch with us and we will work to make them moved to the Xubuntu packages.

Note on modifications for private use: As long as the modified versions are only used personally, you do not need to remove the Xubuntu branding. Only if you later decide to share and spread your derivative publicly, you will need to remove the branding.

For more information about the trademarks, please refer to the Canonical Intellectual Property rights policy.

Do not point your users at the general Xubuntu support resources

While your derivative may share a base with Xubuntu, there are often major differences between Xubuntu and derivatives that may cause confusion to volunteers who do support specifically for Xubuntu.

We ask that you create your own support resources, and only guide users to specific Xubuntu documentation that is known to also be applicable to your derivative.

Communicate with us

We value communication with those who work with Xubuntu in any way. Even in the case that contributing back to Xubuntu is not possible, we would like to know about new derivatives and the modifications that are being implemented to them.

We are open to discuss common bugs and issues; in some cases, we might end up fixing bugs only (or mostly) affecting our derivatives. At the same time, if you fix a bug that affects us, we expect you to push the fix upstream.

Packages with Xubuntu branding

Please note that this list is still in progress and the Xubuntu branding might exist in packages not listed here. If you find one (or more), be in touch with us!

  • xubuntu-artwork
  • xubuntu-docs
  • xubuntu-wallpapers
  • xubuntu-icon-theme (distributor logo only)
  • plymouth-theme-xubuntu-logo
  • plymouth-theme-xubuntu-test
  • ubiquity-slideshow-xubuntu (source package: ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu)
  • debian-cd
  • ldm-xubuntu-theme (outdated branding)

In addition to the above packages, the package xubuntu-default-settings points to several of these resources; you will likely want to remove that package as well.