ownCloud Forked
Founder of ownCloud launches the Nextcloud project.
Frank Karlitschek, the founder of ownCloud, has forked the project and created a new open source project called Nextcloud. Karlitschek joined with Niels Mache, CEO of struktur AG/Spreed, to form a new company with the same name. Mache is making a seven-digit investment in the new company. Both Mache and Karlitschek will serve as the managing directors. Nextcloud is setting up a foundation to manage the project and trademark.
Within 12 hours of the Nextcloud announcement, ownCloud Inc, closed their US offices. ownCloud said in a blog post that the main lenders in the US cancelled their credit, which forced them to close the US office and terminate the contracts of eight employees.
A majority of former ownCloud employees, who quit the company after Karlitschek’s departure, have already joined Nextcloud. Karlitschek said Nextcloud welcomes all ex-employees of ownCloud Inc.
Nextcloud said it will honor the existing contracts of those ownCloud customers who want to switch to Nextcloud. Nextcloud will be available in two versions: enterprise and community. The first release of Nextcloud is expected in July. Contributors won’t be required to sign a contributor license agreement to contribute to Nextcloud.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Cairo Dock 3.6 Now Available for More Compositors
If you're a fan of third-party desktop docks, then the latest release of Cairo Dock with Wayland support is for you.
-
System76 Unleashes Pop!_OS 24.04 Beta
System76's first beta of Pop!_OS 24.04 is an impressive feat.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 is Available
Linus Torvalds has announced that the latest kernel has been released with plenty of core improvements and even more hardware support.
-
Kali Linux 2025.3 Released with New Hacking Tools
If you're a Kali Linux fan, you'll be glad to know that the third release of this famous pen-testing distribution is now available with updates for key components.
-
Zorin OS 18 Beta Available for Testing
The latest release from the team behind Zorin OS is ready for public testing, and it includes plenty of improvements to make it more powerful, user-friendly, and productive.
-
Fedora Linux 43 Beta Now Available for Testing
Fedora Linux 43 Beta ships with Gnome 49 and KDE Plasma 6.4 (and other goodies).
-
USB4 Maintainer Leaves Intel
Michael Jamet, one of the primary maintainers of USB4 and Thunderbolt drivers, has left Intel, leaving a gaping hole for the Linux community to deal with.
-
Budgie 10.9.3 Now Available
The latest version of this elegant and configurable Linux desktop aligns with changes in Gnome 49.
-
KDE Linux Alpha Available for Daring Users
It's official, KDE Linux has arrived, but it's not quite ready for prime time.
-
AMD Initiates Graphics Driver Updates for Linux Kernel 6.18
This new AMD update focuses on power management, display handling, and hardware support for Radeon GPUs.