As we approach the launch of Ubuntu 8.10, it's time to create space for future plans, and so I'm writing to introduce you to The Jaunty Jackalope.
Jaunty, the code name for what will most likely become Ubuntu 9.04, will be the focus of our efforts from November through to April next year. We will be gathering forces in Mountain View on 8th - 12th December to survey the upstream landscape and finalize Jaunty plans, enjoying the excellent hospitality of Google and Silicon Valley's abundance of talent and innovation. The Ubuntu Developer Summit is the social and strategic highlight of each release cycle and it would be a great pleasure to
welcome you there. Jono Bacon has written up a http://www.jonobacon.org/?p=1278 guide to sponsorship for those who would have a substantial amount to offer at the Summit.
The Warrior Rabbit is our talisman as we move into a year where we can reasonably expect Ubuntu to ship on several million devices, to consumers who can reasonably expect the software experience to be comparable to those of the traditional big OSV's - Microsoft and Apple. The bar is set very high, and we have been given the opportunity to leap over it. It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance to shine, and we want to make sure that the very best thinking across the whole open source ecosystem is reflected in Ubuntu, because many people will judge free software as a whole by what we do.
There are some specific goals that we need to meet in Jaunty. One of them is boot time. We want Ubuntu to boot as fast as possible - both in the standard case, and especially when it is being tailored to a specific device. The Jackalope is known for being so fast that it's extremely hard to catch, and breeds only when lightning flashes. Let's see if we can make booting or resuming Ubuntu blindingly quick.
Another goal is the the blurring of web services and desktop applications. "Is it a deer? Is it a bunny? Or is it a weblication - a desktop application that seamlessly integrates the web!" This hare has legs - and horns - and we'll be exploring it in much more detail for Jaunty. We have already laid some foundations for weblications in the online services discussions that took place in Prague, but since we fully expect those services to ship in 9.04 the discussion will be that much more intense in Mountain View.
Those bizarre-but-fearsome antlers might well remind one of the intricate pattern of collaboration between developers in a distributed version control system. So it's fitting that Jaunty will see us move all of Ubuntu into Bazaar. For the first time, any developer will be able to branch any Ubuntu package with a single bzr command, publish their changes, and perhaps even publish builds of that package in their own Package Archive. We will also make the developer community structure of Ubuntu much richer - in addition to MOTU and core-dev, we are introducing ways for developers to participate in specific applications, either at the package-upload level or at the version-control level. Whatever your level and specialisation of interest, we'll make sure that you can participate accordingly.
December's UDS is likely to be packed full of interesting people and ideas. I very much look forward to seeing everyone there. "There he goes! That way!"
Mark Shuttleworth : Mon Sep 8 21:16:57 BST 2008
