Ubuntu Desktop Alpha 2 and Alpha 3 Work Item Update

As you are probably aware, in Lucid the platform team is working and re-planning in three separate milestones. Last week we passed the first such milestone, Alpha 2. The desktop team then re-planned for the next milestone, Alpha 3. This posting provides a chance to understand those plans. Note that these work items are documented in detail on the relevant blueprints.

Alpha 2 Summary
You can see the full and detailed results of our efforts here:
http://piware.de/workitems/desktop/lucid-alpha2/report.html
Note that the burndown chart is a bit preturbed, as it is in the past, and Martin moved the work item site to a different server.

Alpha 2 Accomplishments

• Power management tweaks: work to help squeeze a bit more battery life out of a machine
• Progress on xorg triaging and diagnosis tools: work to make it easier to get debugging information from users encountering issues with graphics
• Boot Speed: reduced time from from GDM to working desktop from 18+seconds to 11 seconds
• Jockey Hot plug
• Latest Likewise Open
• Change "UNR" to "UNE"
• Change default applications for the desktop (haven't removed the Gimp or pulled in new f-spot yet, though)
• Integrate the latest and greatest from the Dx team
• Change apps to use Udev rather than HAL throughout the desktop, make HAL start on demand rather than at boot time
• Desktop in the cloud: the server team is creating daily desktop images and hosting them in aws
• Normal desktop throughput, such as update GNOME packages, updates from Debian, bug triaging, etc...

Alpha 2 Postponed Work
We did not get to everything that we had planned. Specifically:

• Most of the Social From the Start items. We have re-scoped this work and moved the remaining items to Alpha 3
• Xorg triaging and diagnosis tools: we only got about half way to this goal and will continue down this path

Alpha 3 goals
you can the full and detailed current plan here:
http://macaroni.ubuntu.com/~pitti/workitems/canonical-desktop-team-lucid-alpha-3.html

Alpha 3 Planned Work

• Social from the start work focused on supporting the Me Menu
• UNE session for desktop, desktop session for UNE
• Finish xorg triaging and diagnosis tools
• Make the experience for users of proprietary graphics drivers morerobust
• Switching to -nouveau open source nvidia driver by default to support 3d and KMS (note that this is risky work and will depend on stability and quality of components in xorg and the kernel and will be backed outbefore end of Alpha 3 if necessary)
• Continue to improve desktop start up speed
• Tweak compiz effects
• Continue to change apps to use Udev rather HAL
• Continual integration of Dx assets as available
• Continual integration of OLS assets as available
• Normal desktop throughput, such as update GNOME packages, updatesfrom Debian, bug triaging, etc...

Beta 2 goals
Beta 2 is the final development milestone in Lucid. We are not currently planning for the desktop team to work any of our ownwork items for Beta 2. I want to keep the team's bandwidth open to focus on:

• Integrate late breaking changes from Dx
• Integrate late breaking changes from OLS
• Find and the fix the worst bugs in terms of user impact