2009/06/01 Ubuntu Developer Summit (Barcelona May 2009)

My second Ubuntu Developer Summit (UDS) is over. I think I need a week sleeping to let the sheer volume of information to clear from my mind before I can think about anything else. This UDS seemed bigger than the previous one. More tracks, more talks, more information, and more overload. But that has to be seen as a positive we are trying to tackle more and achieve more. At least this time I knew what to expect and was able sift the deluge of information and contribute to the event. It was great to see so many dedicated Ubuntu contributors and fans all in one place, to meet those people who I have been working with regularly.

As a member of the Ubuntu kernel team my focus was on the kernel track, particularly on the subjects I am focused on for this cycle. Though this time round the team did try and make sure we were able to escape our own sessions and get representatives out to other tracks so we could find out what the rest of the distro is planning to do and how that might affect us. They are after all our customers, consuming our kernels.

A number of topics caught my eye during the week. There was the drive to improve boot speed, some pretty aggressive boot speed targets are being banded around. Also plans to shift to grub2 as the default boot loaders bringing internationalisation and perhaps allowing lilo to be retired. The introduction of Kernel Mode Setting to improve boot experience. Plus cloud computing and how that will change both what is possible and our own workflows. All in all a week well spent.