Hot on the footsteps of our recent story of Reinhard Tartler being interviewed (on Behind Ubuntu) about his work on ‘REVU’ and the Masters of the Universe team, we’re delighted to discover REVU Day.
Daniel Holbach announced on the ubuntu-devel mailing list that September 8th will be REVU Day for the edgy development process. REVU is the tool used to vet and check new packages before they are uploaded in the Ubuntu system. We’re told that the idea for the day will be to green-light as many new packages as possible, with Daniel adding “we’ll make an effort to get all the goodness on REVU into Ubuntu”.
During an Ubuntu development cycle, the rate of new features is gradually slowed down as more and more time is spent on bug-fixing and quality checking. One of the last areas to close for new features is the Universe and Multiverse components which between them contain the majority of off-the-beaten-track packages—for example, many games, much multimedia and scientific software.
Universe contains many thousands of programs, all neatly wrapped up and packaged for easy installation using Add/Remove programs or Debian’s famous apt-get tool. Eventually the MOTU will switch to full stabilization and bug-fixing mode for Universe as well, that date is approaching fast. On September 28th automatic “syncing” (copying and importing) of packages from Debian will stop and the procedures documented in UniverseFreeze will take over.
If you are one of the many people with software that you’d like to see in Ubuntu 6.10, or who have software in the REVU system, then be sure to pop along to the #ubuntu-motu IRC channel in one weeks time. Hope to see you there!
If you would like more information about getting involved with the Masters of the Universe team we recommend reading the MOTU Guide, followed by a visit to #ubuntu-motu for questions, drinks, and chit-chat. You’ll get up to speed in no-time at all!