Now that UDS is over members of the Ubuntu Server Team are busy writing specifications (aka blueprints) about topics discussed during the summit. Specifications should be finalized by Thursday, June the 5th according to the Intrepid release schedule. Here is a non-exhaustive list of blueprints that are currently been written:
Encrypted ~/Private Directory in Each User’s Home
Dustin Kirkland has written a proposal to provide a default location for users to securely store sensitive data using filesystem encryption. The idea is to create a Private directory for each user and mounting it using ecryptfs at login. More details (such as PAM integration) can be found in the specification.
Kerberize Services in main
Mathias Gug outlines what could be done to improve kerberos integration for different services available in the main repository. The question of which kerberos implementation (MIT vs Heimdal) should be used is discussed and services that should support kerberos are listed.
Ubuntu Calendar Server
Chuck Short started a wiki page on Calendaring options available in Ubuntu. There a couple of packages available in universe (such as darwin calendar server, egroupware, obm, zimbra, and open-xchange). The goal of the specification is to find if one of them is suitable for inclusion into main.
Ubuntu Server Guide additions and updates
Adam Sommer has a list of specific sections in the Ubuntu Server Guide that should be worked on during the Intrepid release cycle. Windows Networking and network authentication with LDAP and Kerberos are the major targets. Plans to provide a pdf version of the guide are also discussed.
J2EE Support
Thierry Carrez looked into J2EE options that could be included in Intrepid. Tomcat, Geronimo, Glassfish and Jonas are amongst the projects that have been evaluated. A complete matrix is available in the wiki page.
This is just a selection of the blueprints worked on by members of the Ubuntu Server Team. Most of the specifications can be found on the ubuntu-server blueprint page in Launchpad.
These documents are still being worked on – now is the best time to read them, comment, suggest and send improvements (on the specification page or on the ubuntu-server mailing list). Make yourself hear now and there is a higher chance your ideas will be included in the next release of Ubuntu, the Intrepid Ibex !
