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• Launchpad entry: https://blueprints.launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+spec/official-burns

• Packages affected: We must create new packages.

Summary

This spec describes a program that produces an "Official Burn" of Ubuntu.

Rationale

ShipIt CDs cost money; users are charged for new DVDs and CDs, while Canonical has to pay for Dapper 6.06 LTS CDs and shipping. Rather than ship CDs, we can allow the user to create a high-quality burn using his own blank media and labels.

Use cases

There are a few.

• Alice wants 40 copies of the Ubuntu Edgy DVD to hand out in her Unix class; she does not want to wait for shipping or pay $10 for each, so she burns her own.
• Keybuk needs the latest Feisty milestone for testing; he has this automatically burned and labeled for him.
• Bob wants to demonstrate the upcoming features of the next version of Ubuntu; he has the latest daily burned for him and demonstrates the functionality via LiveCD.

Scope

The suggested scope allows for expansion beyond Ubuntu; however we do not support this directly.

The scope involves initially supporting Official Burns of Dapper, Edgy, and Feisty; and continuing support beyond there.

Design

The suggested design includes several important features.

• User interface
  • Must supply a simple interface
  • Must supply repository lists
  • Must supply list of available burn images
  • Must supply template selection and preview
    • Possibly allow selecting which label on the template to print to
  • Should allow narrowing choices
    • DVD or CD
    • Style (LiveCD, Install, Combo)
    • Release level (Current, Old, Development)
    • Vendor (Ubuntu, Fedora)
    • Search (similar behavior to searching in Rhythmbox)
  • Should allow adjusting burn speed
    • Possibly allow a choice between "Safe" or "Fast," where "Safe" burns at one-half the maximum speed
  • Should allow retaining images in a configurable directory
• Back-end
  • Must allow repository URIs
    • Vendor sets up a Web directory with a control file
      • Control file references subdirectories as sources
      • Sources contain a descriptor file describing the release type
        • DVD or CD
        • Image file name
        • Label file name
        • Style
        • Release level
        • Vendor
      • Sources contain the image file and label
    • The directory containing the control file functions as the repository
  • Automatically download, burn, and print labels
    • Download selected image to configured directory
    • Burn image once downloaded
    • Download label (PNG image)
    • Insert label into an ODF template file and print
  • Burning multiple copies should be supported

Implementation

Code

• May code the program in any language, including Python, C, or C#.
• Must separate the back-end from the user interface to allow for GTK+, Qt, and text-based interfaces.

Data preservation and migration

None.

Unresolved issues

Actually need somebody to do the low level design and code this thing.

BoF agenda and discussion

• Would this interfere with the revenue stream from the now $10 ShipIt media? --JohnMoser

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