Milestone R1 in brief

Posted 09/03/11 22:57:11

Introduction

Milestone R1 is the goal for the Anubis project in the short term. In the longer term, we are working towards Anubis v1.0. Milestone R1 is our first official release. This release is aimed at testers and curious persons who might have an interest in alternative operating systems.

Milestone R1 will not produce a working operating environment. Rather it will give a technology preview and show direction. In many ways, it will be the most important release, as it will set the course that we will follow in the milestones after it.

Anubis has an organized development model where we are releasing in "Milestones". Each milestone will focus on a specific phase of Anubis development through to v1.0. Milestone R1 will focus on getting this project up and running. Because of this, most parts of the system will be touched upon.

Project Structure

The Anubis project is divided into three units. These units organize their own sub-teams. Eventually, they will self manage quite a bit. For Milestone R1, the projects will cooperate closely with the project leader to get things right with the vision. This is, as said, where Milestone R1 is important - to lay the ground work and start on the overlying vision.

The Core Unit will have several tasks for Milestone 1. These tasks are, in overview:

• Anubis File Structure
• Build System
• Core Libraries
  • DOS Library - our file system library
  • Graphics.library - our graphics system
  • Input.library - our device input system (keyboards, usb devices)
  • Instinct.library - our GUI toolkit
  • Network.library - our network communication system
• Host environment
  • Anubis Environment Program
  • GNU fragments (bintools/modules/.., GNU Step)
  • Linux kernel (2.6.x) and Boot manager (GRUB 2)
  • Integration with the Anubis File Structure

The Desktop Unit has several tasks for Milestone 1:

• Anubis Desktop
  • Desktop Environment Program
  • Preferences Applications
    • Display Preferences
• Standard Artwork
  • Icon set
  • Windowing/Theme/GUI art

The PR Unit has these tasks:

• Develop and open the Anubis Website to the public
• Develop and maintain the Anubis Forums
• Develop and open the Anubis WIKI
• Assemble the Anubis Bug Tracker
• Set up a good model for promotion and spreading information
• Set up and maintain mailing lists

Programming Language

It has been decided that we are going to use Objective C for all the core code in the project. The reason is that we get a tried and tested object model, stay relatively programming language neutral and get a lot of framework code for free. For now, much of this framework code is borrowed from the GNU Step project.

Getting to Milestone 1

To get to our first milestone, we will need to finish the tasks we have set ourselves above. This does not mean they will be feature complete, but they will reach a state where they can be evaluated and used to drive some demo applications. The tasks are further detailed in our bug tracking system. Documentation will be posted there and gathered in for our WIKI. Everything comes together there. When each of our tasks have zero show stopper bugs, we will release and throw a party (possibly on-line)!

Progress evaluation

Progress reports will be posted on a bimonthly basis on the Anubis website by the PR unit. These reports will follow a common template and will give a sense of perspective to anyone interested in the project.

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