Every 6 months the Ubuntu journey starts anew. Those of us entering yet another cycle assume that this all makes sense to the outside world but I like to post up dates on the wall in the office and write a blog post to give those new to the project, and some not so new, a handy reminder of the major milestones in each cycle.

Each release that we create has a cycle with certain key milestones in it. These milestones are broadly agreed before the previous release is even out the door and are almost always an exact copy of what came in the previous release. The schedule for our next release 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot can be found by following this handy link to the Ubuntu wiki.

Anyone wanting to contribute to Ubuntu needs to be aware of these dates, designers and developers alike, as dates like the feature and UI freezes are your deadlines for getting new goodness into the release. Miss this deadline and you’ve missed the October release. Like a train the Ubuntu release rolls out of town whether you’re on it or not, however, unlike those dreadful windows trains there’s another one along real soon – in another 6 months in fact!

For more information on the time based approach to projects head over to the wiki pages on the subject and hit us up in the comments if you have any questions!