While our readers debate as to what exactly a Dapper Drake is, developers from around the world have gathered in Montreal, Canada at the Ubuntu Below Zero conference to begin work on the next release.

Can’t make the trip? Don’t worry, there’s an easy way to track the development progress as it unfolds. This specification page on the Launchpad has the list of topics being discussed at the conference. These specifications will completed as the conference continues, and will eventually be the feature goals that will guide the development of Ubuntu 6.04. You can also follow along on the photo feeds from the event.

sabdfl has kicked off the development cycle for Ubuntu 6.04 (Dapper Drake). A preliminary list of goals has already been started. This upcoming version will feature three years of desktop support and five years of server support, so the development cycle will be probably be different from what has been done in the past. The bulk of this planning and specification work for the release will be done at the Ubuntu Below Zero development conference in Montreal, Canada during the first week of November.

For you trivia buffs, the first upload was by Robert Collins, who pushed in a new version of fl-cow.