I have opted to go for a relatively "quiet" launch - I will not enable domain sales (and so will not have to wait for extreme thorough testing for DNS functionality) and will not wait for a polished GUI. This is because the large delegate subsidy will greatly accelerate the pace of development (especially infrastructure) and allow us to build the hype necessary for the auction kickback mechanic to properly incentivize honest market participation once development is underway.
I will keep this thread up to date with what needs to be done before launch. If you want to help with any of these, you will be reimbursed from the development fund.
Launch Checklist
* Basic UI rebranding - functional UI development is already being taken care of, but not how it looks. This really means a temporary logo / splash pic
* KeyID namespace snapshot. Gamey has been managing Keyhotee migration and name substitution requests. We will take a "delegate name snapshot" from the end of august 21st and post the genesis block names publicly for review / sub requests.
* PTS/AGS snapshot + audit. The tool on bitshares.org breaks for dates later than the end of AGS, and I want an audit of this tool and any existing PTS snapshot tool anyway. Boombastic had prepared a namecoin snapshot tool is no longer necessary but can be used for PTS snapshots:
* Thorough writeup of auction mechanics and all other parameters
* Dry Run
* Code review with the rest of the team
I will launch a test network for developers Soon and a dry run with GUI after any BTSX fires are put out. Repo is at github.com/das-lab/DNS, but don't bother until I set up a dedicated testnet.