Ubuntu Studio Quantal Performance

[len] We have enough run levels to have 4 modes, normal, audio, video and graphics for example. Should we?
[slavender] what would using the run levels offer us? can you give a list of benefits?
[len] All the things we want to turn off or on are controled by init/upstart anyway. run levels are there for changing what services are running. For example run level one has most services turned off, just enough running so the one person on one console can log in and fix things that are broken. Changing the system configuration on the fly is what runlevels are made for.
 * Run levels make turning things like Cron (and friends) off easy. These are things that can produce high system activity without user input.
 * Networking can be turned off.
 * A script file in /etc/init.d (or /etc/init) can be used for loading/unloading kernel modules as needed.
 * runlevel can be changed from userland in a secure way (we already do this to change to runlevel 0 and 6) with no password.
 * Changing the configuration should be sudo passworded though. This is not a security hole as anyone who knows the sudo password can aleady sudo bash into a root session.

Work items:
[len-ovenwerks] - research available audio improvements from audio/music sites: DONE
[len-ovenwerks] - test each improvement to verify they work and yield significant performance gains: POSTPONED
[len-ovenwerks] - determine if viable audio improvements degrade any non-audio performance: POSTPONED
[ubuntustudio-dev] - make final decision on which improvements to make on stock system: DONE
[ubuntustudio-dev] - make final decision on which improvements could be made for special situations: POSTPONED
[len-ovenwerks] - make changes for final improvements on stock system: DONE
[ubuntustudio-dev] - document (including links to source) special situation improvements: POSTPONED
[ubuntustudio-dev] - develop spec for GUI application for changing settings: POSTPONED
[len-ovenwerks] - develop spec for GUI application for changing modes on the fly(next cycle can work on code): DONE
[zequence] - Compare -generic with -lowlatency on as many machines as possible to determine some pros and cons (latency, power usage, etc.,): POSTPONED