Ubuntu: next release will be the critical one
April 24 will be a red letter day for the Ubuntu project. It will be three-and-a-half years since the experiment began and the release that day of Hardy Heron, as version 8.04 is known, will be a defining moment. This could well be the release that either makes or breaks the project.
The naming system is indicative of this - Ubuntu releases have never before used an adjective which indicates rock-solid stability. We’ve had Warty Warthog, Hoary Hedgehog, Breezy Badger, Edgy Eft, Dapper Drake, Feisty Fawn and Gutsy Gibbon.
The emergence of a release with the letter H keeps to the alphabetical order which the project has more or less followed after the first two releases; these two one may consider something of a trial balloon to see how receptive people were to something that seemed unnecessary in late 2004 - the creation of yet another Linux distribution.
Says Mark Shuttleworth, Mr Ubuntu himself: “Well, the idea has always been to try to pick a relevant adjective, which conveys some of the spirit of the release. Some examples: Warty - our first release, was going to have warts; Dapper - our first LTS release, was putting its best foot forward; Edgy - rapid catchup after Dapper, short cycle, new features; Hardy - our second LTS, built to last.” (LTS stands for long term support)
