DevelopmentCodeNames
Ubuntu is known for having the funkiest release code names around. From time to time users suggest potential names, so if you have a magical idea, please add it to the table at the bottom of this page.
Release Naming Scheme
The official name of an Ubuntu release is "Ubuntu X.YY" with X representing the year (minus 2000) and YY representing the month of eventual release within in that year. Ubuntu's first release, made in 2004 October (10th month) was Ubuntu 4.10. Since the actual release date is not known until it's ready and humans tend to prefer names rather than numbers, a set of codenames are used by developers and testers during the buildup to a release:
Adjective |
Animal |
Version |
Description |
Warty |
Warthog |
4.10 |
The first "hog" |
Hoary |
Hedgehog |
5.04 |
Meaning "covered with hair", or "mature/old/wise" |
Breezy |
Badger |
5.10 |
was going to be "Bendy Badger"... |
Dapper |
Drake |
6.06 |
Polished, with 5 years of support! |
Edgy |
Eft |
6.10 |
Fire up the crackpipes! (?!) |
Feisty |
Fawn |
7.04 |
Courage and restlessness |
Gutsy |
Gibbon |
7.10 |
Go Ape! |
Hardy |
Heron |
8.04 |
Hardy Heron with 5 years of support! Most people wanted Happy/Hungry Hippo |
Intrepid |
Ibex |
8.10 |
Released October 2008 |
Jaunty |
Jackalope |
9.04 |
Released April 2009 |
Karmic |
Koala |
9.10 |
Released October 2009 |
Lucid |
Lynx |
10.04 |
clear minded thoughtful predator |
Maverick |
Meerkat |
10.10 |
sabdfl: Meerkats are light, fast and social – everything we want in a Perfect 10 |
Natty |
Narwhal |
11.04 |
That's one pretty tusk you got there. |
The development codename of a release takes the form "Adjective Animal". So for example: Warty Warthog (Ubuntu 4.10), Hoary Hedgehog (Ubuntu 5.04), Breezy Badger (Ubuntu 5.10), are the first three releases of Ubuntu. In general, people refer to the release using the adjective, like "warty" or "breezy". The names live on in one hidden location---the archive release name in /etc/apt/sources.list and seen on the download mirror network.
History
MarkShuttleworth said the following with regard to where the naming scheme originally came from:
So, what's with the "Funky Fairy" naming system? Many sensible people have wondered why we chose this naming scheme. It came about as a joke on a ferry between Circular Quay and somewhere else, in Sydney, Australia:
lifeless: how long before we make a first release? sabdfl: it would need to be punchy. six months max. lifeless: six months! thats not a lot of time for polish. sabdfl: so we'll have to nickname it the warty warthog release.
And voila, the name stuck. The first mailing list for the Ubuntu team was called "warthogs", and we used to hang out on #warthogs on irc.freenode.net. For subsequent releases we wanted to stick with the "hog" names, so we had Hoary Hedgehog, and Grumpy Groundhog. But "Grumpy" just didn't sound right, for a release that was looking really good, and had fantastic community participation. So we looked around and came up with "Breezy Badger". We will still use "Grumpy Groundhog", but those plans are still a surprise to be announced... For those of you who think the chosen names could be improved, you might be relieved to know that the "Breezy Badger" was originally going to be the "Bendy Badger" (I still think that rocked). There were others... For all of our sanity we are going to try to keep these names alphabetical after Breezy. We might skip a few letters, and we'll have to wrap eventually. But the naming convention is here for a while longer, at least. The possibilities are endless. Gregarious Gnu? Antsy Aardvark? Phlegmatic Pheasant? You send 'em, we'll consider 'em.
lifeless is Robert Collins. sabdfl is Mark Shuttleworth.
Code Name Suggestions
If you think of a really good one future name, save it here rather than keeping it hidden away inside your brain and you never know, you may even see a release named after allowing you to feel happy inside knowing that you've contributed in a very special and unique way to an Ubuntu release!
This is not a competition, but a way for people to work together!
11.10 (#O)
11.10: Oscillating Owl. Sounds good?
Also, Observing Opossum
If 11.10 has a major artwork update, Opulent Oryx (or some other animal) would seem fitting.
11.10: Opulent Ocelot
11.10: Opulent Okapi
11.10: Obnoxious Orangutan. First seen in thedailywtf.com.
11.10: Osculating Octopus. While not a simple adjective, it still serves as one.
11.10: Opulent Ox. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ox
11.10: Ostentatious Opossum. Opossums have a remarkably robust immune system: like ubuntu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opossum)
11.10: Omnipotent Orca.
11.10: Orgiastic Ocelot. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocelot
11.10: Optimistic Olingo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olingo
11.10: Organic Octopus - Go cephalopods!
11.10: Odd Owl tells me what I want to do.
11.10: Ornery Oni. Make it Oni-ni-Kanabo! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oni_(folklore)
11.10: Orthogenic Owl. There aren't many good, short O-adjectives, are there? "Orthogenic", according to my dictionary, means "promotes proper development". In this context, of course, "proper" means open-sourced.
11.10: Orgasmic Okapi. Orgasmic because, well, you know why. Okapi because it is a truly extraordinary, beautiful animal that has only recently been discovered by humans and 11.10 could be the release that lets everyone know about Ubuntu
11.10: Obsequious Otter does what you tell it to. Also, floats on its back and cracks things open with a rock balanced on its belly. Beat that M$.
11.10: Opulent Otter. We all now how opulent otters are with their rich, playful nature.
11.10: Obnoxious Ox, Ominous Ox, Obedient Ox.
11.10: Obscure Ostrich.
11.10: Obnoxious Octopus.
11.10: Obscure Owl.
12.04 (#P)
12.04: Pretty Pig it's funny This name remember "Patty the Pretty Pig", it's a good idea for a 'pink' ubuntu release to meet more female users... :P and an opportunity for male users to approach more ubuntu girls! ihihihi
Regardless of the name, a 'pink' release to promote breast cancer awareness would be a good thing. It'd need to be a .10 version (October release, for Breast Cancer Awareness Month).
I like "Perverse Penguin"... Imagine the logo
Also, "Prodigious Penguin" or "Pragmatic Penguin"
I like Phobic Phoenix for 12.04. Or, as a friend suggested when I pumped him for good PH adjectives, "acidic".
I like "Peaceful Parrot" One definition of peace is (freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety, an obsession, etc.; tranquillity; serenity.) that describes Ubuntu well....Not annoying, but beatifully colored
I like "Phoenix", but "Phobic" sounds rather negative. What about Persistent Phoenix or Prestigious Phoenix?
How about Pyrophobic Phoenix I like the idiosyncrasy?
Perhaps Pensive Phoenix or Prodigious Phoenix? I like how it sounds.
Perky Piwakawaka (NZ bird, common name is Fantail)
Purple Panther (Because 'Pink' would be too obvious)
Pink Puffin Precious Puffin: Precious is short enought and it perfectly fits the spirit of previous releases. And honestly, Puffin is just an amazing animal name
Poetic Pony, or indeed anything at all ending in Pony, I have been promised, would result in my girlfriend defaulting to Ubuntu rather than only occasionally going in when her Windows install breaks down.
Therefore: Poetic Pony, which I feel emphasises the poetic grace we are coming to expect from increasingly slick Ubuntu releases, or perhaps Pensive Pony to show that Ubuntu is careful to think, to deliberate, to give matters suitable consideration?
Precocious Pony too has, I think, an extremely good ring to it, and would lend itself well to our habit of doing new things.
Precarious Pangolin: Ubuntu releases have tended to focus on more unusual animals or names for animals. They raise questions like, "What is an Eft?" or "Where do badgers even live?" and thus can raise awareness of the animal and its circumstances. I, for one, would like more people to know about pangolins because they're interesting and well-defended creatures. Much like Linux as a desktop operating system. The adjective can probably take many angles, but the way I see it, it's an X.04 release and it's also reflective of the continued state of the Linux desktop. It's taken a long time to get this far, but it's never bad to have a reminder that resting on our laurels is at our own peril.
12.04: Powerful Penguin
12:04: Me gustaría un nombre en Español para demostrar la apertura del sistema a todas las comunidades, me parece muy al estilo de la filosofía Ubuntu. Ej: Poderoso Pingüino.
12.04: Pretty Panda, the Giant Panda is a conservation reliant endangered species. Giant Panda black and white coat color, black eye, very cute! In 1961, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) select Giant Panda for their logo. Now, Giant Panda has become the most important symbol of wildlife conservation. Sorry, bad English. 大熊貓(別名:貓熊)是瀕危野生動物。大熊貓黑白相間的毛色、黑色的大眼圈,非常可愛!早在1961年世界自然基金會(WWF)成立時就選擇了大熊貓作為其標志。現在,大熊貓已經成為了全世界物種保護的象征。
12.04: Powerful Python Python是一种强大,开源的编程语言,Ubuntu 使用它作为核心编程语言。/Python is a powerful and open-source programming language. It is the core language of Ubuntu.
12.04: Perilous Pica
12.04: Personal Pixie
12.04: Punctual Penguin, 'cause Ubuntu is never slow and is therefore never late
12.04: Pulchritudinous Penguin, since 12.04 will be a beautiful thing. And, for a change, some people will be asking what the adjective means, instead of what the animal is. "Pulchritudinous" is a bit of a mouthful for daily use, so I expect if adopted, the daily name will be either (radically) "Penguin" or (contractively) "Pulk." Suggested by Deref at PPMB.
12.04: Purple People Eater, Just because it would be funny!!
12.04: Pyro Phoenix, Does not exactly ring but still cool.
12.04: Precocious Platypus, precocious - achieving mental aptitude far ahead of normal developmental schedules; platypus - a mammal that lays eggs. Nuff said.
12.04: Peckish Piranha - Razor teeth and pools of developers ready to taste the blood in the water.
12.04: Prickly Pheatherbrain Protozoa, the protozoa is prickly because of the feathers on its brain.(Bo-Bobo C-Block Featherbrain Protozoa).
12.10 (#Q)
Quixotic Quail for 12.10 (as suggested on #kubuntu-devel Sept 20th, 2009)
Quisitive Quetzal
Quintessential Quokka
Quaint Quetzal, A Quetzal is a type colourful bird
13.04 (#R)
Rampant Rabbit
Radiant Robin - Has a nice tune to it. A lovely release is soon to come.
Resplendent Raven
13.04: Rapid Robin
13.04: Rapid Rabbit
13.04: Rowdy Rhino
13.10 (#S)
I Think that Super Salamander is a wicked codename!!!
Silver Skylark
Sexy Swordfish
Speedy Shark when people refer to ubuntu distros by the adjective, "speedy" would sound great. "What ubuntu distro u running" "Speedy, u"
Scintillating Squid
13.10: Solid Snake, I think this one has a very good chance of being chosen.
Sly Sasquach
Scaly Snake
Stinging Scorpion
Seductive Snake, everyone knows where I got this one from.
Sexual Sheep
14.04 (#T)
Twirling Tui (NZ bird) or maybe Tough or Tricky Tui
Teal Terrapin
Terrible Tribble
Terrific Tiger
14.04:Transsexual Troll
Trippy Turtle
Tasty Tapeworm
Tenacious Tyrannosaurus Rex
Treacherous Tick
Tiny Tsetse(fly)
Tremendous Titi(monkey)
Tidy Tiger, Tranquil Tiger, Tame Tiger
Tolerant Termite
Tender Toad
Tyrannical Tyrannosaurus Rex
14.10 (#U)
Maybe we could find and Unhorned Unicorn for 14.10 (that would be a horse, wouldn't it?)
How about Ubiquitous Urchin?
Unbounded Unicorn
14.10: Ultra Urchin
15.04 (#V)
Would a Vicious Vixen be too much for 15.04?
Vivid Viceroy - A brightly-colored butterfly
Valiant Veery - A songbird
15.04 Vital Vixen A female fox, it could marry the Firefox logo
15.10 (#W)
Suggestion for 15.10 : Whacky Worm.
Wonderful Wallaroo - A moderate sized kangaroo, sort of in between a Kangaroo and a Wallaby
Witty Woodpecker Witty Wildebeest
Wascally Wabbit
Wild Wolf - Generic but beast.
Wandering Wolverine - A powerful animal that does it's own thing aside from big corporations.
Wily Wombat
Wandering Wombat
Wondrous Wombat
Wiggly Wallaby
16.04 (#X)
Xenial Xebu
Xenial Xema
Xenial Xenops
Xintillating Xenomorph
Xenophobic Xenopus
16.10 (#Y)
Yakkity Yak is fun... but maybe Nickelodeon would sue us...
Yellow Yeti
17.04 (#Z)
And what will be then after 17.04 codenamed with Zarthy Zorthy
If Xenial Xebu doesn't do for 16.04, then maybe Zealous Zebu might pass for 17.04
Zippy Zorro
Zany Zebra
17.10 (#A)
Maybe we could start doubling the initial like in Aalenian Aal or Aalenian Aardvark
18.04 (#B)
Potentially 18.04: Ballsy Baboon Or... Busy Beaver (A Busy Beaver means a Turing machine that attains the maximum "operational busyness").
18.10 (#C)
Chocolate Chapulín. Or... Chapulín Colorado (no contaban con mi astucia)... Chillin Chinchilla... Cheerful Cheetah. Cheesy Chicken 19.04 (#D) 19.04: Drowsy Donkey
19.10 (#E)
We'll have to skip non-vowels to do this: Eely Eel is kinda exaggerated
List of Adjectives and Animals
A |
|
Able |
Aardvark |
B |
|
Ballsy |
Baboon |
C |
|
Calculating |
Camel |
D |
|
Dapper |
Deer |
E |
|
Eager |
Eagle |
F |
|
Fair |
Falcon |
G |
|
Gaia |
Galah |
H |
|
Happy |
Hamster |
I |
|
Interstellar |
Ibex |
J |
|
Jabbering |
|
K |
|
Katie |
Kittie |
L |
|
Lampooning |
Labrador |
M |
|
Macular |
Macaque |
N |
|
Nano |
Naiad |
O |
|
Obedient |
Ocelot |
P |
|
Acidic (PH, get it?) |
Pegasus |
Q |
|
Quaint |
Quagga |
R |
|
Rabid |
Rabbit |
S |
|
Sage |
Sabretooth |
T |
|
Tabby |
Tahr |
U |
|
Ubuntu |
Uakari |
V |
|
Valiant |
Velociraptor |
W |
|
Wandering |
Wallaby |
X |
|
Xanthic |
Xebu |
Y |
|
Yakkity |
Yaffle |
Z |
|
Zany |
Zealot |