Ubuntu in 2010: 'Lucid Lynx'

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Ubuntu Linux founder Mark Shuttleworth has announced the name of 2010’s first Ubuntu release. Ubuntu 10.04 will be named the Lucid Lynx.

No I’ve never seen a drunk Lynx before myself, but then again it’s not like I see Lynx’s on a regular basis either.

Shuttleworth made the announcement via webcast (now posted on YouTube), to the Atlanta Linux Fest which occurred over the weekend. During the announcement, he also explained the rationale for the name and why it will be lead to a sweet smell.

“Coming up with a name for a distribution is a wonderful challenge and a
wonderful art form,” Shuttleworth said. “Ubuntu 10.04 will be the Lucid Lynx which is a name
that I think brings together all of the key characteristics that we’re
striving for in our next LTS.
To be Lucid means to be very clear and focused on the important points.”

As far as the Lynx part goes, Shuttleworth noted that the Lynx is a predator but it’s a very thoughtful and considered
predator that is focused on finding the right target opportunity at the
right time.

So what about the smell part? That’s where some Shuttleworth humor comes into play.

“Lynx is also well known as a global brand of deodorant so this years’ Ubuntu developer summit is going to be the sweetest smelling Ubuntu developer summit ever,” Shuttleworth said. “Despite the fact that’s it’s happening in Dallas.”

The Lucid Lynx will be an LTS (Long Term Support Release), which
is kinda/sorta Ubuntu’s version of an enterprise release since it
carries longer support. Ubuntu LTS releases come out every two years.

Shuttleworth commented that Ubuntu developers have done some good
behind the scenes co-ordination with Debian, which is the most important
distribution to Ubuntu. On the desktop side. he said the the Lucid Lynx
would include the best of the GNOME 2.x desktop. On server side, Ubuntu
will continue to ush large scale infrastructure components.

Before
10.04, there is still Ubuntu 9.10 the Karmic Koala.

The Koala which is
one of Ubuntu’s regular releases (that come out every six months) is scheduled for release on October
29th. The big new items for Koala will be integrated cloud computing
elements as well as a new Ubuntu App Store which aims to consolidate
all the different mechanisms by which a user can add new software.

Article courtesy of InternetNews.com.