On the subject of naming the Dapper successor

[John Pinner]

Etienne Goyer wrote:
> All this talk about Dapper+1 make me think ... should'nt it be called
> Dapper++ instead ?  Or is it just a little too geeky for Ubuntu' target
> audience ?
> 

<ignoring all other responses as I don't want to upset individuals, just
possibly the group!>

Having lurked at the outer edges of this list, I thought it time to
intrude on the matter of naming future releases. Why? I think that the
Ubuntu community needs to consider whether it wishes to be taken
seriously outside the GNU/Linux world.

Mark says that people will refer to the releases by their number, eg
5.10. This is true of, for example, Red Hat/Fedora where the code names
are relatively obscure, but Ubuntu has feisty codes like 'Breezy Badger'
which slip off the tongue easily and mean something to those involved,
sort of a private joke.

So if the code name is catchy, that's what will be used, and that's OK
within our own community.

But you try selling outside the FLOSS world, as I do. '5.10' is a
quality product, maybe better even than people working on it realise,
and I'm sure the following releases will be better still. None of this
matters if you're selling to the corporate IT world (after all they use
other, inferior OS's). They go on what gives them 'a warm feeling' of
confidence and they won't take names like 'Breezy Badger' or 'Hoary
Hedgehog' seriously. Just try standing up in front of a bunch of suits
and selling a product with a name like that.

What I'm saying is that it's time to consider the outside world, and
where better to start than the name. So here's a constructive suggestion.

* Mark says that after Drake, he wants to follow in alphabetical order,
ie E,F.G,H, etc.

* Ubuntu has strong African connections, through its name, through its
ethos, as well as through its founder. So why not name each release
after African animals, with a twist:

	Elephant
	Flamingo
	Giraffe
	Hippopotamus

translated, the code names for these releases would be:

	Tembo
	? help me!
	Twiga
	Kiboko

and this also has the merit of getting a language other than English
used. So we get a release code which has meaning to those involved
directly, probably won't be used outside the community, and if it is
won't be thought of as being silly.

Just a thought..


John
-- 

John Pinner.
john at linuxemporium.co.uk
The Linux Emporium                      'Software for the Cognoscenti'
Bridge House, 17a Maybrook Road
Sutton Coldfield, B76 1AL. UK
Tel: +44 121 313 3857.  Fax: +44 121 313 3860