Why are so many using Ubuntu codenames?

[christianxxx]

As many others, I find the codenames easier to use, the numbering scheme can be a little difficult at first.
And English is NOT my first language, but that's no problem. I have a very good friend called Merriam-Webster.

[matthew]

Hopefully in time the (silly) names will be dropped.

The silly names won't be dropped. For developers and such, they are useful and fun.

For use in support threads and so on, I prefer and recommend using the numbers.

Each has its use.

[pbb]

In case you want to know the development code name of the version you are running, you can find it easily. In a default Ubuntu install, you can click System->About Ubuntu and it is written in the second paragraph or so.

But that doesn't help if you see another codename. Is that previous version (with a big chance the remarks will also apply to the current version), or is that a version of 2-3 years ago? It doesn't help the process of understanding if you have to look up the codenames...

Check it. They are both there, the name and the number. System->About Ubuntu. Mine says

I should have clarified myself better. Say I am using 8.04. I can find in the About menu, that this is also known as "Hardy Heron". Then I go on internet, trying to find a solution to a problem, and I find one that works for "Hoary", without mentioning a version number. Now, apart from the confusion from the very similar codename, I actually have to start another search to find out if "Hoary" is a recent release (making it very probable that the fix will work in "Hardy" also), or one from several years ago.

If they had just said "5.04" instead of "Hoary", I could have immediately moved on to see if I can find a more recent fix.

If I wasn't going to call OS's by codenames, I would call Vista "Windows 6", though if it was service pack 1 I guess I'd call it "Windows 6.1"

The big difference is that Microsoft itself uses the codenames also!

A better parallel with Windows would be, if the community would keep on using the name "Whistler" instead of "XP". Don't you think that would confuse newbies very much? There is nothing in XP that still uses the Whistler name, just as there is hardly anything in Ubuntu 8.04 that references the Hardy name. (Except for the About menu, see my above reply.)

I would have no idea of what x.y.z of say, firefox I'm using until I look it up each and every time, and would probably totally get lost if I started referring to Ubuntu versions by their number

On the other hand, I have to look up the codename of my Ubuntu release. I know I installed it this year, so it is version 8.x, but there is no logic that can stick in my mind to help me remember it is "Hardy".

(and the names ARE logically ordered, higher in alphabet= more recent, eeeeeeeasy)

Haaaaa! Thank you very much, I did not realize that! Wow that really is a revelation to me.

However, I don't think there are many newbies that are aware of this. It would help many of us if this information was more prominently published. For example, the FAQ (the only official Canonical document that I know of, that talks about the codenames) does not mention this system.

Also, they tickle me pink and I wish the mascots were more visible in the desktop environment or something...

Very good suggestion! Now that would actually really help a lot.

If all Ubuntu releases would have their respective mascot as the default background, then I would be very easy to see what version anybody is using, even for newbies. And then also using that mascot on the website, would increase understanding even more.

Which is why I think the traditional numbering scheme should be dropped and switched to 1/2/3, etc.

It's too late for that now. Plus some people tend to do that anyway. I've seen a fair few newcomers refer to Ubuntu 8.

I am very sure that newcomers refer to Ubuntu 8 because it is the 8.x version, not because it is the 8th release!

I sometimes refer to it as Hardy Heron .

I think that "Hoary" and "Hardy" are already very suggestive names. (Not words I would want to use towards my boss when talking about implementing Ubuntu )

You know that it will be hard to find the codenames there, the link [to ubuntu.org] you provide is from UBUNTU - WORLD FORUM OF CIVIL SOCIETY NETWORKS, and not the Linux Distribution

Whoooops!

But still, you won't find the names on ubuntu.com either, if you are not searching for them...

It will be interesting to see what people will call the next release.
I mean it's easy to say - 'I'm on Hardy' or 'I'm on Gutsy', but 'I'm on Interpid'? Huh? That sounds weird and it's weird to type. They should've sticked with the shorter adjective, like Mighty Moron or something

I feel the same way, these obscure names are far too geeky. If they have to use names, why can't they use common English words, like Dolphin, Eagle, Flamingo, Giraffe. Now those are words that the average non-English non-freak has heard about, and that is also the way Apple does it.

Closing of, let me quote the Ubuntu FAQ, as written by Canonical:

The official way to refer to a released version of Ubuntu is by the number, not the name. Thus the current version [at the last time the FAQ was updated] of Ubuntu is 7.04, not Feisty Fawn.

[Paqman]

Take a look at the Ubuntu Homepage. Do you see any of these codenames there? NO! Go ahead, browse around -- you won't find them unless you really search for them!

Wikipedia's page about Ubuntu

Maybe they should be on the Ubuntu site somewhere, though. I find the version numbers dry and boring. I don't think it's that confusing. If people can understand that Vista = latest Windows, they can probably take in the info that Hardy = latest Ubuntu.

The alphabet isn't exactly a secret code, either.

[Saint Angeles]

some people like to make big deals about things... i think it has something to do with them making themselves known on the internet. like, their 15 minutes of fame or something.

if "hardy" is too difficult to understand, then maybe its not for you.if you spend a couple days on ubuntuforums, you will see that 8.04=hardy heron and then the confusion is gone.

8.04=hardy heron

8.04=hardy heron

there! now its obvious and this discussion is over!

[K.Mandla]

Rant moved to Recurring Discussions.

[karellen]

I think it makes Ubuntu less geeky: instead of 7.10, 8.04, they are Gusty and Hardy

Gutsy

[pbb]

Take a look at the Ubuntu Homepage. Do you see any of these codenames there? NO! Go ahead, browse around -- you won't find them unless you really search for them!

Wikipedia's page about Ubuntu

I have never said the codenames cannot be found. I am saying one has to search for them. And I regard going to Wikipedia to find information, as searching.

Maybe they should be on the Ubuntu site somewhere, though.

Not likely. Let me repeat Canonical's official standpoint:

The official way to refer to a released version of Ubuntu is by the number, not the name. Thus the current version of Ubuntu [at the time of writing] is 7.04, not Feisty Fawn.

If people can understand that Vista = latest Windows, they can probably take in the info that Hardy = latest Ubuntu.

Again, that is no problem because Microsoft also uses the Vista name! Canonical (and that is the ones you deal with when you start using Ubuntu) don't use the codenames after the beta period.

The parallel Vista and Hardy is wrong. If you want to compare it to Windows, then it's about using Whistler for what Microsoft calls XP.

The alphabet isn't exactly a secret code, either.

No, and the alphabet is in official use. Compare it to people insisting on using Chinese numerals in Western discussions. Sure, the in-crownd knows them, and there are enough resources on internet to learn them, but you willingly make things harder for outsiders.

some people like to make big deals about things... i think it has something to do with them making themselves known on the internet. like, their 15 minutes of fame or something.

...And some people like to make personal remarks about people they don't agree with.

I am not interested in fame. What I want is to help make Ubuntu more accessible to newcomers.

if "hardy" is too difficult to understand, then maybe its not for you.if you spend a couple days on ubuntuforums, you will see that 8.04=hardy heron and then the confusion is gone.

If Hardy was the only codename used, then your argument would have been valid. But searching around the internet trying to find solutions to problems, you keep on running into documents for Edgy, Hoary, Gutsy, Breezy, etc, and every time you have to perform again another search to figure out how long ago that version was, to see if there is any point in studying the document.

[SunnyRabbiera]

To me I like the Ubuntu naming scheme, its much better then calling it Ubuntu version XXX, Ubuntu year number. It is more fluid and not boring.

[freebeer]

freebeer: You are not alone. I suffer from the same affliction, and I suspect many other people do also.

Winthrop, eh? Hi neighbor! (I'm just north of you.) Maybe it's an east coast thing?