Ubuntu’s next release: Karmic Koala

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From the great minds that brought us the Hoary Hedgehog, Intrepid Ibex,Dapper Drake and Jaunty Jackalope comes the next wacky name for an Ubuntu Linux release: Karmic Koala.

Ubuntu has always had wacky names and Karmic Koala continues the tradition. The official release name is Ubuntu 9.10 meaning a October 2009 release – the next Ubuntu release will be Jaunty in April.

Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth has already given some indictation of what he wants the Koala to achieve and once again he’s aiming high.

As high as the clouds in fact.

“A good Koala knows how to see the wood for the trees, even when her head
is in the clouds,” Shuttleworth wrote in a mailing list posting. “Ubuntu aims to keep free software at the forefront of
cloud computing by embracing the API’s of Amazon EC2, and making it easy
for anybody to setup their own cloud using entirely open tools.”

Yup you read that right. Ubuntu is workin on cloud stuff including the development of a build your own cloud technology called Eucalyptus.

Shuttleworth is also aiming to further improve the Linux desktop experience with Koala:

The
goal for Jaunty on a netbook is 25 seconds, so let’s see how much faster
we can get you all the way to a Koala desktop. We’re also hoping to
deliver a new login experience that complements the graphical boot, and
works well for small groups as well as very large installations.

One this is for sure from where I sit – amongst all the names that Ubuntu has ever had, the Koala is likely the first one that will inspire a degree of ‘cuteness’. After all have you ever seen a cute Hedgehog, Drake, Ibex or Jackelope?