Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth announced on Tuesday that Ubuntu 10.04, the next major version of the popular Linux distribution, will be called Lascivious Liger Lucid Lynx. This version is highly significant because it will be offered with long-term support (LTS).

This means that security updates will be available for five years for servers and three years for desktops. Regular Ubuntu releases are only supported for eighteen months. Shuttleworth introduced the LTS concept in 2006 with the release of Dapper Drake. The enhanced stability and longer lifecycle of LTS releases make them appealing to hardware makers organizations that are rolling out large Ubuntu deployments. The last LTS version was 8.04, codenamed Hardy Heron, which was released in 2008.

As some readers may recall, we were a bit disappointed with Hardy Heron because it fell short of the level of robustness that we expected from an LTS release. The timing was particularly bad because it was released during the middle of some rough architectural transitions, like the introduction of PulseAudio.

There could be similar problems with 10.04 as it aligns roughly with the scheduled release of GNOME 3, a major new version of the desktop environment used by Ubuntu. If the new experimental GNOME Shell is introduced at that time, it seems unlikely that the Ubuntu developers will be willing to include it in an LTS release.

In his official announcement, Shuttleworth confirms that the developers intend to be more conservative with the LTS release and will also put a stronger focus on testing and bugfixing. The first alpha release is scheduled to arrive in December and there will be beta releases in March and April. The official release is planned for April 29.

"Lucid will continue our tradition of focusing an LTS on a quality, stable and consistent experience and will require a number of adjustments to the usual plan," he wrote. "Our focus will be stabilisation and bug-fixing across the platform with additional refinements in quality in key areas such as user interface improvements, boot experience, browsing and installing the incredible catalogue of software available for Ubuntu, and continuing our tradition of best-of-breed hardware support."

Consistent with the focus on stability, the announcement doesn't include a long list of planned features. The one major goal that he discusses in the message is performance improvement, particularly in the area of startup time. Earlier this year, Canonical set a goal of achieving ten-second startup for the 10.04 release. They have already taken the first major steps towards achieving that goal in the upcoming Karmic Koala release which boots in 22 seconds on my laptop and in only five seconds on a computer with a solid state drive.

Shuttleworth's announcement explains how the new codename, Lucid Lynx, is an apt mascot for the 10.04 release. The Lynx is "the bow-tie-adorned James Bond of the feline set, so you can bet we'll make sure it's dressed for the occasion," he says. He also notes that a lynx is fast, slim, and predatory. The chosen name was a disappointment here in the orbiting HQ. It seems a bit cliche and practically invites accusations of ripping off Apple's big cat theme. I prefer "Lugubrious Lice" and managing editor Eric Bangeman suggested "Lusty Llama". As usual, we invite you to propose your own alternative codenames in the discussion thread.

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