Ubuntu Linux Sets Its Sights on the Future with ‘Intrepid Ibex’
The next release of Ubuntu is slated to arrive in April, but already the developers are making plans for the future of the popular Linux distribution.
Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical, which makes the Ubuntu Linux distribution, has announced the next version of Ubuntu — nicknamed Intrepid Ibex and set to arrive in October 2008 — will focus on mobile connectivity and improved performance on high-end systems.
In an e-mail to the Ubuntu mailing list, Shuttleworth outlines some general goals such as “re-engineer[ing] the user interaction model so that Ubuntu works as well on a high-end workstation as it does on a feisty little subnotebook.”
Shuttleworth also says part of the focus for Ubuntu 8.10 will be providing “pervasive Internet access, the ability to tap into bandwidth whenever and wherever you happen to be.”
Details about how Canonical and the Ubuntu developers plan to implement these goals will be hammered out at the Ubuntu Developer Summit happening in Prague during the third week of May 2008.
No word on whether Intrepid Ibex will work in some of the things slated for version 8.04, but later removed — like the revamped default Ubuntu Desktop theme.
Intrepid Ibex will follow in the footsteps of Hardy Heron, which is set to arrive in April 2008. The Heron release, officially version 8.04, is a long term support (LTS) release, whereas Ibex (very likely version 8.10) is not.
Canonical releases new versions of Ubuntu every six months — most are supported for 18 months, but LTS releases offer bug fixes and commercial support for three years on the desktop and five years on the server version.
For the curious, an Ibex is a mountain goat notable for its large horns (see pic above).
[Photo taken from Wikipedia]
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