4.4.5. Names Vs Numbers¶
Numbers can bet incremental in nature. And they help in many future-proof ways to use these numbers to track and organize contents.
Numbering is a good strategy indeed for versions, but it has a pitfall. The numbers can become confusing, especially if they are very similar to each other. E.g. Version 3.13.3, 3.30.3 may sound very similar to each other depending on how a person pronounces 13 and 30. Also, 31.13.13 and 31.31.13 look very similar to each other, especially when you see them in huge your log files. But practically they are very much apart from each other.
So one strategy could be to name those versions, similar to the way it is done by many other products.
4.4.5.1. Debian Releases¶
See for example Debian releases from https://www.debian.org/releases/.
Each version also has a name associated with it. When the system boots up, or when you read log files/system logs/updates, it is easy to see these names in logs. When you maintain 100s (if not 1000s) of such Operating instances, it would be every easy to notice which version tree each instance is.
Version | Name |
|---|---|
Debian Next | trixie |
Debian 12 | bookworm |
Debian 11 | bullseye |
Debian 10 | buster |
Debian 9 | stretch |
Debian 8 | jessie |
Debian 7 | wheezy |
Debian 6.0 | squeeze |
Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 | lenny |
Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 | etch |
Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 | sarge |
Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 | woody |
Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 | potato |
Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 | slink |
Debian GNU/Linux 2.0 | hamm |
4.4.5.2. Ubuntu Releases¶
Ubuntu takes it few step further. It not only gives names to the numbered release, but it also numbers them based on the year and month of major release. See the very interesting pattern here, all the releases name have alphabetical names associated with them. And the major/minor versions are based on Year and Month they are released. e.g. 21.10 Impish Indri was released in 2021 October.
See the list of releases of Ubuntu from https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases. (This is shown in ascending order to visibly see the alphabetical order)
Number | Code Name |
|---|---|
Ubuntu 5.10 | Breezy Badger |
Ubuntu 6.06 (LTS) | Dapper Drake |
Ubuntu 6.10 | Edgy Eft |
Ubuntu 7.04 | Feisty Fawn |
Ubuntu 7.10 | Gutsy Gibbon |
Ubuntu 8.04 (LTS) | Hardy Heron |
Ubuntu 8.10 | Intrepid Ibex |
Ubuntu 9.04 | Jaunty Jackalope |
Ubuntu 9.10 | Karmic Koala |
Ubuntu 10.04 (LTS) | Lucid Lynx |
Ubuntu 10.10 | Maverick Meerkat |
Ubuntu 11.04 | Natty Narwhal |
Ubuntu 11.10 | Oneiric Ocelot |
Ubuntu 12.04 (LTS) | Precise Pangolin |
Ubuntu 12.10 | Quantal Quetzal |
Ubuntu 13.04 | Raring Ringtail |
Ubuntu 13.10 | Saucy Salamander |
Ubuntu 14.04 (LTS) | Trusty Tahr |
Ubuntu 14.10 | Utopic Unicorn |
Ubuntu 15.04 | Vivid Vervet |
Ubuntu 15.10 | Wily Werewolf |
Ubuntu 16.04 (LTS) | Xenial Xerus |
Ubuntu 16.10 | Yakkety Yak |
Ubuntu 17.04 | Zesty Zapus |
Ubuntu 17.10 | Artful Aardvark |
Ubuntu 18.04 (LTS) | Bionic Beaver |
Ubuntu 18.10 | Cosmic Cuttlefish |
Ubuntu 19.04 | Disco Dingo |
Ubuntu 19.10 | Eoan Ermine |
Ubuntu 20.04 (LTS) | Focal Fossa |
Ubuntu 20.10 | Groovy Gorilla |
Ubuntu 21.04 | Hirsute Hippo |
Ubuntu 21.10 | Impish Indri |
Ubuntu 22.04 | Jammy Jellyfish |
Ubuntu 22.10 | Kinetic Kudu |
Ubuntu 23.04 | Lunar Lobster |
Ubuntu 23.10 | Mantic Minotaur |
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | Noble Numbat |
Ubuntu 24.10 | Oracular Oriole |
A similar pattern can also be seen in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history but not included in this book.