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So according to the dictionary, hirsute means hairy.

I know Ubuntu releases match the first letter of an adjective and a noun (that is an animal).

But, hairy, which hirsute appears to mean, would also work, because it also starts with the same letter as hippo.

Look:

H irsute

H airy

H ippo

It could work!

Why the more obscure term? Are they trying to confuse us? Are they pretending to be posh? Who is Ubuntu's main audience? Academics? Librarians? Linguists?

I wonder what the next LTS (and the next after that one) will be called. I hope nothing cringy or scandalous.

Levente
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    Yes, I think "hirsute" is posh. What wrong with being posh? It's just a name (actually an adjective) for a short lived release. English is not my native language and I've no problems with it. – ChanganAuto Apr 25 '21 at 19:20
  • I hoped it did not need clarifying but I also don't have problems with it :) – Levente Apr 25 '21 at 19:21
  • Also, what kind of animal is a Fossa? Have you ever heard about it before?! No? Me neither! I think they could have easily made it up. Perhaps nothing else rhymed with Focal... – Levente Apr 25 '21 at 19:26
  • I personally would have nothing against Focal Seagull, even if the first letters don't match. – Levente Apr 25 '21 at 19:32
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    Yes, I must recognize I've learnt about "Fossa" with Ubuntu but not ashamed. It seems to be so infrequent that I bet the vast majority of native English speakers isn't familiar with it. – ChanganAuto Apr 25 '21 at 19:34
  • +1 for not being ashamed – Levente Apr 25 '21 at 19:35
  • How is this question within the scope of our site? We're not Ubuntu devs, and the entire question and comments seems to be a rant about Ubuntu's naming convention – not my real name Apr 25 '21 at 19:44
  • I’m voting to close this question because it has nothing to do with Ask Ubuntu or Ubuntu other than 'clarifying the namings'. Names are chosen by Mark Shuttleworth, it is beyond the knowledge of anyone why it was chosen. – Thomas Ward Apr 25 '21 at 20:09
  • @ThomasWard "Names are chosen by Mark Shuttleworth" — that's already an information I did not even expect to learn! "it is beyond the knowledge of anyone why it was chosen" — I think there is a potential that there is a product management team who evaluate various choices based on who knows what benchmarks... It could be interesting to gain insight into it... – Levente Apr 25 '21 at 20:14
  • @Levente Canonical is the "Self-Appointed Benevolent Dictator For LIfe" - SABDFL. SABDFL makes these decisions officially. Nobody has any insight into why he chooses the words or names. So inquiring on those is technically outside the scope of this site. And he does not have to justify it. – Thomas Ward Apr 25 '21 at 20:21
  • Punctual Penguin – Levente Apr 25 '21 at 20:30

1 Answers1

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It's called "Hirsute" because the fellow who gets to name the releases chose that word.

Nothing more, nothing less.

There are lots of assorted suggestions for Ubuntu release names. Sometimes he listens to others. Sometimes he goes his own way. It's entirely his decision.

user535733
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