Red Hat Distro Code-Naming Scheme?

mozart in mirrorshades asks: "Okay, I know that there is a naming convention that is used by RedHat for the distro code-names. I asked some Redhat guys at the Atlanta Linux Showcase (hey Rob!) how the names were linked and they refused to tell me. Apparently there's a link between each pair of names (eg: Cartman(RH6.1) and Lorax(RH6.2?) are both cartoon characters?). Could someone please shed some light on this so I can put an end to my quest?"

Comments

history

[cabbey]

6.1 = cartman
6.0 = hedwig
5.2 = apollo
5.1 = manhattan
5.0 = hurricane
4.2 = biltmore
4.1 = vanderbilt
4.0 = colgate
(not too sure about the number for these last two)
3.1? = the holloween release
3.0? = the mothers' day release

these seem to have a pattern within a release... 6.x are cartoon figures (Marc Ewing is marc@elmer-fudd.redhat.com and marc@tweety.redhat.com)
5.x were WWII fighter planes (Elliot Lee is sopwith@redhat.com) (also drinks)
4.x were industrialists? (also universities)
3.x were holidays

I'm sure there are more patterns not only in here, but also in the mapping of beta name to release name.

Re:history

[The Iconoclast]

You forgot 5.9 = Starbuck. Starbuck and Apollo were buddies in Battlestar Gallactica!!! Woo Hoo!!

Re:history

[dhackett]

I'm not sure about the rationales for the other
names, but RHL 6.0's distribution, named Hedwig
is named after Harry Potter's owl (his "familiar")
in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone",
which is presently sitting at #3 on the New York
Times best seller list. I know because I'm reading it to my 8-year old, and I'm adminstering
a web site for the Dawson College Computer Science
Department that runs RHL 6.0 on a server called
obelix.dawsoncollege.qc.ca, named after the character Obelix in the Asterix series by Goscinny
and Uderzo (very popular in French-speaking
Quebec).

Re:history

[ShadowDragon]

Right.. I remember asking a friend inside Redhat where exactly 5.9 was hidden and he told me /starbuck and then we got on the topic of the names.. first I though coffee... ;) then he mentioned that 5.x releases were in reference to stuff in Battlestar Gallactica

Re:history

[EricWright]

Heard a rumor that both Lorax and Cartman are names of Word macro viruses...

Also, Vandy isn't a women's college (see http://www.vanderbilt/edu/facts ). It's nearly 50-50 male/female.

Re:history

[whuppy]

lorax->cartman=cartman bulldozed the rainforest
manhattan->apollo=two gargantuan projects: the Bomb and the moon shot
hurricane->manhattan=I dunno, the British WW2 fighter and the Bomb? I doubt it . . .

(Are we sure Hedwig isn't a reference to Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a "rock musical"?)

BTW, if you like this sort of puzzle, the Onion's "Cultural Idiocy" quiz may be right up your alley.

Re:history

[dgreene423]

Vanderbilt is a co-ed private university in Nashville, TN. Biltmore Estate is the name of a Vanderbilt family home (castle is more like it) in Ashville, NC. That's the link between those two.

Re:history

[James Youngman]

There was also Rembrandt. Your numbering of the early versions should also include 3.0.3 and 2.1.

I can't spot a name for version 2.1 ("Red hat Commercial Linux").

Re:history

[rodman]

loed asterix and obelix, not sure if its german based, but i got a dearth of the books when i was in germany 7 yrs ago-my host family lived near a book factory, and the father of the family worked there, so i got many for free....very good, fun book-even made video game based on it

Re:history

[rodman]

colgate is also a coed school for proof-nba center adonal foyl graduated from colgate

Re:history

[Sesse]

If you like Asterix, there are multiple full-length movies (drawn) about them, and there's even a `real-life' version. Not sure in which countries they exist.

Of course, this is very off-topic anyway... (But what about Debian?)

/* Steinar */

Re:Lorax (a bit offtopic)

[Jimithing DMB]

Environmentalism and Dr. Seuss are not distinct themes.

The Lorax was a Dr. Seuss character who builds a factory that makes something out of some type of plant. The Lorax eventually exhausts the natural resources (the plant) and emits too much smog, etc.

It is a very good story, you should (re)read it sometime. One of my professors read it in class to show an example of allegory.

If you are interested in similar stories, you can try something like Gulliver's Travels (wonder if Yahoo got its name from the book, or if they just didn't spell "Yee-haw" correctly).

dave.

Connection!

[jesdynf]

So, the question is, what is the connection between cartoons, fighter planes, industrialists, and holidays?

I'd have to say Snoopy. Or maybe Mel Blanc.

You are right

[Jimithing DMB]

Yeah, you are right, thanks. Been like a year since I was in that english class.

Imagine.. an AC who knows stuff ;)
Thanks again,
Dave.

Yahoo!

[Ender_Stonebender]

Yahoo stands for "Yet Another Highly Overrated Oracle." Or so a friend of mine claims, at least.

-Ender

Re:Yahoo!

[osu-neko]

Hehe! Cute.

For the record, it's "Yet Another Hierarchically Organized Oracle".

--

Re:Picasso, Rembrandt = painters

[Ghengis]

Hypocrite. Talk of saving time whilst wasting it doing the same thing you were complaining about...

What we've come to so far

[meni]

O.K, so to sum things up, the versions of RedHat are:
6.2 = lorax
6.1 = cartman
6.0 = hedwig
5.9 = starbuck
5.2 = apollo
5.1 = manhattan
5.0 = hurricane
4.2 = biltmore
4.1 = vanderbilt
4.0 = colgate

And the connections we've come to so far are:
4.0 -> 4.1 - Colgate, Vanderbilt = Womens' colleges
4.1 -> 4.2 - Vanderbilt, Biltmore = Famous hotels in NY
4.2 -> 5.0 - Biltmore, Hurricane = (?)
5.0 -> 5.1 - Hurricane, Manhattan = Alcoholic beverages
5.1 -> 5.2 - Manhattan, Apollo = The two projects: the a-bomb and the moon landing
5.2 -> 5.9 - Apollo, Starbuck = Battlestar Galactica characters
5.9 -> 6.0 - Starbuck, Hedwig = Figure skating champions
6.0 -> 6.2 - Hedwig, Lorax = Dr. Seuss characters
6.1 -> 6.2 - Cartman, Lorax = The cartoon connection?

Re:What we've come to so far

[James Youngman]

I thought that Vanderbilt and Biltmore were both large houses in New England...

Re:What we've come to so far

[anj]

The Biltmore is a mansion in western North Carolina (not too far from RH's offices). It's been used as a setting for a lot of "rich houses" in movies... the last I recall is "Richie Rich".

Biltmore

[neric]

The Biltmore is also one of the best and most famous resorts in located in Phoenix. There are also some not so famous Biltmore hotels, not part of the orignal Biltmore chain and not nearly as nice.

Moby Dick (anti-trancendentalism)

[Diggety_Dank]

Wasn't starbuck a character in moby dick?

Re:Lorax (a bit offtopic)

[OrigamiSlayer]

Onceler (sp?) was the one making factories to make Thneeds. The Lorax tried to stop him and save the enviornment. This is the book they banned (or tried to) in logging communities because kids were coming home and telling daddy to stop killing trees.

Lorax book
Lorax video

Origami Slayer

Cartman Lorax

[jakari]

Well, one of Cartman's catch phrases is/was:
"It's all a bunch of tree-hugging hippie crap!"

And the Lorax's line was:
"I am the Lorax; I speak for the trees."

Hmm.

good one

[whuppy]

Too many martinis on my part.