Today, the beta version of Ubuntu 9.10 will be released to public, and then at the end of this month the final version will be officially released. About one week ago, in a recorded video for UbuCon 2009, Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of the Ubuntu project announced the code name of the next version of Ubuntu: Lucid Lynx. It will be a LTS (Long Term Support) release and will focus on speed, stability, quality, and other prospectives.

The reason to choose Lynx other than other animals is described as follows according to Ubuntu newsletter:

The Lynx is a predator that depends on very considered tactical positioning for success. It’s a small cat, which fits nicely with the lean nature of Ubuntu on both the desktop and the server. It’s stylish and sleek, the bow-tie-adorned James Bond of the feline set, so you can bet we’ll make sure it’s dressed for the occasion. The lynx likes to keep things in perspective, sticking to high ground. So do we. And it’s the national animal of Macedonia, a country that has deployed tens of thousands of Ubuntu desktops in schools.

Speed is an essential ingredient in the attack of a lynx, and speed remains our goal. We have improved the boot time in each of the releases during this era of Ubuntu, and expect to complete some of the major improvements required for 10 second booting with Lucid. Fully harnessing Upstart, in collaboration with Debian, will get us even closer to the goal.

For more information about the announcement, check here.

To see the detailed schedule of Lucid Lynx development, check here.