Will Ubuntu 25.10 be codenamed the Quizzical Quokka?
It’s an adjective + animal moniker Canonical’s marketing team tersely tweeted today—sans context—but as today is April 1 (aka April’s Fools Day, aka the day when companies, teams, and unpaid marketing interns spam the web with try-hard lolslop)… I’m questioning it.
Ubuntu 25.10 could well be a Quizzical Quokka, but it also may not be — and if it isn’t, should it?
The ‘Quizzical’ element is a playful if slightly odd adjective to roll with. It means confused, baffled, perplexed – terms that don’t describe a dependable operating system like Ubuntu particularly well!
Quizzical is often used to imply ‘curious amusement’ – as it’s April 1, jape day du jour, is it a clue this is not the actual codename — or proof I read far too much into things?
A Quokka is a small short-tailed wallaby with a short face, round ears, and tree-climbing abilities, native to Western Australia. It’s certainly cute, and it’s not a bird—having had a pair of avians on the bounce, that’s a welcome move—so an excellent choice.
We’re decades out of the era when an Ubuntu codename carried deep significance related to the aims, goals or contents of the release itself—e.g., ‘Hardy Heron’ was ‘Hardy’ because it was an LTS, and like a heron, included features aimed at helping the OS stand tall.
For now, it remains to be seen if Ubuntu 25.10 is named Quizzical Quokka, or whether this is someone at Canonicalol having a wheeze winding up Ubuntu users.
If it is the codename does it leave your thirst for cool codenames quenched, or leave you questioning what the folks at Ubuntu are drinking? Let me know in the comments!
Image credit: Christine Mendoza