The next version of Canonical's Linux, Ubuntu 9.04, will have to put up with the somewhat silly name Jaunty Jackalope.

Ubuntu names each release after an animal, but they are starting to get so obscure that this one will have people rushing to Wackypedia to find out what Jackalope is.

Apparently it is a rabbit with a tendency to like fighting.  Ubuntu'sMark Shuttleworth said that when it comes out it will mount a serious challenge to Microsoft and Apple.

In a press statement, Shuttleworth said that the Warrior Rabbit is "our talisman" as we move into a year where we can reasonably expect Ubuntu to ship on several million devices. Jaunty Jackalope promises faster boot times and general performance and a blurring of Web services and desktop applications.

Details of Jaunty will be hammered out at the Ubuntu Developer Summit, to be held at Google's Mountain View, California campus from 8-12 December this year.