Tidbit: Apple naming Leopard point release after ancient gods

[AppleInsider]

It's well known that Apple brands major versions of its Mac OS X operating system with code-names corresponding to big cats, but the company also uses similar naming conventions internally for its maintenance releases, such as those for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard bear the names of ancient gods.

For example, back during the Mac OS X 10.5.7 beta test in March, AppleInsider reported that the point release was being referenced in some internal circles as "Juno" or project Juno.

The precise significance of this code-name was unclear, though cursory checks suggested that Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard point releases may have been following naming conventions tied to Roman goddesses or the names of asteroids.

With Mac OS X 10.5.7 having since been released, Apple recently began distributing to developers the first builds of Mac OS X 10.5.8. People familiar with the its internal naming convention claim that it has adopted the "Loki" moniker, establishing a pattern that appears to indicate Leopard point release are adopting their nicknames from that of gods or goddesses in ancient mythology.

According to Wikipedia:

Juno was an ancient Roman goddess, the protector and special counselor of the state. She is a daughter of Saturn and sister (but also the wife) of the chief god Jupiter and the mother of Juventas, Mars, and Vulcan. Her Greek equivalent is Hera.

and

Loki is a god or jötunn (giant), or both, in Norse mythology. Loki's relation with the gods varies by source. Loki assists the gods, and sometimes causes problems for them. Loki is a shape shifter and in separate incidents he appears in the form of a salmon and a mare. Loki's positive relations with the gods ends with his role in engineering the death of the god Balder.

Obviously, AppleInsider publishes this information purely for interest's sake, as it has little material value. In related news, developers should see a new build of Mac OS X 10.5.8 to evaluate as early as this weekend.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[Virgil-TB2]

There is a tiny almost insignificant Saturnian satellite named Loki, but no asteroid as far as I am aware, so I vote for the idea they are using ancient Gods rather than asteroids (there is no Saturnian satellite named Juno).

[Fast Fred 1]

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

There is a tiny almost insignificant Saturnian satellite named Loki, but no asteroid as far as I am aware, so I vote for the idea they are using ancient Gods rather than asteroids (there is no Saturnian satellite named Juno).

Juno, I was thinkin we'll all be Loki if we get this update soon. It's becoming a pain in my asteroid.

[BuzDots]

Originally Posted by Fast Fred 1

Juno, I was thinkin we'll all be Loki if we get this update soon. It's becoming a pain in my asteroid.

Yeah, I bet Uranus is a little Thor too.

[noirdesir]

Dang, there goes the pregnant teenagers theory.

[mbessey]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

The precise significance of this code-name was unclear,

The whole point of code names is that they don't have any significance. That way, when an email leaks out that says "The Frobozz release will have support for the new Zapdoodle platform", it doesn't mean anything to anybody outside the company.

[stompy]

Originally Posted by mbessey

The whole point of code names is that they don't have any significance. That way, when an email leaks out that says "The Frobozz release will have support for the new Zapdoodle platform", it doesn't mean anything to anybody outside the company.

If you remove the last 3 words from your description, it would fit my company perfectly.

[MacTripper]

Yes but what will Apple call future releases of OS X or OS XI when they run out of cats?

Or will they start on house cats?

[Maestro64]

Besides internal code names for products which they have done since the very beginning, they also assign a different code name for the same product once it being release to beta and such for external third parties.

It was not unusually to have two or three code names for a product, this was done so third parties could not figure out which product was which. So juno may only refer to what was released external but has no reference to the overall product under maybe a different code name.

As par of apple's secrecy even internal people did not always know the external code names. Usually only a few people knew that information like the people responsible for beta and product seeding.

[Pooch]

Originally Posted by mbessey

The whole point of code names is that they don't have any significance. That way, when an email leaks out that says "The Frobozz release will have support for the new Zapdoodle platform", it doesn't mean anything to anybody outside the company.

yo mbessey ... this Frobozz release of which you speak. is this the release that's going to contain ZFS support? and the Zapdoodle platform is the replacement for my G5, right? that kind of ticks me off because they're dropping G5 support, forcing me to upgrade to Zapdoodle. i wonder if they'll give me last year's pricing on Zapdoodle.

do you have any more info?

[Quadra 610]

Originally Posted by Maestro64

Besides internal code names for products which they have done since the very beginning, they also assign a different code name for the same product once it being release to beta and such for external third parties.

Exactly.

I believe Leopard was "Build 10A380 OMGWTFPWNMOBILE!!11!!!1"

[macFanDave]

Originally Posted by noirdesir

Dang, there goes the pregnant teenagers theory.

I was on that track, too. I was looking forward to "Bristol" and "Jamie Lynne."

[MotherBrain]

Originally Posted by MacTripper

Yes but what will Apple call future releases of OS X or OS XI when they run out of cats?

Or will they start on house cats?

Mac OS X Tabby...

Actually, I heard they will be moving to canines next.

Mac OS X Jackal, Fox, Coyote, Raccoon Dog, etc.

[Maestro64]

Originally Posted by macFanDave

I was on that track, too. I was looking forward to "Bristol" and "Jamie Lynne."

Apple learned their less on that one..

The Original Power PC project names was Cold Fusion, Sagan and Piltdown. If you do not know what those had in common, the first and last were known as Scientific Hoaxes, Saga got put into that bucket because many did not think we was a real scientist, he was more interested in showing off what other discovered and making a name for himself as the other scientists were doing on the other hoaxes.

Anyway, somehow Carl Sagan found out and set Apple a ceases and decease order to stop using his name in reference to internal apple project name. As the story was told, it was not the fact they use his name, but it was associated with the other two project names.

Another piece of trivia on this, those original PPC projects were named after scientific hoaxes is because those original PC product were not real, all they did was pull out the 040 processor and stuck in the PPC so it never really took advantage of the PPC architecture

[anonymouse]

Originally Posted by MacTripper

Yes but what will Apple call future releases of OS X or OS XI when they run out of cats?

I suspect that the next version of Mac OS X will go from v10.6 to v11.0. It makes sense that after doing a major code cleanup, dropping PPC support, and optimizing performance they would begin working on a major new version from as solid a code foundation as possible.

I expect to see them go to code names based on muppets (there are rumors of a licensing deal) and I personally am looking forward to Mac OS X Fozzie.

[Jurassic]

"Loki's positive relations with the gods ends with his role in engineering the death of the god Balder."

Could "Balder" be a blend of "Bald" and "Ballmer"?

[johnwillo]

Originally Posted by MotherBrain

Mac OS X Tabby...

Actually, I heard they will be moving to canines next.

Mac OS X Jackal, Fox, Coyote, Raccoon Dog, etc.

Only after Mac OS X Mister Bigglesworth is released.

[johnwillo]

Originally Posted by Jurassic

"Loki's positive relations with the gods ends with his role in engineering the death of the god Balder."

Could "Balder" be a blend of "Bald" and "Ballmer"?

As Balder was the most handsome of the gods, I really doubt it.

[8CoreWhore]

wutever

[clix]

I heard somewhere that apple registered some bear names such as Kodiak, Grizzly, Polar Bear etc..
Bears name might be the mac OS Xl sequel theme animal names.

[brucep]

i am in teckstud training..

[zener42]

Originally Posted by johnwillo

Only after Mac OS X Mister Bigglesworth is released.

ROFL! I've killed him more times than I can count!

[nvidia2008]

Actually 10.5.8 is codenamed Kobol, I hear.

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by brucep

i am in teckstud training..

More offense needed!!!

[nite41]

Lion and Cougar are the two remaining big names in the Cat Family. So, I think we'll have to wait till OS X 10.8 for a new breed of names. Personally, I would prefer new generation of names to be on Space (like some Nebula, Aurora, Titan etc). Sounds cool yet elegant! Mac OS X Titan sounds awesome!!

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by nite41

Lion and Cougar are the two remaining big names in the Cat Family. So, I think we'll have to wait till OS X 10.8 for a new breed of names. Personally, I would prefer new generation of names to be on Space (like some Nebula, Aurora, Titan etc). Sounds cool yet elegant! Mac OS X Titan sounds awesome!!

Lynx is still available.

I vote for 10.6 "Lynx".

[nite41]

Originally Posted by nvidia2008

Lynx is still available.

I vote for 10.6 "Lynx".

Too late bro! 10.6 belongs to Snow Leopard And personally, I think Lynx sounds too feminine for a robust OS

For the next version of Windows, I would recommend:
MS Windows CAT (Editions: Home Pussy, Premium Pussy, Business Pussy, Ultimate Pussy) haha!!

[Neil Anderson]

Originally Posted by Maestro64

Anyway, somehow Carl Sagan found out and set Apple a ceases and decease order to stop using his name in reference to internal apple project name. As the story was told, it was not the fact they use his name, but it was associated with the other two project names.

Apple complied and changed the Carl Sagan code name to BHA. Sagan found out too late it stood for Butt Head Astronomer.

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by nite41

Too late bro! 10.6 belongs to Snow Leopard And personally, I think Lynx sounds too feminine for a robust OS

For the next version of Windows, I would recommend:
MS Windows CAT (Editions: Home Pussy, Premium Pussy, Business Pussy, Ultimate Pussy) haha!!

LOL I mean 10.7 Lynx. Yes, it does sound feminine, but doesn't Cougar refer to the sexually aggressive mature ladies?

[nite41]

Originally Posted by nvidia2008

LOL I mean 10.7 Lynx. Yes, it does sound feminine, but doesn't Cougar refer to the sexually aggressive mature ladies?

Then, I guess I'll stand by the space-related names. Can't resist Mac OS X Titan! Are you listening Apple?

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by nite41

Then, I guess I'll stand by the space-related names. Can't resist Mac OS X Titan! Are you listening Apple?

Then it's back to 10.7 Uranus...! <Insert suitable jokes here>

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by MacTripper

Yes but what will Apple call future releases of OS X or OS XI when they run out of cats?

Or will they start on house cats?

Or slowly shift to dogs? 10.8 Snow Wolf LOL

[PB]

Originally Posted by nvidia2008

Or slowly shift to dogs? 10.8 Snow Wolf LOL

Fabulous!

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by PB

Fabulous!

Heh. Lolcats has a picture for everything.

[iMacmatician]

Originally Posted by noirdesir

Dang, there goes the pregnant teenagers theory.

That's what I thought when I saw that codename.