> For example, in the case of Ubuntu or Unity (the engine) you can tell what you're looking at, at a glance.
For Ubuntu people often use the codename (including in quite a few UIs, like [1]), something it presumably inherited from Debian, which does the same. I really dislike it, because I usually know which version number I want, but I rarely know which codename I want and always have to look it up on Wikipedia or the like.
The codenaming of the recent Debian releases has been particularly bad, with Debian 10 codenamed "Buster", Debian 11 codenamed "Bullseye", and Debian 12 codenamed "Bookworm".
Not only do they all start with the same letter, but the initial sound is nearly the same, too. It's way too easy to confuse them.
It's not if you don't keep track of releases. "Is Ubuntu codename 2 or 15 years old?" is basically unanswerable. even regular incrementing version numbers are easier: I don't keep track of Debian closely either, but I know "Debian 6" is pretty old, and Debian 12 or so is the latest version.
For Ubuntu people often use the codename (including in quite a few UIs, like [1]), something it presumably inherited from Debian, which does the same. I really dislike it, because I usually know which version number I want, but I rarely know which codename I want and always have to look it up on Wikipedia or the like.
[1]: https://packages.ubuntu.com/search?suite=kinetic&searchon=na...