System category

gnome-system-monitor provides a cleaner interface than Windows "Task Manager", and provides many useful features including list of processes running, memory and network usage, etc.

This functionality should be more accessible by key binding it by default to CTRL-ALT-DELETE as Windows does--as this is more familiar to users coming from Windows. The current key binding for CTRL-ALT-DELETE brings up the shutdown/logout options, which is already accessible as a desktop button, which is redundant for a relatively less used function.

gnome-system-monitor is an idle interface for monitoring the system and killing processes without using the terminal and provides an interface for doing this that most are already familiar with. Changing it's key binding would make it's functionality much more accessible.

There should be a more efficient format for apt-get (or the update manager) to download updates. Firstly, it should only need to download the files that have changed in a package (not the whole package), and secondly, it should download a DIFF of those files.

My latest update contains a 34.2 WHOPPING MB update to the linux restricted modules. Here's the changelog:

* Fix broadcom Makefile to get correct objects from split-module.

I'm downloading 34.2Mb just to get a *Makefile update*??? I don't even use any broadcom stuff. Even if I did, I probably wouldn't care enough about a Makefile to make it worthwhile downloading 34.2Mb!

Fedora is currently working on improving the startup experience by implementing Plymouth:
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/FeatureBetterStartup

By doing this, transition from Grub to GDM (or KDM or whatever) would be done almost instantly. Plymouth will use a graphical boot mode with a fallback method to text for those computers that don't have hardware support.

Currently update-manager is only able to automatically install security updates, but for most users it may be handy to get everything updated for there stable release without interrupting them. It would save me some calls from people asking me what that icon is doing in there system tray.

When triing to access bad-burned CD or an FTP site, connected by a weak link, Nautilus temporarily hangs. You cannot click icons and even the contents of the Nautilus' windows not refreshed, so they display garbage. It would be much nicier if such operations were performed in a separate tread than the user interface-related stuff. The contents of the window can display "Please wait, operation is being performed" instead of garbage that is displayed now.

The Windows Explorer show the same problematic behavior, but even worse in that it also incorporates the taskbar in the same tread, so when stuck with file operations, even the taskbar is not responsive.

When in the file or folder properties -> Permissions in Nautilus (Gnome's file browser) it would be nice to be able to authenticate in the same way as I would for network manager or some of the other system settings to fix permissions of a file.

When you use quite often USB key, you always have to unmount them correctly to keep your data safe. When you're copying a file on a USB key, you must wait to empty the copy buffer.

I would propose to link the USB key icon to the state of the transfer :
- If there's a transfer, we can see clearly that we can not take the USB key away.
- When transfer is finished and the buffer emptied, the icon can show that the USB key can be safely removed

and thus it's not yet useful to click on "unmount", because the unmount management is totally transparent, and treated by the system. We can simply pick the USB key away because transfer is already finish and correctly closed. This will be a great innovation to simplify unmount such usual disks.

edit : Maybe the icon can stay like the same, but w can add some little sub-icon to inform of the state.

(see also ideas 1373 and 10032)

as the title says: it is a good idea to add grub 2 to intrepid

Gnome uses a different trashcan format from the freedesktop.org spec (which Xfce uses).

So if I run a Gnome-based program from within Xfce, but delete a file through that program, it doesn't show up in Xfce's trash. I need to use Nautilus to see Gnome's trash.

UPDATE: this issue appears to have been fixed in 8.04 (Hardy).

I also note the existence of the command-line trash-cli package for Intrepid. See http://code.google.com/p/trash-cli/

So this issue should be marked as already implemented.

Make Ubuntu use less RAM so that it can be used even on computers with not so much RAM.

gnome-panel -- 24.3 mb
nautilus -- 20.9 mb
trackerd -- 7.9 mb
notification-daemon -- 7.5 mb
trash-applet -- 6.4 mb
gtk-window-decorator -- 5.9 mb
mixer-applet -- 5.5 mb
update-notifier -- 5 mb

Ubuntu is too heavy. It needs to be slimmed down, trimmed down, get leaner and faster.

There should be an easier method of deleting old kernels and their grub menu entries. Currently, the update script adds all kernel images in /boot into menu.lst no matter how old. Some administration app or a feature in Update Manager should allow one to delete old kernel images and their menu entries (if the images are removed prior to the script running then its an easy fix). All but the current kernel should be removed, allowing for a stable kernel entry and the new kernel (in case there is some kind of conflict with the newly installed kernel).

The only way to do so currently is the manually delete the kernel image and related file, then edit the grub menu list to delete the old entries.

May I can't start an wine application because some reason. In this case, wine should show an error. (GUI!)

e.g. "cannot find executable"
you only see this error on command line

PulseAudio's been really buggy for me, and I couldn't hear anything after install.

This is the tutorial that fixed everything for me: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=789578

Couldn't the Ubuntu team at least apply some of those things pre-done in 8.10 or something?

Sometimes applications in fullscreen mode cannot be killed and makes system hang (getting % of CPU proces time)

Many my friends (and her kids) think that if screen is black then can press power button. This is so bad than filesystem can not bring up after next power on.

I suggest that progressbar should be visible until system are complete shutdown.

sorry for bad english.

Ubuntu seems to stand behind Tracker for desktop search, and yet, doesn't. The real power of Tracker's use lies in its ability to use tags, functionality which is obscured in the standard installation. The only way to use it is by using the Tracker applet manually, but this should be integrated into the file manager.

After installing the system there is no easy way how the user can manage the disk partitions and the mount directories. Partition editing is included in the LiveCD but not in the base installation?! It must be fixed.

The idea here is to make an app that could use a second HDD (external, internal, etc) to automatically setup backup routines. It should be incremental, so that user could revert back to any state. And it should provide means for sepcifying, what files, folders or file types should be backuped - or may be, system on the whole, with its settings and so on. And all graphical, naturally.

I think it should be very usefull adding 3d info in gnome-display-properties instead of being forced to type, in command line, "glxinfo |grep rendering" to discover if 3d is enabled or not.
I think, moreover, it should be added a flag to enable or disable 3d, like other linux distros similar GUI have (Yast and so on)

Please offer the ability to kill a window app with the key combination ctrl_alt_esc. I was a long time kde user (before I "discovered" Ubuntu Hardy) which has this key combination in the default config, and often ctrl_alt_esc came in my help when X hanged by a window app and we couldn't launch a terminal emulator or switched to a terminal console (to kill the app). In this scenario ctrl_alt_esc should show an icon (in kde appears a black skull) that, placed over the blocked window app, kills it after pressing left mouse key.
If you think that ctrl_alt_esc in the default config could be "dangerous" please add the ability to insert a similar shortcut in Keyboard shortcuts tool (system -> preferences -> Keyboard Shortcuts)