Contributor Jeisson

Right-mouse-click in nautilus should have an option to create a private secure encrypted folder (for example in your home dir or on your usb stick). All files and folders in this special folder should be automatically encrypted and still be usable like normal files (after providing a strong pass-phrase to unlock the folder).

In this way people/organizations/companies/governments who want to secure their usb sticks don't have to buy expensive usb sticks but can use average cheap usb sticks.

Make a guest account that people can login to, and check mail, surf web.

Every time the guest account logs out, its purged so next user who login is a clean fresh account.

Mac OS X has this;
* http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/300.html#system

This would help battery life. I would also recommend something more sophisticated then just "when plugged in," since someone might need to be charging as quickly as possible and won't want the disk-intensive updatedb running. So possibly only run it when the machine is plugged in and at 100%.

In Ubuntu 8.04 a misbehaviour of Nautilus was introduced that mimicks the function of the shell command "cp" - unlike to any other file manager I am acquainted with Nautilus now destroys the creation date and time of a copied file and replaces it with the date and time of the moment it was being copied.

This leads to a lot of trouble to anyone who regularly copies files. Expecially users of digital cameras who are now forced to cumbersomly recover the lost information from the EXIF metadata inside the files, feel annoyed by this change.

I would appreciate the withdrawal of the "feature". Maybe it could be made optional? Possibly someone really needs this behaviour, but the vast majority of users probably would prefer the preservation of the creation date when copying a file.

In http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=515777 the bug is described and there is a lengthy discussion about whether it is a bug or a feature.

A blog entry describes the surprise of an user: http://adventuresinswitching.blogspot.com/2008/05/file-modification-dates-chang ed-in.html

There is a source code patch at http://bugzilla.gnome.org/attachment.cgi?id=108968 - not really a help to everyone, I am afraid.

This is no duplicate of http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/5133/ as the bug has in fact nothing to do with FAT32 file systems.

After all, it takes up a lot of space, creates clutter and it's absolutely of no use for people that got just one user on the computer.

While reading over the brainstorm site people suggest adding a lot of different things to the base installation of Ubuntu, and some of them have good arguments (but most don't in my opinion).

I propose that after the installation process the user would be asked to choose from a couple of installation options for programs such as;
1. Suggested (default selected)
2. Manual
3. Advanced

The Suggested option would install a "default" Ubuntu programs list.

The Manual option would give the user a list of tasks that they expect to do (e.g. photo editing, note taking, pc based emailing (not webmail like hotmail/yahoo) word processing, simple games, music listening, movie watching etc...). Then, the computer could install the programs pertaining to the selections (e.g. evolution for pc based email, or openoffice for word processing) from the install disc or internet connection.

The Advanced option would probably not install any of these programs, maybe just simple things like nautilus and a terminal. The idea here is an experienced user already knows exactly what programs they want to use for specific tasks and this would save them the trouble of removing the default word processor, notes application, torrent application, mail application etc.

Feel free to comment and fine tune these ideas, they are rough. But I like the idea of letting the user say don't waste my time installing programs I will not use or replace later anyhow.

The brainstorm site needs to have a new item in the user menu: Ideas I've commented on. For many comments, people are looking for responses, or are curious to know what other people are saying. You could also provide the ability to "watch" topics, and be notified when they are updated and/or comments are made.

provide DVD image where both installers are included.

I want to spread the word about Ubuntu .
Not only that, I also want to spread Ubuntu by actively helping my friends with the first steps starting from the installation. As I dont always ask them (or forget) about hteir architecture it would really fits me to have both on one DVD .

In addition: wouldn`t it also be possible to discover the architecture automatically? and then ask if I do want to take the 64bit e.g. or stay with the 32bit?

Right now we have two installer CDs. The normal one, and a separate alternative installer.

They both contain the same packages, the only difference is the installer.

I think we should merge the two CDs, so that you can run the alternative installer from the normal CD.

like today i saw the Dell online shopping and they are still using Ubuntu 7.10 on their computers! Im soon going to buy one and it will just be bothersome to download Ubuntu 8.04!


PS: about 40 more days until i buy my new laptop with Ubuntu! So yea please make this work i know it has been like a day since it cam out but yea!


*LOVE AND EQUALITY FOR ALL*

I would like to be able to see a nice image on the internet and drag it into an application without having to copy-paste or save it first. I cannot do this on Open Office, Picasa, Mnemosyne, or Inkscape (linked images do not work on GIMP). The little polishes like this are what make Ubuntu such a good distro, and we need to fix them up.

In the visual effects tab of the appearances window, if you customize your settings, and then accidentally switch to normal or extra, this should not erase all of your customized settings.

Even though, I like the current busy cursor, I thought that would be much original if, instead of the MAC_Loading Animation to busy cursor, would be the ubuntu logo rotating around its origin.
Also this might be done for Kubuntu and Xubuntu, too, with their own logos.

Please excuse my English!

___________________________
Thank you for the awsome job you are doing with this distro!

Caching of file information presents a security hole, performance hole, and a power sink for most users.

1. It is trivial to access meta information regarding the contents of encrypted partitions by simply gaining access to the caches stored by tracker, updatedb, and nautilus. Nautilus can be made smarter by simply using a directory local cache, and asking the user when permissions aren't available if home directory context caching is acceptable. Tracker and locate/updatedb should be disabled unless the user actually selects to enable them through some sort of administrative/package/add/remove type interface. When these things _are_ enabled it should be optional to use a ram based file system cache for this cached data which can not be swapped.

2. All three of these things are awful for performance when you don't need them (and most users don't with the exception of constrained nautilus caching). Furthermore, these components can access networked (samba/nfs/andrewfs/iscsi)/high latency (optical/usb)/limited lifetime (flash) devices. There is nothing that kills the throughput or interactivity of an interactive OS than this kind of random block device access.

3. These components should never be automatically run when the system is running from a battery (UPS or laptop). They all kill the battery life of every power hungry component (CPU/hard drive/chipset/...).

Nautilus file introspection is the worst possible performance sink, and should have some sort of check box in the GUI to be enabled/disabled (per directory?).


--- related security ideas include: ---
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/7434/
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/7436/

The term "importing" is slightly confusing and does not say what it means. It could be putting them into a data bank, converting them so a particular app can read them, copying them to a place chosen by the system...

It turns out, it means copying them to a place of your choice on the harddisk.

But it should also say that.

The term "album" is equally ambiguous and should be replaced with a description of what actually happens.

Currently there is no way to easily share files between multiple local users. I am talking about full read-write access to particular folder, eg. music folder.

Example: Alice and Bob uses the same computer. Alice has read access to Bob's home folder. Bob has read access to Alice's home folder. They want to fully share (read/write) their music. So they should ideally create /home/music folder, put all the music there and use it. Everything Bob puts into there, Alice should be able to read and remove, and vice versa. This is currently impossible in Ubuntu. Bob has to manually fix permissions every time Alice wants to delete something Bob's (Bob creates /home/music/Britney, but Alice can't delete /home/music/Britney/song1.mp3).

I have discussed this issue with several linux gurus and there is currently no easy nor difficult way to achieve this in Linux on the same (ext3) partition. With every proposed solution I can give you counterexample (group permissions, ACLs, local Samba, local NFS, etc - there is always problem when moving files). There would have to be created utility to set shared folders and some daemon would have to monitor changes and modify permissions.

Currently the easiest solution known for me is to share files on separate (ironically) NTFS partition, because when mounting NTFS you can force user/group/permissions on file access. What a shame, we use Microsoft technologies just to share files between Ubuntu users.

This problem is quite serious, give it a thought or two. Everyone who is not using Ubuntu computer alone and wants to share music/films/etc between multiple users knows what I am talking about.

//New info:
Atany has proposed in the comment that BindFS project can be used to achieve this functinality:
http://code.google.com/p/bindfs/
I have tried it and it works very well. Developers which would like to implement this idea should have a look on BindFS, it's very promising tool, it could provide all necessary background for this.

When a folder is shared, the icon stays the same in nautilus. There is an icon that can be added to the folder to show that it is shared, but this icon should be automatically added so users know what folders are shared.

It would also be nice to have an option in the rightclick menu to "unshare"

Currently it is very difficult to setup and control access to shared folders without editing conf files and reading detailed instructions on all the variables. I propose that sharing (specifically Samba) be given a well worked GUI and some real TLC to bring it up to standard with the experience on Windows or OS X.

For example, by default a share should be accessible as Read Only by anyone on the network without a username or password (guest access). While guest access should be turned on by default, it should also be easy to turn it off, and if desired to give guests read/write access to the folder.

You should also be able to specify local users who will have read/write access, and these local users should sync with smb users invisibly (ie: the user doesn't need to know that there are two password databases being used).

I propose the Properties window for a folder should contain a Sharing tab with all the options available to choose. I also propose a Shared Folders option in the Preferences menu should list the currently shared folders along with their settings, and provide a button to take you into the dialogue where you can set the options.

First of all: What is the difference between Preferences and Administration? For example: why do I see 'Encryption and Keyrings' in Preferences and 'Keyring Manager' in Administration? What is the difference between 'Default Printer' and 'Printing'? Why do I have to disable the Tracker under Sessions and not under Search and Indexing? And why are these menu's so large? I have 24 items in Preferences (they don't even fit on my screen!) and 18 items in Administration. To put all this stuff in a popup menu is bad interface design imho. Besides, the number of option should be much smaller. A few suggestions:

- Merge 'Screensaver', 'Screen Resolution' and 'Screens and Graphics'.
- Merge 'Network', 'Network Proxy' and 'Network Tools'.
- Merge 'Update Manager, Synaptic Package Manager, Software Sources'.
- Merge 'Encryption and Keyrings', 'Authorizations', 'Keyring Manager'.


Below are all settings I can visit via the System menu. This is just way too much.


-- Preferences --
Universal Access
About Me
Appearance
Bluetooth
Default Printer
Encryption and Keyrings
Keyboard
Keyboard Shortcuts
Main Menu
Mouse
Network Proxy
PalmOS Devices (I don't have one)
Power Management

[....]

Drag&Drop is such a intuitive and simple action - it must be promoted.
There are many things that already work in Ubuntu/GNOME/KDE with Drag&Drop, but there is much that can be improved:

- DnD an image from Firefox to the Desktop should place that image there, not a textfile with the link to the homepage.
- DnD from the icon on the left side of the URL in the Firefox address bar to the desktop should create a .desktop file with a link to that URL.
- DnD of devices onto the Pastebin should unmount them (like OSX)
- DnD of a Desktop file into a mainmenu/submenu of GNOME should create a menu item.
- fix the Nautilus-in-list-view-doesn't-accept-DnD-files issue: Launchpad bug #61237
- DnD file from anywhere (e.g. Desktop) to a folder in the "file open" "file save" dialogs.
- DnD a file into an edit box should insert a file:// link - KDE has this; Idea #3027
from Idea #4105:
- DnD Attachement from Thunderbird to Nautilus
- DnD Files From File-Roller to Nautilus
- DnD Picture from Nautilus to OOo

...and many more, please submit your ideas, I'll put them into the description!


If you like this idea, also look at my other ideas