Contributor Rioting_Pacifist

Linux is not perfect, sometimes stuff needs restarting

I suggest providing a utility that will restart a subsystem, e.g
Audio, sometimes the sounds system gets screwed up
Networking, poor ndiswrapper (or buggy OSS driver) users or those that switch the hardware on/off
USB, sometimes webcams/peripherals have buggy drivers

Until a new user learns about modprobe/rmmod they can spent months having to restart my entire system due to a buggy driver, meaning the benefit of linux over windows isn't immediately visible for anything other than buggy graphics drivers (ctrl+alt+bkscpace is easy to tell users how to use)

This will avoid new users being thrown in at the deep end to get the most out of linux (you try sitting in #kubuntu/#ubuntu and explaining that they need to go to the command line and stop try rmmod wlan then rmmod all the modules ...then start Network manager again, or they can reboot the entire system to fix their wireless driver)

Even more experienced users will benefit when it comes to restarting stuff their not sure about, im not 100% how id go about restarting audio, do i need to close amarok or just stop it? stop pulseaudio or is it alsa? unload what module?

to start with CLI will be enough, its easy enough to tell a user sudo subsys --reboot audio but eventually a nice little GUI will be nice

a plugin to allow a user to choose between flash players on the fly. this would
1) allow more widespread testing of gnash/gstreamer
2) allow gnash/gstreamer users to fall back on adobe flash if it fails

blurb:
while gnash is a good video player it fails with certain content. Most new user, and even existing users dont want to suffer a diminished web experienced by using gnash or gstreamer so stick to adobe, this will allow them to get the benefits of gnash/gstreamer without having to put up with the weaknesses of any one player.

valid flash players would include (others also avalible)
gstreamer - video only afaik
gnash - video and some games afaik
adobe flash 9 -buggy & high cpu usage
adobe flash 10-more temperamental w/ lower cpu usage

I think this is best implemented as something like mozpluger as that would make it avalible to all the webbrowsers i can think of. but i can also imagine it
being usable as a simple extension (like flashblock but with options for others) for firefox as firefox is the main ubuntu browser.

Improve automake so that if your missing a package it asks you if you want to install it. e.g
KDE headers not found,
Do you want to install kde-devel [Y/n]?
after installing it would restart the script to and try again.

This will make compiling a lot easier

When you login at a console level, you are informed about failed login attempts:
"There have been x failed login attempts since the last login
The last was ..."
a simple non intrusive popup should inform users when the next login (im picturing something like amarok song changes, that stays until a little x is clicked, but design isn't really important).

For bonus point do something similar when the screen is locked

the m560x webcam drivers will add support to a whole range of webcams. Supporting this project with money, hardware or code, would speed up development, which means ubuntu will be able to support the webcams sooner.

Firewire can be used to completly bypass most OS level security. while your at your desktop this isn't too bad, and im not even sure if it can by fixed, but when you lock your screen, AFAIK turning off all firewire ports is the only way to stop your system being compromised.

http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/04/1258210

Media players and as a result web browser plugins only seam to have a percentage or size limit on how much to cache, but under most circumstances neither really make sense.

The only sensible way to cache web content is based on both size and speed, its probably a bit more complicated than this but heres a good start for an algorithm to decide how much to cache:
time to buffer = size/speed - total length of clip + extra*size
size to buffer = size ( bit rate/ downspeed + extra * bit rate - 1 )

as bit rate and download speed both vary regularly, setting a % means you over or under buffer almost all the time.

*as a side note i personally use mplayer, but couldnt find anywhere to suggest this improvement, any ideas?

For me (and I suspect a lot of people with laptops) suspend & hibernate have different usage cases.
When I suspend your system its usually suspended for short periods of time and you want it back up straight away
When I hibernate your system its usually for an extend reason with the reason to hibernate instead of shut-down, simply being to restore the applications to their previous state, but as its going to take as long as a cold boot, speed isn't an issue.

As when I suspend I want to get back to my system instantly I dont want to lock the screen, but as when I hibernate Im in no rush id rather have the system lock.

*I realise when a computer is suspended, but the battery dies causing a hibernate, the system would be left unlocked, but this is a rare case and can be worked around at a later date.

Make a firefox3 extension that exports bookmarks to KDE & GNOME.

Why
Im not sure if Gnome has a similar feature but under kde there are global bookmarks which all kde apps use (kopete, konversation, konqueror, kicker, etc) however I like many kde users like to use firefox as my main browser unfortunately there is no way to sync bookmarks between the two.*

How
a) Add folders
the KDE & GNOME projects have their bookmarks stored in an open formal XML or html, simply add a folder labelled firefox bookmarks to them which contains your firefox bookmarks, and one to firefox called KDE / GNOME that does the same.
b) Actually merge them
Simply take the KDE/GNOME file and add firefox folders too it, and do the opposite

Either way should be triggered when when installed then whenever bookmarks are updated, With firefox checking to import bookmarks (reading the last modified date to safe disk usage) every minutes and when its started.
Then add this extension to repos or include in ubufox.

*there is a program in repos but its
1) doesn't work
2) need to be launched everytime you want to sync

Some people just have bad ideas, but some people are just a deliberate PITA, if somebody suggests an idea that isnt actually an idea just complaint, give them a warning, if they do it again, ban them.

e.g corneel

Update: it looks like a better idea was implemented to stop the non-ideas,
"Finally, idea can now be marked as "Not an idea" by moderators.This will hopefully prevent further non-ideas, generally bugs, to be submitted on Ubuntu Brainstorm. Please remember that Brainstorm is a place to post ideas only! Any bugreports posted here won't be looked at. To report a bug, please use the Ubuntu bug tracker. "

now if only I could get rid of this idea

Provide a way for users to share their config files (at thier own risk). The program would:
Allow users to upload their .files or .folders/
Keep backups of the original files
Allow users to read the .files before downloading
Allow user to upload a description of their .file
Warn a user what files are going to be replaced
Allow users to browse the .files for a given program
Allow users to link to a .file from outside (e.g it uses urls)
*optionally allow the use of RegEx scripts to allow edits of parts of a .file instead of the whole thing.
*optionally include scripts to help uploading certain programs without giving away personal data (e.g web/file browsers)

this would allow users:
To share configs without actually understanding .files
help fix problems without understanding .files & pastebin

Why this would be better than just posting configs on forums
users dont need to know about the .files
configs can be rated, by popularity and ratings (5 star system)

usage cases:
Bob has setup his desktop to look great, he uploads his ~/.desktop to the server along with a screenshot, then any user has the ability to download and replace their .desktop with his to get the same look. If the user decides they don't like the new look, they can revert it to their original .desktop

Fred is trying to help Gary after he messed up his .konqueror, gary uploads his .konqueror and Fred sees that Gary has uncommented ##DO NOT UNCOMMENT THIS LINE, and tells Gary how to fix it.

Sarah has setup her system to look exactly like macosx, she posts on the forums with a list of programs shes installed and a link to the her settings. Users can now get the same look & feel with just 3/4 clicks and no in knowledge of AWM, compiz ect.

[....]

improve the integration of compiz with kde3, the desktop preview and taskbars barely work, and there are other occasional problems too.

KDE3 is still popular and while compiz-fusion remains more powerful than KDE4 i (and id guess many others) have no intention of switching.

Report, via a non intrusive popup (libnotify style or something) when
a)Files have been edited when the system was shutdown.
b)Files in a users home directory have been edited more recently then the last time they logout

a simple message like
"files have been modified since the system was last successful shutdown/logout, click to see details"
would cover the fact that it will be triggered in the event of a crash. clicking for details could then trigger a more detailed analysis.

There are obviously security flaws with this, an attacker can spoof the file edit times, an attacker would be able to disable the reporting system, etc, but some security would be gained against simple attacks (like logging in at recovery mode, or using a live CD)