Contributor antistress

I really like GNOME functionalities that allow me to begin again where i left before.

For instance, when i load a PDF file in Evince, start the reading, close Evince and reload the PDF file, the document shows the page where i stopped the reading and not the beginning of the document.
Same with OpenOffice documents, Tomboy...

But Totem, like Dory in Finding Nemo, doesn't remember what it was doing before !
Load a movie, watch one hour. Close Totem. Reload the movie in Totem and you will restart from the begining... too bad!

Totem should remember where the movie was interrupted when the same movie is reloaded

see also http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=485651

Firefox 3 is much more integrate than Firefox 2, but there is still room for improvements, for instance :

1°) Choosing from Firefox context menu to view a selected image should open the default GNOME image viewer (like Epiphany does). see https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox-3.0/+bug/195105

2°) Firefox should make use of the GNOME passwords manager to manage its passwords. Since Web navigator is typically a software that has to manage a lot of passwords, it should be strange to not use the GNOME passwords manager which exists for that purpose. see https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox-3.0/+bug/195108

Also :

3°) Bug 259356 – Support for the Freedesktop.org XDG variables
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=259356
(especially for backup puposes)

4°) Bug 311340 – Should implement the freedesktop.org specification for clipboard management (clipboard data (buffer) is lost when window closed)
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=311340
(don't know the status of this bug in Firefox 3)

Go to your File menu and select Open : GTK FileChooser allow you to select a file to open.
But you can't select several files at once by pressing alt or shift key.
I'd like to have the possibilty to select several files at once through GTK FileChooser like i do within Nautilus

Here's a screenshot of GTK FileChooser :
http://log.emmanuelebassi.net/wp-content/2007/06/screenshot-emacs-file.png

Fix that important regression
Canon IXUS 30/Powershot SD200 used to work with ubuntu 7.04
they don't work anymore with Ubuntu 7.10/8.04

Do users really need to have such a large choice of options in Nautilus :
- Places
- Tree
- Information
- history
- Notes
- emblems ?

Sometimes more doesn't mean better.

What about running a study or a poll to know if all these options are still useful for users and make a balance advantage/disadvantage of having such a large choice ?

I think that places & tree are the most often used, and that history may be useful, but do users really need/want information/notes/emblems ?

I mean that maybe people would use the different options more often if the choice was smaller : It would allow to rethink the UI and maybe to give up the Drop down list that doesn't seem to me optimal for distinct buttons like in Rhythmbox or Evolution

see also http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=480009

Apturl is very useful for documentation concerning Ubuntu.

Firefox and Epiphany use it and allow to easily install a software from a documentation website

There is also documentation in PDF files, and therefore Evince should also cope with apturl

This complaint is about the compiz-by-default choice.
Compiz is great (like a lot other stuff) but it should not be installed by default (like a lot other stuff).

Before Compiz-by-default choice, Ubuntu - like GNOME - aimed at being simple to use.
Then Compiz was activated by default : users had to learn a lot of keyboard shortcuts to generate a lot of visual effects without regard to their utility but with regard to their bling bling side. And simplicity was only a souvenir.

Therefore i suggest to update Ubuntu hardware minimum requirements :
- Needs super brain with a lot of memory to remember Compiz' shortcuts
- Require at less 3 hands (or 2 hands with 12 fingers per hand) to be able to easily key Compiz' shortcuts

OR :
Maybe we could concentrate on giving only a bit of polish (thanks to transparency & dropped shadows) and especially on bringing useful functionnalities like preview on alt+tab and that Exposé thing ?

What about coming back to the rock-solid Metacity (which has composite in 2.22 version through XRender) and help to improve it (see for instance bugzilla Bug 502491 – New feature for the Compositor, Exposè-Like http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=502491 ) to keep the desktop as simple as it should be ?

Compiz would stay available through Synaptic for people who'd like to have more effects.

I'm not sure that "real" people use the Rhythmbox rating system which allow to give a notation between 1 to 5 !

Instead of it i suggest to have a much simpler system : a starring system (just fill a star in front of your favorite music see gmail for an illustration http://spaceagewasteland.com/images/gmail9.gif )

Brainstorm is a good occasion for a poll around that idea

see also http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=497755

When you play a video game, you have the choice before starting :

- beginner
- confirmed
- expert

Some softs have a lot of functionnalities : all are not useful to everyone.
I think they should propose several GUI corresponding to different levels of difficulty.

For instance OOo should have a basic GUI for beginners that could look like Abiword or Google Docs.

We could imagine that at firt start, OOo asks if the user consider himself like a beginner or if he has some experience with that kind of software.
Then OOo would choose the good GUI.
Besides, an option in menu bar would allow to change the GUI.

Abiword http://doc.ubuntu-fr.org/_media/abiword_90.jpg
Google Docs http://www.centernetworks.com/images/sites/googledocssc.png