Contributor azrael

Launchpad needs a Wiki unrelated to Ubuntu. When we opened our open source project (ubuntu related, in a way) i was uncertain about being allowed to use Ubuntu wiki to fill one (1) page about the project.

I really think you should provide a wiki to every project in launchpad (maybe with the chance to choose to have an external one).

The rationale is:
- having an own wiki requires hosting. Why use launchpad for bugtracking and buying hosting space just for the wiki ?
- Ubuntu wiki is inherently unrelated for many of the projects.
- Launchpad's blueprints require an external site. This shouldn't be necessary

Gnome used to have a "Run Application" menu item just like in Windows, KDE, and others. But it was removed in Gnome 2.12. Now users have to know the ALT+F2 shortcut or search for the "Run" applet.
Alt+f2 run dialog is hardcoded into gnome-panel. There is no way to create a menu item for it. There are many independent implementations of it: grun, gmrun, gnome-run-dialog, gnome-panel-tool. It proves that people still need it.

Also lots of people ask for it:
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/gentoo/user/167129
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=68031
http://darkness.codefu.org/wordpress/post/152
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=76150
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=506489
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=91454
http://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/32956
http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/redhat-fedora-linux-help/66659-run-command-gno me-desktop.html
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=593846
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=88695
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=512290

[....]

Is ALSA enough for sound quality, or better than Windows' sound?

I heard that OSSv4.0 released with source codes in 2007.
* http://www.opensound.com/press/2007/oss-gpl-cddl.txt
* http://www.opensound.com/

I read a post about OSS and want to share.
* http://insanecoding.blogspot.com/2007/05/sorry-state-of-sound-in-linux.html

If you read the post in the address i gave, the writer says that OSS was good enough in architect and was reliable, there was no need to write a new code. Also he says its easier to develop software and its crossplatform (OSS), and ALSA has lots of functions which are not used and slow. I read it and want to hear about these arguments. The post sounds me true but i wonder if OSS can be integrated in Ubuntu without any license problem. Is there any way to be default?

Maybe some parts of OSS can be taken to ALSA, so we get more hardware support? Or architect of ALSA may be changed like OSS and can be cross-platform? Or OSS can be used by default.

Many friends don't use Ubuntu because they say Ubuntu's sound is very bad. I'm an Ubuntu and open source fan, and just want to hear replies about sound quality improvement news and ideas*. I don't know much about OSS, I just want to learn.

* For example maybe an integrated enhancer in Ubuntu would be perfect. (Sorry for bad English.)
* An equalizer can be added to Ubuntu's volume manager maybe?

If grub already exists because some other operating system installed it, ubuntu should offer the option to just write its own three entries into the boot menu of the existing grub, instead of overwriting it with its own version.

Google could put Ubuntu-style logo on their homepage on Hardy release day :). By the way, they use Ubuntu on their desktop computers.

When keeping the same /home/ for years, it quickly becomes an unmaintainable mess of hidden folders.

You can't even delete them without being sure because it might contain important data.

Freedesktop has issued a recommandation to solve this problem :
http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/latest/ar01s03.html

Implementing this would allow to easily reset your configuration to the default one without loosing any data. For Ubuntu beta testers or people that care about having the default config, it would be a big advantage. It would also solve a lot of upgrade problems that some people have and that cannot be reproduced because it's a particular preference migration bug.

The problem and its solution is described here for the GNOME desktop but it applies for any application : http://ploum.frimouvy.org/?184-cleaning-user-preferences-keeping-user-data


My suggestion is to make the FD.o recommandation an official Ubuntu recommandation, trying to lobby so applications in Ubuntu follow this spec, at least the one in main.

A suggestion for the GNOME desktop has also been issued :
http://live.gnome.org/GnomeGoals/XDGConfigFolders

Please add Screenlets (http://www.screenlets.org) to the Ubuntu-software installer.

[!edit]: Already done!

It is unnerving to touch buttons when the screensaver runs while a movie is playing.

This site is really amazing, and a great step in reaching out to the Ubuntu community, but it still needs a bit of work. I suggest that the categories for ideas be listed on the left hand side of the screen for easy access. I have not yet found an easy way to sort ideas by their category, which seems a strange oversight in design.

It's easy for anyone who likes complicated interfaces to hit an "advanced interface" option and go to a desktop with multiple start bars at top and bottom and menus and desktop pagers.

It is not symmetrically easy for a basic computer user to find out how to make their interface more simple.

Thus, the initial interface for most installs should begin with a 10 foot, wii like, gOS style, matchbox like one window at a time, one task at a time interface that all users will find intuitive.

My favorite interface would blend some current genres to give them a taste of all.

Whatever app or screen they are on should fill the screen at all times, unless they specifically request to use it split screen with another app.

Any Modal box that pops up requiring them to do something to continue should be centered in a translucent grey haze covering what they were doing so they know they must address that issue first.

A big fat bar should go across the top of the screen, with the icon of their current application or window on the far left (clicking it provides the start menu, and options like "See Desktop (minimize)", and "Complicated Interface"). Then, along the top as you head right, large colorful icons of other, minimized active applications, then smaller grey icons of common applications not in use yet in a nice dock. Then a clock widget (and let them add others, like bluetooth) and finally a big bold X which gives a menu (Close current Window (default if they just hit and let go), Change User, Shut down, etc).

Wii and the EE prove there is a hunger for the simple and easy to use, even among people who can use the complicated.


The icon for the application they are currently using

It would be great if
#1 there were a tool on my Ubuntu desktop that enable me to collect all hardware information from my machine at once and then submit it to launchpad.
#2 there was a way to reference this hardware profile when reporting bugs.

It would make the lives of bug reporters easier as:
#1 Even unskilled people could collect the info.
#2 The info would only need to be collected once. So bug reporters would not have to repeat the same steps over and over again for each HW bug they report.

It would also make the lives of bug fixers easier as:
#1 Launchpad could enable them to query each bug report for affected hardware.
#2 There would be more such information available because it is not such a pain in the ass of the bug reporters anymore.

The Process in more detail:
-----------------------------------
Step #1: Add a GUI driven software to the Ubuntu distro which enables
users to submit their hardware information to a central database.

Step #2: Allow the users to attach the DB IDs to their launchpad
profile (multiple if needed).

Step #3: Allow the user to select which of his machines are affected.

Step #4: Allow the bug fixers to retrieve a list of affected hardware
for a bug from launchpad. Like: give me all USB chipsets of machine IDs
attached to this bug.

How the feature could be used:
----------------------------------------

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Please make it possible to - at least optionally - use the translations provided by upstream, e.g. GNOME and KDE. Their translators do a very good job at producing high-quality, consistent translations. It's a shame that these got replaced by lesser quality suggestions from Rosetta in the past, or are still stuck in Rosetta for several months.

I respect if you insist on using your Launchpad and Rosetta platform for translations, but please at least offer a way to use the translations from upstream. What about "language-pack-XX-upstream"?

Some of the ideas on Brainstorm are not relevant to Ubuntu, but rather to other projects Ubuntu integrates into its distribution. Provide a way to modify brainstorm ideas to link with other projects available on Launchpad, and syndicate that information to the launchpad project.

Could there be a way to mark an idea as "favourite" in brainstorm.ubuntu? To star, or bookmark an idea so I can find it more easily later on and see what people have commented?

The Ubuntu home page makes no mention of brainstorm. The news on the home page doesn't even mention this site launching. Clicking on Community/Get Involved brings up a page which makes absolutely no mention of brainstorm!!

HOW ARE PEOPLE GOING TO KNOW THIS EXCELLENT SITE EXISTS?

Please make it easy for people to find their way here.

Why you aren't shouting from the roof tops on your home page about this new feature I do not know!

Improve Nautilus:
Give it the possibility to display list of files with multi columns, like a normal 'ls' would.

It is more usable when accessing a folder with many files inside.
This is reported in launchpad:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/nautilus/+bug/12204

Offer the possibility to translate some propositions for non english-speaking people. There are tons of users out there waiting to get their voice heard and other users willing to provide a translation to say french (I know I'd be willing to help), spanish, portuguese, italian, chinese or whatever. That feature would require moderation, sure, but it would also greatly improve the quality of the feedback.

Hi guys!
packagekit gets more and more attraction, i don't think that i have to explain it here, someone who knows this page knows also packagekit and its possibilities i.e. share package discribtions & news, openoffice.org can use it for the installation from additional packages/art; automatic printer driver download from lsb-site and so on...

more here:
http://packagekit.org/
and a really hot presentation from fosdem08:
http://people.freedesktop.org/~hughsient/public/introduction-to-packagekit.pdf

Build additional CD/DVD ISOs like Fedora does for their "spins". For example there could be a Games DVD ISO spin.

Also, occasionally release updated standard ISOs, for example Ubuntu Hardy ISO released in April, then after 2 months, in June release a standard ISO with the latest updates included, and so on...

This is to avoid the need for installing all patches since original release, can be very useful for people with slow or no Internet connections.

At the moment it's possible to manage traditional wired and WiFi connections using Network Manager. To connect via a modem, a 3G/GPRS card, over bluetooth to a cell phone or via USB to another device requires that the user installs extra packages, and does a fair amount of configuration that isn't found in Network Manager.

A single unified tool should be provided which allows the user to connect to a network (or internet) via any supported method. It would also be useful to provide an extension to this tool to manage firewall rules and network connection sharing.