Contributor belovedmonster

There are many great ideas here on brainstorm that have gotten a lot of votes, but no official Ubuntu feedback. I think whenever an idea reaches a certain amount of votes - lets say 500 - it should warrant feedback from the Ubuntu team. Something short like
'yep this is a good idea, we'll seriously consider it'
or
'that is an awful idea, forget it!'
would suffice, so one can better tell if popular ideas have a realistic chance of getting picked up or not.

Some ideas already have this kind of feedback (or even more detailed) but I think a high number of positive votes should always warrant official feedback.

I am shocked at the Intrepid beta as I saw - what I thought to be - a blatant digression with the wallpaper and the login/logout sounds from Hardy to Intrepid.

I see for the sounds they made the packaging more freedesktop-friendly, but it still doesn't mean I like it.

Hardy
wall: http://staging.altonlabs.com/ubuntu/hardy.png
login: http://staging.altonlabs.com/ubuntu/hardy-login.wav
logout: http://staging.altonlabs.com/ubuntu/hardy-logout.wav

Intrepid
wall: http://staging.altonlabs.com/ubuntu/intrepid.png
login: http://staging.altonlabs.com/ubuntu/intrepid-login.ogg
logout: http://staging.altonlabs.com/ubuntu/intrepid-logout.ogg

(Feel free to use the links (temporarily) for your blogs. For the wallpapers, see ubuntu-wallpapers or /usr/share/wallapapers. For the sounds, see ubuntu-sounds /usr/share/sounds)

I personally - as a computer nerd - don't care much about the default wallpaper in an operating system as I know it can be changed, but first impressions mean a lot to others. It does mean a lot to me, however, as someone who is in marketing and who has been trained in design for a number of years.

[....]

Firefox has spell-checking. Word processors have spell-checking and auto-correct. Pidgin has spell-checking and an auto-correct plugin. Thunderbird has spell-checking but no auto-correct. Some text editors have spell-checking, others don't.

But each of these programs uses its own engine and its own dictionary, duplicating the same overlapping functionality in many different programs, wasting developer effort, and resulting in incomplete dictionaries/functionalities. Why?? The Linux/Unix philosophy is supposed to have a bunch of small, well-written components that do one thing and do it well, which are then used as components inside other apps.

We should have a single spell-checking and auto-correct (and grammar check?) engine, and it should be available for ANY text input field in ANY program, with a single centralized dictionary that gets updated on a regular basis, and a single centralized user dictionary for each user. Then I can define new spellings or corrections (or remove ones I don't like) and have that change automatically be used for all apps.

Ubuntu is a project that is well-served by a loving community. There are loads and loads of great mock-ups and art suggestions. And I'm sure the art team works really hard.

But Ubuntu often doesn't look great, to be honest. And Intrepid isn't moving the look and feel of the OS forward in leaps and bounds.

Ubuntu has a great community because of its open development process - but what about art development and selection?

We need a more open, transparent, process for how art decisions are made.

Looking at the success of Wikipedia and the relative lack of it for bundled help/documentation of FOSS (or indeed manuals in general), one gets this idea: How about setting up a Wikipedia-like wiki for help/docs with stable versions (i.e. versions marked as good by a dev/trusted user), and the latest stable versions would automatically be used as the bundled help/docs for each release (or latest stable, but with some date limit)?

This way whenever you click on a help button or help menu option, you would get the text which originated from the wiki, and have a link for the latest (on-line) version where you could go to look for updates/related hints, ask questions on a talk page, add omissions/corrections, etc. The categorizations, redirect pages and related page / see also links on Wikipedia are also pretty good, and maintained by the community; it is not so easy for a passer-by to pitch in there for the help/docs of Ubuntu.

Note that this is not at all the same as various forums and wikis which are related to Ubuntu / Linux, etc. It is sad that the best way to get information is actually there (or Google, more likely than not) instead of the bundled help/docs, and this idea is about improving the bundled help/docs (ideally, all of them) with the help of a wiki, not adding yet another separate source of information. Also, while the current Ubuntu help/docs don't score highly on the "better than Google for its topic" count, Wikipedia does, so the approach should be very sound.

I think this approach would make the help/documentation of Ubuntu far better than any of the proprietary competitors (for whom this method would presumably not work), and if the startup page of Firefox were the help/docs equivalent of Wikipedia main page (and look similar), it would give the non-developer a good and immediate (at a glance, no reading required) analogy to understand what the idea of free software is about, and many more would probably pitch in with the help/docs if they associated them with Wikipedia (it has enormous mindshare, after all).

For the 8.04 "Hardy Heron" release we had a 'countdown'.
* http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/countdown

Users could link to an image/script that would countdown for every day that pass. Like "Ubuntu 8.04 - 93 days left".

And users could post it on their blogs, forums, websites, etc and it would generate a buzz and hype around the upcoming Ubuntu release and get people excited.

It was great. I propose we do the countdown again, now this time for the 8.10 "Intrepid Ibex" release.

On "what is Ubuntu" section of Ubuntu.com, all what you see is text and one or 2 pictures presenting Ubuntu, Kubuntu, or Xubentu, ext...

That's not sufficient!

Clearly better, posting video presentations -along with text and pics- that explain briefly how the system works, most of Linux advantages, Ubuntu principles, showing how the system is too simple to handle.. ext.. in a very attractive way!

Just think "commercial", the idea is to seduce new users!

There is a wide community of online artists capable of creating brilliant, unique artwork.

heading: Get your artwork on 10 million desktops

Ubuntu, the world's most popular Linux distribution, needs a new theme. The winner will appear in the default desktop of Ubuntu 8.10.

We're looking for original wallpapers, that match Ubuntu's color palette. You entry should also include a suggested combination of application, icon, and window themes. These can be existing themes, or your own original works - you only need to submit a wallpaper to win.

Work must be CC licensed, and be openable in either Inkscape or Gimp (rest of criteria continues)

Submit your works to DeviantArt and include the words [Ubuntu810].


Good luck!

Ubuntu needs better artwork. Everybody know Fedora and Opensuse look better than ubuntu.
I'm not trying to say that the look is more important than the OS or the current theme is ugly but lets be honest the look is the first impression.

I appreciate the current efforts from ubuntu, but with this level of art I don't think "Ubuntu will surpass Apple in two years" as what Mark Shuttleworth said. I know there are a lot of buzz around deviantart this days, and I hope it makes some changes in intrepid, but with my full respect for the community contribution with the OS; ubuntu should have an artwork team which can be creative and handle this work correctly.

There has been a lot of positive talk in the past about replacing Pidgin with a better client that uses Telepathy but now there's one that looks like it's almost ready to do that! Empathy ( http://live.gnome.org/Empathy ) has much more potential than Pidgin since Empathy uses Telepathy ( http://telepathy.freedesktop.org ). Although i don't think Empathy is quite ready for this in Intrepid, it certainly will be for the next release.

(If you'd like to give it a try, don't use the old version in the Hardy repos, look here: http://cass.no-ip.com/~cassidy/blog/index.php/post/2008/04/14/Voice-and-video-c alls-with-Empathy )

The fact that Empathy uses Telepathy to manage all the different protocols it supports is what makes it so great. Why is it that Pidgin supports file transfers on AIM but not Jabber? Why can't i use VoIP to talk to my Google Talk friends in Pidgin?

Empathy will enable more desktop integration, better support for multiple protocols, and a happier user :)

The bottom line is that Empathy has been making much more progress and improving much faster than Pidgin thanks to Telepathy and including it in Ubuntu will only help the process along!

Major Update! Empathy is now part of Gnome-- http://blog.ibeentoubuntu.com/2008/08/gnome-has-empathy-for-you.html

Originally, i was really against the idea of a dark theme, and maybe i'd still prefer it if Ubuntu would lighten up a little. I understand the organic theme completely, but please...this is an operating system. Anyways, all the dark themes i had seen really turned me off and even the best ones seemed to be loved by some and hated by others. If we're going to have a dark theme, lets have one that we can all agree on. When i saw the Intrepid alpha screenshot, like many others, i gagged a little.

How people interact with their computer is really essential to their satisfaction. This is why aside from features, the software's stability (minimizing annoying bugs), speed (clean code and making everything as efficient and responsive as possible), and interface (look and feel) are the three most important things that should be our focus and be kept at a high priority.
We should really work to increase usability: http://mpt.net.nz/archive/2008/08/01/free-software-usability

I have looked through all the artwork submissions for Intrepid, and of all of them, this is the one dark theme that i would actually like to use: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Artwork/Incoming/Intrepid/Wall-light

I first saw it on this Digg submission: http://digg.com/linux_unix/Intrepid_Ibex_Mockup_Designs

Of course, i'm sure everyone will have input to make it even better. This isn't a final design, but vote for the concept so far!

P.S. Please Digg :) Thanks http://digg.com/linux_unix/Vote_for_a_beautiful_usable_Ubuntu

One of the serious problems in Ubuntu is that Gnome is a bit sluggish when it comes down to the graphics. Try to install AWN and you know that the icons literally look like shit (compared to OSX).
But the problem does not end there, the whole system should be vector graphics by now when it comes to rendering the windows, menus, icons and so on.

I know this is not a Ubuntu feature, but it should be pressed HARD upon so we also get the great crisp sharp user-interface OSX has. It does not make the system slower, just better. With vector graphics, CompizFusion could take a new leap forward since it is then not hold back by the limitations of bitmap images. Also new graphical applications would be easier to develop, see on the mac side where Quartz engine has helped make a sea out of new graphical applications. We need a Quarz engine for Gnome now!

I've used all of Mac, Windows, and Ubuntu, and have looked at all of their themes. Mac has the metal theme, whereas windows has the glass theme. Ubuntu has nothing in particular, just a rounded orange rectangle. This is not up to par with the rest of the operating systems. Ubuntu needs something more modern, and fresh, but still unique enough for someone to recognize it.

I personally like a theme along the lines of the Gommoso emerald theme (http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Gommoso?content=75530)
by usseldridge (its GPL)

I've tweaked the colors to match with the Glossy GTK theme, but someone could change the colors to match the orange style of ubuntu.That way, the theme won't be overbearingly orange, and still have ubuntu colors.

That theme is just my personal opinion, but i'm pretty sure that other people agree with me that the current ubuntu theme needs to be remade.

Microsoft just came out with a new ad to compete against the "I'm a Mac" ads.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkZdkHylJ3w

It would be cool if we could organise a community based come back ad where different users upload a short clip of them saying what they use their PC for and we edit it together similar to the Microsoft ad. The ad would point out that not all PCs are based on Windows and demonstrate all the different ways that Linux can be used and by all the different kids of people.

The world clock in Ubuntu seems to be behind times little bit.
It shows the city Mumbai by the name of Bombay. Bombay got renamed in 1999. So as you can see the Clock isn't lagging by much!
Also many Indian cities haven't had their names updated. These names were changed even before Ubuntu began.
Tere are many other important world cities whose names havent been updated. Plz do it since it doesnt create a good impression about Ubuntu. It is throurghly unprofessional!

There should be a hardware compatibility tool that a user can run to determine how compatible their hardware is with Ubuntu or Gobuntu and also whether there is non-native support for it. People are lazy and will want to know whether it will work before even trying the LiveCD.

Everyone by now has seen the world famous mockups of what Ubuntu apparently should look like. The problem is that what is shown in those mockups is not yet possible with the current way gnome works.

I worry with everyone clambering for this mythical theme and with time running out before 8.10 ships, what will end up happening is Ubuntu will ship with the same old problematic brown and orange theme that is so hated by a lot of people.

There is a solution though...

The Dust theme
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Artwork/Incoming/Intrepid/DustTheme

The Dust theme has gotten a lot of praises on Digg and is easily as sexy as anything I've personally seen for Linux (and I'm not usually a fan of dark themes), bust most promising of all... is actually possible with the current technology we have at our disposal.

It's time to be bold! Stop defaulting to the same brown and orange and make a big bold change. Embrace Dust.

Yes you will get a few idiots who will say it's too like Vista just because it's black, but ignore them people. The wider tech community will praise Ubuntu for finally ditching its dorky themes and becoming sophisticated and sexy. New users will be eager to try out this Ubuntu thing they have heard so much about.

In Mac OSX Finder, this view displays the hierarchy of the file system in a series of left-to-right panes: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_Tiger/Using_the_Finder#Column_View

I find it terribly useful when you have a deep structured directory hierarchy, especially when you want to move a file several levels up.

Actually, we have 5 wallpapers, 9 themes and 80+ SCREENSAVERS!!!

WHAT THE HELL!

Who need that amount of screensavers?

I think we should vote five to the default installation, and the other ones comes with a optional package?

Isn't gnome "keep it simple"?

For me just a "dim screen" is enough for default.

Well, we have a dictionary in there don't we? So why not, it would be handy. Especially for writers, people in school, etc.