Contributor fragro

Currently, the only characters that Ubuntu does not support in filenames and paths are slashes, while Windows has a considerable list (apostrophes, asterisks, etc.).

Creating a file on a NTFS drive in Ubuntu and naming it with one of these characters causes Windows to be unable to read the file and anything beneath it in the directory structure. This is extremely dangerous.

Ubuntu should automatically strip these characters (or prompt for them to be renamed) when creating/moving/renaming files on NTFS drives in order to prevent crashes, and allow user's to access their files from Windows.

First this is a multi-issue in that mounting of volumes into the file system is very inconsistent. This includes mounting volumes in the EXT format, the NTFS format, and SMB. Primarily I'm focusing on correcting the HDD mounts so they work properly without creating any sort of work on the part of the end user.

A guy comes into my shop and wants Ubuntu. He has 3 HDDs. One is in NTFS, which holds legacy files. The other two are ready and set for EXT3. I format the two as Ext3. One holds the OS the other is just for data.

We have to edit the fstab manually, by hand, and type in a cryptic line. Then we have to manually make the folder under /media and give it the proper permissions. ALL MANUALLY. Next time it boots we have the 2nd HDD working properly. Then we have to work out the NTFS mount. So, we go in and get the NTFS-3g support and run their front end. Now we can mount all 3.

Ubuntu is new to him, so in 2 months he manages to mess up his install. He brings it back, I redo it, and when I get to the mounting of the 2nd HDD it just won't mount automatically no matter what I do. gParted works fine. It finds the device and allows me to mount it, but no editing of the fstab will resolve the issue.

On other occasions the ntfs volume won't mount. I turns out that the flag indicating proper NTFS dismount didn't occur and the driver won't let me mount the volume unless I clear this flag or I go into the fstab and force it to mount. But that requires a manual edit of a text file.

Often times I'll add a USB HDD and it just won't mount. No error messages, nothing. Just no mount. Other times it will take the wrong mount point depending on what I have currently mounted. It will display the wrong mount name on the desktop which does not correspond to the actual files on the drive.

The same goes for the EXT volumes I have mounted. Often they will show up switched around. For instance, I have 3 320 gig SATA drives. Two of drives will sometimes show up switched around. It is never the one with the file system on it that improperly mounts it is always the two data drives.

[....]

The Guys over at "https://launchpad.net/long-term-vision" have done some really interesting work. It would be glad if ubuntu would push the development of this really beautiful Theme concept.

pressing the play key now play Rhythmbox or totem.
We can do the following:
1-if rhythmbox was not open, pressing the play key will open it.
2-play/pause must play and pause rhythmbox and totem respectively if they are both open.
3- We can make more fun with using Multilmedia keys, especially they are essential part of most the Laptops available everyday.Please suggest any other functionalities :)

There should be an option to print images black/white in the KDE print dialog.

The GNOME print dialog has this feature - the KDE one just very hidden in the printer driver options.

When I now open a big PDF file with many pages it will take some time before the page is loaded.

In Xubuntu, The printer configuration application is in the Settings menu, but the printer jobs are managed from an application in the Accessories menu.

Why they are in two different menus is mind-boggling.

These should be the same application, or there should at least be a way of launching one application from the other.
(Sometimes a problem with a print job is due to a problem with the settings. So it makes sense that one should be able to switch between the applications.)

I don't use Gnome regularly, so I don't know if this is also relevant to other Ubuntu distributions.

It seems that for interpid openoffice 2.4 is planed as the office suite. I use openoffice 3 beta 2 every day and it seems that this ab is very stable. So I propose that you include the 3.0 version or an RC of it in the final interpid.

They have made really a lot of improvements and everyone will benefit of it.

I know that you would have to create a packet yourself and can't just import from debian, but I would really appreciate your work.

Fedora is currently working on improving the startup experience by implementing Plymouth:
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/FeatureBetterStartup

By doing this, transition from Grub to GDM (or KDM or whatever) would be done almost instantly. Plymouth will use a graphical boot mode with a fallback method to text for those computers that don't have hardware support.

No secret: a lot of developers out there don't want to bother making .deb or .rpm files because they consider it a waste of time.

My latest Ubuntu convert actually gave up Ubuntu because he's a habitual downloader and not many websites provide .deb files for installation on an Ubuntu machine.

Actually, habitual downloading completely destroyed the ability of anybody to even have pleasure in using Windows on his computer before I got him to try Ubuntu. Apparently, if you have too many items in the All Programs menu on XP, your computer freezes for like 15-30 minutes. I said: I'll give you a month of follow-ups for free if I don't have to fix Windows. While it would be better if he didn't download every app on the face of the planet, that's what he wants to do, even if it's just every Linux app on the face of the planet.

I really doubt this guy is the only habitual downloader out there.

In any case, offering to make .deb files for everyone that may want to offer a .deb would not only catch more of the habitual-downloader market, but help build greater brand ubiquity for Ubuntu.

For applications downloadable from a website, in which Ubuntu provided this service, there could be an image stating "Debian file provided by Ubuntu" or something similar. So not only would Ubuntu be providing a service for developers and improving the state of 3rd-party software distribution for all debian systems, these services could possibly be traded for free marketing.

Our bootloader (stored in the MBR) is generally messed up when installing another OS after Linux. Another problem is that swapping internal HDD's around, normally prevents booting too (because the hardcoded drive addresses change), with the only fix generally being to use a repair CD which will undoubtedly rewipe the MBR and delete Grub again.

I propose that we offer a new bootloader install method: The permanently connected memory stick (via USB).

By dumping the boot-loader on a USB stick (they are cheap), it can be removed when another OS is being installed, and it will be safe from getting overwritten.

And Grub 2, allows the use of scripts, which we could use to automatically detect operating systems and boot them without risk of booting breaking. We could also drop harddisks into the computer with OS's on them and boot without configuring grub again, or use the memory stick to help boot other computers with an already broken MBR.

The network manager prompts for password while accessing keyring to connect to wireless networks.. This is avoidable by some workarounds, but still doesn't work when automatic logon is enabled

Also in cases when wireless AP is down for sometime, it doesnt seem to connect back automatically when AP is *visible* again.

Network Manager should have the ability to identify the network that devices are on, and run appropriate scripts based on the networks (akin to what one can do using guessnet).

Ideally, one should define a set of network tests (wireless essids, arping, ping, maybe an API for using custom "plugin" tests). If tests pass, then one can run a shell script (e.g. enable/disable printers, connect to shared drives, set preferred Thunderbird profiles, etc.), enable/disable services, etc.

A separate feature would be to have a user-friendly wizard that allows one to add common tasks like default printers.

When one configures a device, one can associate tests with those devices (e.g. wireless tests for my wireless card, tests for my work network to the wired lan and vpn).

A wizard could create some default tests, such as identifying the router or access point one is connected to for a particular device.

This may also require authoring some useful companion (command-line) tools, such as something to select the default profile/accont/identity in Thunderbird. But with the funcitonality added to NM, this would encourage develpers to create such utlities.

For laptop users, this would be a great feature. One shows to work, school or returns home, connects the computer, and has custom settings enabled, or one connects to an unfamiliar location (e.g. a network cafe) and some services are locked down for extra security (or maybe even "phones home" in case the laptop is stolen).

Improve Dell's Laptops sales, through banners, mails, Ads.. also via Ubuntu website! (frozen news at june...)

And i think that other builders may get surprised and then "be cool", making a proper line of "Ubuntu"-oriented PCS

Make this plugin runnable for Monodevelop 1.0 and Backport them to hardy!

Bring some Translucency effects into Gnome.we can see nice translucency effect on button,Three actions while using buttons like Task bar Application button:
Normal without any effect and when pressed and when mouse over.add Glossy Panel,even translucency into Task bar,more translucent icons.Make Translucent Application Button in Task bar,it is barely visible and not good looking with present Ubuntu icon,Make it Bigger,Brighter,Translucent.i think some themes like clear looks tried a hand at making buttons Translucent.

Hey,

Why do i need to restart my pc to get the nvidia driver working?

insmod nvidia and a X restart should be enough right!

So with that knowledge again: Why do i need a restart?
It's not modifying the base kernel which is about the only thing that requires a restart on linux and you can only get it that far if you install a new kernel or compile a new one.

My suggestion:
Kick out the restart demand and just restart X.

Edit//
If you vote this idea down tell me why because i can't think of a reason where a reboot would be better then my suggestion.

Hello everyone!

I am using hardy heron 8.04 with user-compiled ipw3945 driver for my wireless network card, because default iwl3945 doesn't work with my university's network. But so far I've seen, ipw3945 has more features than iwl3945:
1.) better scan sensitivity
2.) works with wireless networks that require 802.1X authentication
3.) excellent power saving features (using ipw3945 over iwl3945 increases my laptop battery life by cca 45 minutes)
4.) ipw3945 is open source driver and not proprietary (although jockey-gtk detects it as proprietary) - sources that I have include GPLv2/BSD licence

QGTKStyle is a Qt Style which uses GTK native widgets to provide GNOME native look and feel.

It would be nice if a package of it was present in the repositories. It would be greater if it was automatically installed with the Qt4 libraries and KDE4.

Links:
* Home Page: http://labs.trolltech.com/blogs/2008/05/13/introducing-qgtkstyle/

there are some ideas like http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/4901/ that are, as you can see here, already implemented - to make http links work automatically in Brainstorm.

But it would be also useful to have the keywords "Idea #XXXXX" interpreted as a link:
Then I could write just "Idea #10660" or "idea 10660"
and it would automatically appear as "Idea #10660"
without the <a href="...">foo</a> tags.

Same could be done with "bug #XXXX"
I like cross - linking.

http://launchpad.net and http://bugs.kde.org does this fine.