Contributor hellocatfood - Ubuntu brainstorm

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The Ubuntu community has contributed 21986 ideas, 135057 comments, 2615221 votes

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Contributor hellocatfood

Power manager should implement options to extend battery lifespan

Written by sandys the 27 Feb 10 at 10:54. Related project: Device Manager (gnome). New

Many third party utilities (like Lenovo thinkpads, etc.) implement algorithms to increase battery lifespan (viz the amount of time you can use a battery, before you have to replace it), especially when laptop is plugged in to mains power - http://www.apple.com/batteries/
Battery lifespan is highly dependent on charging behavior - a continuously charged laptop will need to replace its battery more frequently than one with smart charging.

In linux, it has been available to a limited extent using the TP_smapi package, viz no longer available in Karmic (http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Tp_smapi#Battery_charge_control_features)

The power managers should have options available to extend battery lifespan - it would be an extremely cool and useful feature for all of us who use laptops.

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81
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Solution #2: Power management Profiles on Battery Power

Written by specialcowboy the 14 Mar 10 at 08:54.

I am relatively new to Ubuntu and I understand that in Lucid there are plans or already an implementation for better power management. As I haven't seen the alphas myself I thought I would suggest a few things. Sorry if these are already being implemented and this is redundant. This site: http://salcher.posterous.com/?tag=ubuntu suggests a few ways to optimize batter life using Powertop and manually configuring files in /etc/laptop-mode/conf.d/. I think it would be great if there was a GUI front end for this that allowed adjusting of the settings and creating of various profiles (rather than editing .conf files directly). Similar to the Power Management functionality included on Acer laptops (ie clocking down the processor, disabling card buses, USB, ethernet, wireless, etc.).

40
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See the 5 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 12 May 12 at 08:24) >>

Give Gimp, Inkscape and Scribus a unified look and feel

Written by ubby the 26 Jun 09 at 10:14. Related project: GIMP Image Editor. New

Adobe has a Creative Suite with a unified look and feel that is very easy to work with for people who daily work with the Adobe Creative Suite programs.

Information about Adobe Creative Suite:
http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/

Information about Gimp, Inkscape and Scribus:
http://www.gimp.org
http://www.inkscape.org
http://www.scribus.net

631
votes

Solution #1: Give Gimp, Inkscape and Scribus a unified look and feel

Written by ubby the 26 Jun 09 at 10:14.

This will make Gimp, Inkscape and Scribus better to compete with the Adobe Creative Suite.
Because of a unified look and feel it will be easier to work with the programs.

To accomplish this the developers of the programs need to work together.
Maybe the developers can get help from universities who are working with graphic software.

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420
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Solution #3: Develop a "recommended" UI plan for gnome projects.

Written by Darwin Survivor the 26 Jun 09 at 20:09.

I'm not sure if one already exists, so bear with me.

One of the problems I believe is keeping programs from unifying is the lack of a recommended UI design. People start making projects and just throw buttons at it whenever they need a new feature. Over time the layout becomes caotic and a huge mess, so the project enters a "fix-it" stage where the UI is redone and made more functional.

The problem is that each project is doing this individually and only taking small hints from other projects. If there were a simple, elegant and extendable layout and scheme for gnome, or linux for that matter, it would help the projects in the "fix-it" stage to evolve into having similarly designed UIs.

What we need is that simple, elegant yet extensible layout design and a group of people (or projects) to start pushing it.

157
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Solution #4: Ensure that all creative applications work properly with Gnome-Globalmenu

Written by ethana2 the 28 Jun 09 at 23:35.

When you have a large screen with a scribus or inkscape window maximized, a menu bar that's not on the top screen edge becomes inconvenient. While ubuntu isn't likely to default to a global menu for a variety of reasons, it's a crucial part of the professional workflow --ask any graphic designer who uses a Mac Pro with a Cinema display.

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See the 27 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 12 Apr 12 at 07:52) >>

System Restore

No information about this blueprint
Information is updated every 5 minutes.
Please wait till the next update.

Written by lejeunerandy the 29 Feb 08 at 10:37. Global category: System. New

I ran into a guy who did something to screw up his security settings and couldn't find out precisely what. he eventually had to reinstall. A "System Restore" option would have been a good idea for him. I don't think it wil be useful as it would be under Windows, but in the event of a lockout or something getting seriously broken, it would be a godsend to new users. It could be as simple as a cron script that takes snaphosts of the system after every logout or administrative change and allows you to rollback the changes.

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Solution #3: Desktop cloud config backup, reinstallation and disaster recovery

Written by SPM the 2 Aug 09 at 11:33.

The syncronization would be achieved by pushing package selection to the server after synaptic or apt completes, and using rsync for the rest. The home directory, and /etc directory that are backed up should be stored in an encrypted form (encrypted using the local machine administrative user password which should not be stored on the Canonical or Amazon website. There should be some indication to the user of the machine that it is being backed up or synchronized to the Internet so that the system cannot be set up to surreptitiously capture data by a third party who would register on the website and use the service as a trojan without the knowledge of the desktop's Ubuntu administrative user. The encryption of personal data also ensures privacy of personal data from the corporate system administrator (which a lot of managers would want). If individual files and directories are required to be backed up unencrypted to guard against loss of the local machine's administrative password, the an additional unencrypted rsync backup can be specified for those specific files and directories, and/or for all files in the /etc directory and /home directory files that are readable by "others".

The Canonical service which would not involve storing huge amounts of data as it would only include configuration and package data would not cost much, and the information on package use and customer base would probably pay for itself. Hence it should be viable to offer it free to registered users. In addition, data files would be stored on Amazon's S3 cloud storage, and Amazon could perhaps pay Canonical for the users directed to its S3 cloud storage.

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Solution #6: Add "Repair existing system" option to installer

Written by SeySayux the 29 Feb 08 at 10:54.

Other OS'es (Windows, Mac OS X, yes even SUSE, ...) have a "Repair existing system" option. This allows to reinstall the OS without having to reformat. All it would have to do is to manually check and repair dpkg/apt-get, next it has to reinstall every package present on the cd. Very easy, not too hard to implement, many users that would be very happy. Why not do it?

See the 21 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 9 Apr 12 at 03:51) >>

Previews different types of files

Ubuntu

In :
Priority :	Undefined
Definition :	New (Needs guidance)
Implementation :	Good progress
Assignee :

Written by spg76 the 28 Feb 08 at 17:50. Global category: Others. New

I've been playing around with Apple Mac OS X Leopard and, although the system didn't impress me that much, I loved one feature that I really like to see in Ubuntu.
It's called Quick Look, and allows you to view the contents of a file without open its default application.
This is great when you have a folder with different types of files (JPG, MPG, DOC) and you want see the content of the files quickly without open many applications (Eog, Totem, OpenOffice Writer in this case)
You can look how this work in Mac OS X on here, here and here.

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Solution #3: Dynamic previews

Written by lastomega7 the 6 Nov 08 at 22:29.

We can already preview audio files by single-clicking them. I propose functionality along these lines be added to other files, for example:

Text files: the icon could smoothly enlarge into a very minimal text reader/editor
Image files: along the same lines as text files
Tarballs/Folders: the folder icon unfolds/enlarges into a minimal window displaying its contents

There would be a lot of room for eye-candy, but I think the interfaces for the previewing programs should be very simple, possibly even without a titlebar.

See the 28 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 4 Apr 12 at 12:59) >>

Configure Ubuntu Programs During Installation

Written by Klau3 the 27 Jan 10 at 20:15. Related project: Live CD installer. Won't implement

Installation process should give people the choice to select some standard programms.
Someone using Thunderbird as mail client doesn't need Evolution...
It is not about installing all kinds of programms during the installation process, but about selecting the most common programms easily.

The other thing is that a lot of people don't know that ubuntu can play DVD videos, because they just don't know about libdvdcss2, “ubuntu restricted extras” and how to install them.

Example: my parents cannot install libdvdcss2 without my help. This should change!

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Solution #14: Optional Microsoft Application Compatibility

Written by justintime03_2 the 9 Feb 10 at 02:13.

I know this sounds like heresy, but Ubuntu already has this in the repositories. Why not make it easier for new Ubuntu users to run their Windows applications. That's one of the biggest complaints I've heard. A lot of people don't know they can use WINE without digging around on the net. There's a lot who never know they have the option. Have the option to install WINE in the Configure Ubuntu Programs tool at first boot. I think this is crucial.

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Solution #16: not enough space, internet and other problems

Written by Goury the 12 Feb 10 at 10:54.

there is no problems to include this one to DVD
also there is one more thing needed - ability to install more than one app of any type
there is tons of ppls who uses chromium AND firefox because first is fast and second sometimes shows pages more accurate and have more extensions

also: do not include opera and chrome. include chromium and some other free (as freedom, not as beer) browsers

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Solution #18: add network-manager plugins here

Written by Goury the 13 Feb 10 at 08:17.

90% russian internets is pptp vpn so option pptp must include needed packages to pptp-vpn plugin works in network manager (its stable enough)
many ppl in europes uses some oter vpn (i am not sure) so option to install oter vpn type is needed too

a lot of peoples uses wifis or something else to interneting
and we all know that ubuntu without internet is 99% dualbooting to windows or uninstalling - ubuntu MUST HAVE internet after installation so all interneting packages must be included at least to dvd, but on cd is good too AND thete must be option to install them - its very difficult task to noobs to install vpn or something else packages

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Solution #21: Solution #3, but also include option to choose Office suite

Written by magallucas the 16 Feb 10 at 20:53.

Some people (including me) have a personal preference for certain Office suites. Include a chance to choose the preferred suite (OpenOffice by default) would also be interesting. The options could be KOffice, Lotus Symphony, etc..

Integrated to Solution #12, the idea is even more complete: Accessing "Favorite Applications", the User can change your kit software more easily after you install the OS. For example, to change the option favorite browser "Firefox" to "Google Chrome", the Software Center automatically uninstall Firefox and install Chrome, making it the default browser. Happen the same way with the other favorite applications.

In case if the User wants to keep the two browsers (Firefox and Chrome), usually just select the Software Center - as is currently done - so both will be installed. Then just go to "Favorite Applications" and switch to Chrome, which is already installed - Firefox would remain, but the Chrome would be the primary browser.

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Solution #26: Not during installation, but in the Welcome Screen

Written by pazuzuthewise the 3 Apr 10 at 02:55.

I believe that this option for adding software during OS install that cannot possibly fit on a CD medium, and therefore necessitates internet connection, could end up in a failed install process if the connection fails, as could happen with a 3G connection during bad weather conditions.
I certainly agree that the options presented in Solution #3 should be presented to the user in an informative manner - who, especially if new to linux, would otherwise have no clue what to do to be able to watch a DVD, for example - but not during OS install, but integrated in the Welcome Window that appears at the first login, maybe having a link in it to the Add/Remove Software, which, in turn should have these options on a main page.

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Solution #28: Choose the applications from the website before download

Written by thipv the 9 May 10 at 23:12.

It would make the process more flexible letting us to choose the programs before getting the iso, creating a customized image. You would select everything from the system architecture (32, 64, ppc, arm...) to desktop environment (gnome, kde, xfce, lxde...) or special environments (moblin based, netbook remix...), suggesting their default applications for each one, and let you change or remove them and choose additional programs, even restricted ones, informing the restrictions.
This would also be good because you would always be getting the most updated packages.

5
votes

Solution #29: Solution #3, #21, #23 ... + User choise

Written by JasLicno the 12 May 10 at 23:26.

User should decide which program will use.solution is simple:
Configure programs during installation:
1. button - ubuntu suggested
2. button - user defined ... list of all available programs
+ (because is impossible to have that big source of programs)

after installing, program that will give you option to make a clone of your installation, so next instalation of your system will be faster and with 100% personal programs. (this is not my idea, I have read about this as option in one of linux distributions)

7
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Solution #30: enable account transfer

Written by switchgirl the 30 Jun 10 at 21:21.

enable a way of saving account details to ubuntu one so that one can transfer all your accounts (yahoo, hotmail,gmail icq... irc... jabber.. everything) to the new machine this will help with setting up of new machines - like if someone has a laptop, web book and other machines, they really down want to have to set up all the different accounts multiple times. i'm not suggesting emails as this is too much data but enabling people to sync account details, and passwords would be good and improve ubuntu installs

0
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See the 55 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 29 Mar 12 at 21:01) >>

Use the new Ubuntu notifications to alert when hardware is detected

Written by christophski the 3 Jun 09 at 10:51. Related project: Gnome. Won't implement

At the moment, if I plug in a webcam or a USB mouse, there is nothing visual to say that Ubuntu has correctly detected the new hardware, to see if it's been properly detected, I have to actually start using it.

(wasn't sure what related project to put)

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Solution #5: Green popup=working hardware / Red popup=not supported, extra attention...

Written by walterav the 7 Jun 09 at 22:37.

It might give a "false assumption" that the hardware is also supported and directly working with ubuntu.

My suggestion would be that it gives a notification that is green/if the hardware directly works, it might fade away!

Other wise make the notification "red" with a extra dialog box that say's this hardware is not supported, or needs the following procedure, or something with cancel.

This idea can be combined with solution 1 / 3

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Solution #6: Menu

Written by Mentalikryst the 14 Jun 09 at 22:05.

Give a menu that gives some information such as:

*Status
*Compatibility
*Type of Device
*Programs which use the device (So give Nautilus/Dolphin for a USB Flash Drive, Network Manager for a WiFi adapter, etc.)

The menu would fade away and would not be obtrusive, but would give the user information about the device and give options on what to do.

78
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Solution #7: Solution 1 + icon that provides configuration

Written by DaVince the 15 Jun 09 at 22:25.

It would probably be a good idea to have an icon pop up while a notification is shown, so that accessibility to configuration of this little tool is available. Anyone who doesn't like the notifications or wants to disable them for certain hardware will be able to do so by clicking this icon (a special configuration window will pop up).

The icon will automatically disappear shortly after the notification was shown.

3
votes

See the 28 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 19 Feb 12 at 03:19) >>

Auto detect the Wireless Security for WEP encryption

Written by shang the 17 Jun 09 at 17:20. Related project: Network Manager. New

I understand WEP is not the most secure wireless encryption. However,
many people still use it at home these days. MANY users have the "pass"
but doesn't know which security option to pick. In Jaunty, We have:

WEP 40/128-bit Key
WEP 128-bit Passphrase

427
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183
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See the 6 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 1 Feb 12 at 11:59) >>

A way to open windows which were accidentally closed

Written by Gaz Davidson the 19 Feb 10 at 13:21. Related project: Nautilus. Not an idea

Firefox and Chrome both have a wonderful feature where you can open a recently closed tab by pressing CTRL+Shift+T, I sometimes find myself pressing it in other applications after closing a window. It would be nice if it was supported outside the browser.

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Solution #4: Extend session support of application

Written by Lachu the 21 Feb 10 at 12:27.

Extend way how application supports sessions. There should exist signals, like HIBERNATE(save session) to file, RESTORE SESSION from file, etc.

Window Managers could use this feature to achieve idea goal, but not all application could been integrated. The behavior is: give application order to save session in $HOME/.sessions-tmp/$CURRENT_DATE/pid/WINDOWID(or whole session if user wanna to close application instead of window).

To restore window, WM's will give only the same location with signal RESTORE.

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Solution #5: 'Recently Closed' tray

Written by Afroman10496 the 21 Feb 10 at 23:52.

Put a recently closed tray next to the workspace applet that holds the last three (changeable by the user) windows that you closed in the state they were in when you closed it, showing when it was closed and a screenshot of it when you closed it. Clicking on it should open a menu showing options to open, close, minimize, maximize, move, or move it to another workspace.
http://yfrog.com/juscreenshotckp

55
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Solution #6: Allow applications to register that they can be resumed.

Written by Darwin Survivor the 23 Feb 10 at 00:02.

When an application closes, it would have the ability to "register" with the window manager that it is now closing and can be resumed by executing .

The window manager is now in complete control over whether or not to offer the session to the user.

This would allow:
-any app to be written to allow session resuming
-the app can de-register itself if the user resumes or creates a new session
-the app actually closes (no sleeping or anything)
-the user could chose how many "closes" to remember (wm disregards anything older)
-backwards compatible (would not affect apps that don't implement it)
-apps that already have a resume command don't need to change their switches (they tell the wm what to call)
-apps could create numerous sessions by registering with different commands (ex: app --resume )

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See the 19 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 26 Dec 11 at 18:31) >>

Create a really good DVD Authoring Application

Written by babis79 the 7 May 08 at 18:09. Global category: Multimedia. New

There is no good DVD Authoring software available for the GNOME Desktop. Something easy to use but still powerful. See Apple's iDVD as an good example.
http://www.apple.com/ilife/idvd/

The app should provide a good media integration of other GNOME applications like F-Spot for Photo selecting or Banshee/Rhythmbox for songs selections, etc.

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See the 12 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 13 Dec 11 at 07:13) >>

GIMP is out from Lucid Lynx.

Written by hellmet the 20 Nov 09 at 18:49. Related project: GIMP Image Editor. Won't implement

GIMP is being taken off the default install due to "CD space" problems. However, it should remain easily accessible/installable.

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Solution #5: give a simple paint app

Written by yzarc the 21 Nov 09 at 14:37.

Very often I just wanna draw an arrow over a map and write "the party is here!". Or just crop a picture.

And it's a pain to do it in gimp. It's like operate war tank to kill an ant. Please give us a simple image editor, no layers, no vectors, no Filters, etc. Try to remember the first time you opened the gimp. What do I do with all these windows and tools?

341
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Solution #6: Add an applications section to the installer

Written by tehalynn the 21 Nov 09 at 23:31.

When someone installs Ubuntu, they are shown an applications page with the following options:

1. Install all default applications. Some will need to be downloaded.
2. Install only default applications that do not need to be downloaded.
3. Select which applications to install.

Option 1 will install applications that are not on the CD, such as GIMP, by downloading and installing them when an internet connection is made.

Option 2 will install only applications on the CD. It should tell the user how to get them later if they change their mind.

Option 3 shows a page listing applications that will be installed. The user can exclude applications they do not want, and include ones they do. Here's a mockup of the general idea:

Only major applications need to be mentioned here. This is not a replacement for Ubuntu Software Center/Synaptic.

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Solution #8: first run

Written by nloewen the 23 Nov 09 at 05:02.

At the first boot of the system after install, a dialog box could pop up asking if the user would like some help setting up there system. It could go through users and what not as well as ask what the user would like to use there computer for. if they select something like photo editing or replacement for photo-shop, the program would select GIMP for install with a button to let them select a different program from the repository.

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Solution #10: Offer Multiple ISO downloads

Written by fix98-win the 24 Nov 09 at 09:58.

CD-Rs come in packs more often than not.

Offer for download in ISO format a two disc system with just Ubuntu on the first disc and extra applications on the second disc. This would possibly be in addition to the standard one disc system.

This way, users can save both discs for when they need to reinstall software that came with the system, but are offline.

Besides, using two discs frees up space for more software to be included with ubuntu by default.

ps: Don't forget to give users a choice of which applications to install from the second disc.

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Solution #14: Remove every internet related application.

Written by Vladimir Hidalgo the 26 Nov 09 at 01:46.

This is a mix of previous solutions, but what I propose is to remove basically everything on "Internet" menu but Firefox.

Why?, because people that need those internet related apps do *have* internet to use them, therefore they can download & install them in an easy one-click install process like described in #1.

That is, to remove by default:

-Transmission
-Pidgin/Empathy/Ekiga
-Terminal Server Client
-Evolution
-Ubuntu One

I mean, common, those are needed only if you have Internet, so they can be pulled & installed on first use.

429
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Solution #15: Software Center should have a "recommended Software" section

Written by Umang the 26 Nov 09 at 12:59.

The software center should have a "Recommended Software" section where programs such as Thunderbird and GIMP are offered for downloading.

New users are flooded with too many packages to actually get a taste of the best FOSS can provide them. This section should be some sort of an exclusive section and only stable and very popular software should be included.

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Solution #18: Include KolourPaint instead of GIMP

Written by 8bit the 27 Nov 09 at 07:34.

The thing missing from Ubuntu is a simple, MS Paint-like program. These are nice in that they are easy to learn, run smoothly on low end system, lack clutter, have small install footprints, and open up seemingly instantly. KolourPaint is all of these:

Pros:

-The design is good. It doesn't feel cramped, it feels uniform and inviting, and most of the button icons are self-explainable. It basically looks like a prettier, shinier pre-Windows 7 MS Paint.
-It functions almost identically to MS Paint. A casual Windows user likely wouldn't be able to notice the difference, and the time it would take to transition would be minimal
-Start up time is fast
-All features that are in KolourPaint and not in MS Paint are pretty useful, and in no way get in the way of the MS Paint-like features.
-The undo history is huge. Where as MS Paint only allows 2 undos, I've gone back hundreds of actions and still haven't hit a wall
-Anything that's been changed from MS Paint has been changed for the better. Zoom is more powerful, the eraser has more brush sizes, the shape tools let you choose line thickness from within their tool box, and don't require you to switch to the line tool to choose line thickness.
-It's pretty stable. I had a weird hangup when using the zoom tool once, but I haven't been able to reproduce it since, and gPaint, on the other hand, crashes whenever I click on the 'fill' tool.

[...]

-As I mentioned, there are a couple of original tools- The connected lines tool, the color eraser tool, the freeform selection tool, but the most interesting addition is the Color Similarity tool which allows a user to set selection threshold for the fill tool. (and other tools, presumably) What this means is that you can have two, very similar colors, set this setting to something high, and then use the fill tool on one, and it will fill two. This is very useful, and is somewhat analogous to the magic wand tool/color select.
-Supports saving in a multitude of files.
-Supports editing in a multitude of files. (including XCF)
-Sort of has support for transparency (THIS IS AWESOME!)
-Only just over 2MB in size, as compared to GIMP's 14MB
-Everything is in one window. I quite like this.
-Free and open source. Uses the BSD license.
-It's being actively developed.

Cons:

-No layering support
-Very limited transparency support. While transparency itself is supported, translucency isn't, so you can't have an image with parts that are sort of transparent. It's either completely transparency, or completely opaque.
-No transparency for the tools. This seems obvious considering the above. You can't set transparency levels for, say, the paintbrush, for example.
-There's an uneven number of tools, meaning that there is a space where an icon could go which is empty. (Not a big deal at all.)
-The 'fill' tool isn't a paint bucket, so it may be confusing for a half a second, but the icon makes sense, and is more elegant than a paint bucket.
-The color picker icon looks like a safety pin to me, which was confusing at first.
-When you pull on the edge of the canvas to enlarge it, it doesn't resize in real time. Instead, it shows you a selection box sort of thing. (MS Paint does this in real time.) This is incredibly knit-picky. 99% of people wouldn't even notice this, I don't really care, some might even prefer it.
-Does not support saving in XCF format.
-It ate up my processor once, forcing me to restart my whole system, once. I've tried pretty hard, though, and I haven't been able to show the issue again. It's entirely possible it was another piece of software I was running. Other than that, it runs completely smooth.
-On a live CD 2MB can still be substantial, but it's definitely an improvement over 14.
-The color swatches bar takes up a little bit too much vertical space in my opinion. Why can't the color profile be on the right side, rather than above? There's all that extra horizontal space, afterall.

In conclusion, the cons are either extremely knit-picky, or exist in similar programs, such as gPaint and MS Paint, anyway. KolourPaint seems perfect for the live CD as a lightweight, Paint-like program. I highly recommend it.

GIMP, on the other hand, is just too large for Live CDs, too unweildly for casual users, and really easy to get for anyone who actually needs it.

Pros:

-The design is good. It doesn't feel cramped, it feels uniform and inviting, and most of the button icons are self-explainable. It basically looks like a prettier, shinier pre-Windows 7 MS Paint.
-It functions almost identically to MS Paint. A casual Windows user likely wouldn't be able to notice the difference, and the time it would take to transition would be minimal
-Start up time is fast
-All features that are in KolourPaint and not in MS Paint are pretty useful, and in no way get in the way of the MS Paint-like features.
-The undo history is huge. Where as MS Paint only allows 2 undos, I've gone back hundreds of actions and still haven't hit a wall
-Anything that's been changed from MS Paint has been changed for the better. Zoom is more powerful, the eraser has more brush sizes, the shape tools let you choose line thickness from within their tool box, and don't require you to switch to the line tool to choose line thickness.
-It's pretty stable. I had a weird hangup when using the zoom tool once, but I haven't been able to reproduce it since, and gPaint, on the other hand, crashes whenever I click on the 'fill' tool.
-As I mentioned, there are a couple of original tools- The connected lines tool, the color eraser tool, the freeform selection tool, but the most interesting addition is the Color Similarity tool which allows a user to set selection threshold for the fill tool. (and other tools, presumably) What this means is that you can have two, very similar colors, set this setting to something high, and then use the fill tool on one, and it will fill two. This is very useful, and is somewhat analogous to the magic wand tool/color select.
-Supports saving in a multitude of files.
-Supports editing in a multitude of files. (including XCF)
-Sort of has support for transparency (THIS IS AWESOME!)
-Only just over 2MB in size, as compared to GIMP's 14MB
-Everything is in one window. I quite like this.
-Free and open source. Uses the BSD license.
-It's being actively developed.

Cons:

-No layering support
-Very limited transparency support. While transparency itself is supported, translucency isn't, so you can't have an image with parts that are sort of transparent. It's either completely transparency, or completely opaque.
-No transparency for the tools. This seems obvious considering the above. You can't set transparency levels for, say, the paintbrush, for example.
-There's an uneven number of tools, meaning that there is a space where an icon could go which is empty. (Not a big deal at all.)
-The 'fill' tool isn't a paint bucket, so it may be confusing for a half a second, but the icon makes sense, and is more elegant than a paint bucket.
-The color picker icon looks like a safety pin to me, which was confusing at first.
-When you pull on the edge of the canvas to enlarge it, it doesn't resize in real time. Instead, it shows you a selection box sort of thing. (MS Paint does this in real time.) This is incredibly knit-picky. 99% of people wouldn't even notice this, I don't really care, some might even prefer it.
-Does not support saving in XCF format.
-It ate up my processor once, forcing me to restart my whole system, once. I've tried pretty hard, though, and I haven't been able to show the issue again. It's entirely possible it was another piece of software I was running. Other than that, it runs completely smooth.
-On a live CD 2MB can still be substantial, but it's definitely an improvement over 14.
-The color swatches bar takes up a little bit too much vertical space in my opinion. Why can't the color profile be on the right side, rather than above? There's all that extra horizontal space, afterall.

In conclusion, the cons are either extremely knit-picky, or exist in similar programs, such as gPaint and MS Paint, anyway. KolourPaint seems perfect for the live CD as a lightweight, Paint-like program. I highly recommend it.

GIMP, on the other hand, is just too large for Live CDs, too unweildly for casual users, and really easy to get for anyone who actually needs it.

127
votes

Solution #19: Ubuntu App Collections

Written by 8bit the 27 Nov 09 at 07:41.

Mozilla has a section of their Firefox add-ons site dedicated to Add-on Collections. These are collections of add-ons handpicked by developers for different uses, (Web developer, family, etc..) which can be downloaded and installed with a single click. Implement a similar section for full applications in the AppCenter. Have one for artists, one for web developers, one for gamers, etc...

-36
votes

Solution #20: Solution #10 Revised.

Written by fix98-win the 29 Nov 09 at 09:39.

I think it might have been the double ISO thing that ruined it. Lemme try again.

Offer Ubuntu for download one one disk. This will save download time, and installation time.

Forget the second disk. I was trying to imply the second disk would be optional, or even nonexistent.

Why would anybody want to backup their software anyway? (sarcasm)

24
votes

16
votes

Solution #22: Like Solution #19, but have it where any user can suggest applications

Written by aubre the 30 Nov 09 at 18:12.

Allow users to submit lists of applications that they like to have on their machines, have them assigned a "collection name" and then give users the option of either browsing the lists or searching for the list name (perhaps they already know the list they want to install).

An example is perhaps an academic lab manager has certain applications they install on each machine. They make a list, submit it to Ubuntu, and then as they install new machines they can simply input the name and all the packages they need will be pre-selected for them. Even better, an academic lab manager on the other side of the world can browse the list, find this pre-built list, and either use it unchanged or adapt it as a starting point of their own list.

There are text/CLI ways to do these things but it would be nice if it could be incorporated into the graphical install interface.

26
votes

-26
votes

-151
votes

53
votes

Solution #26: Gimp Light (a easy and not so messy Version of Gimp)

Written by account the 5 Dec 09 at 13:54.

The newest Gimp is a single-window-Application. The source is open. So I propose to take that source, delete all what is not really necessary and create by this way a simpler Version of Gimp. I call it Gimp-Light and I think it's a great idea. So peoples can accustoms the feel of Gimp, but without the messy feel of the normal Version of Gimp. If they needs more, they can install the regular Gimp. The Gimp-Light shouldn't have many functions - only basic ones for painting etc. This will reduce the weight of this application and can be shipped also in the CD-Version of Ubuntu without problems. A paint-application can stay also in the whole amount of the packages! What you think about my idea!?

-47
votes

-11
votes

Solution #28: Remove extra stuffs or compress less used with paq

Written by DrG the 7 Dec 09 at 08:36.

Remove some of the

Games totalling > 3.0 MB
Backgrounds 9.5 MB ( replace high detailed ones with less detailed ( ie. more compressible to the sqashfs ) ,but eye candy ones.
Themes 1.4 MB - ( remove some ugly ones )
Sounds 3.1 MB - these can be replaced by symbolic format sound ( which takes very little space )
Screen Savers

And such similar items
( choose only a few of these items by voting )
------
or
compress the less used one with paq8px
Example - in karmic , when Shoes.jpg was compressed with paq806 -6 the size was reduced to 802.3 kb from 1016 kb.
( lzma , which is used in the Karmic CD squashfs is not able to reduce the size )

For more informations on compression
http://www.maximumcompression.com/data/summary_sf.php

[...]

----

To make space for GIMP or GIMPShop

19
votes

38
votes

-6
votes

-27
votes

Solution #32: Develop www.phofiltre-lx.org an include in in Lucid Lynx

Written by walo the 12 Dec 09 at 16:56.

¿Haven't you used photofiltre fow windows?

This is one of the best free and useful image tools i have ever used.
Photo filtre LX (http://www.photofiltre-lx.org/) was created to have this simple but really useful aplication under GNU/Linux. I think this develop needs to be released as soon as posible in order to replace GIMP or to have other SIMPLE image manipulation program.

It's going to ve developed using C++ and imagemagic library

42
votes

-10
votes

9
votes

Solution #35: Use a more efficient compression algorithm

Written by dant1612 the 18 Dec 09 at 02:50.

use the xz utils package to compress the files instead, the author claims that it produces archives up to 30% smaller than gzip (although decompression speed would probably be sacrificed)

http://tukaani.org/xz/

(Its still in beta, but I've noticed quite a few GNU programs have started providing source packages in the .xz format)

5
votes

4
votes

Solution #37: Let the user compose their own CD from selectable components

Written by 10110111 the 7 Mar 10 at 13:08.

Make a program which would let the user select the needed packages (or use defaults like official Ubuntu compilation, Kubuntu, etc.), which then would be fetched from the repos and packed into a bootable CD/DVD image.
And leave the official CD as its maintainers want (including removal of some packages like GIMP).

Edit: hmm... it's sorta dup of #30...

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