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Contributor hellocatfood

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

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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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Solution #2: All-in-one Modular Graphic Software
Written by carvao the 26 Jun 09 at 15:45.
A software composed by different modules: a viewer, bitmap editor, vector editor, desktop publishing, web creator, and so on. The user chooses which modules wants to install or use by the time he/she opens a file or creates a new project.
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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.
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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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Solution #5: Introduce the core folks to each other
Written by cyberix the 7 Jul 09 at 19:46.
Bring core developers of Gimp, Inkscape, Scribus, and maybe some OpenOffice folks physically into the same room to discus the matter.
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Solution #6: Introduce a unified tiling window manager
Written by ethana2 the 9 Jul 09 at 07:56.
for dialog use by inkscape, gimp, and other applications. Few end users use tiling window managers on their desktops, but GIMP developers seem to expect them to. Speaking as an xmonad user, this is ridiculous.
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Solution #7: Add the option to have similar keyboard shortcuts
Written by hellocatfood the 14 Jul 09 at 00:00.
I like each of the applications individually but it's a pain having to learn and remember a different set of keyboard shortcuts all of the time.

Adding an option to overwrite the keyboard shortcut for common tools (move, eyedropper, paint bucket etc) with a unified set would be very useful.

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

Easy Install of Android apps on Ubuntu  
Written by hellocatfood the 27 Jan 10 at 21:27. Related project: Add/Remove program dialog. Not an idea
There already is a lot of software available for Linux/oubuntu. In the two years that Android has been around it has amassed around 20,000 applications. Whilst not all of them are open source, giving developers of either platforms yet another market to target would be a great incentive to build applications for Linux
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Solution #1: Allow Android applications to be installed on Ubuntu
Written by hellocatfood the 27 Jan 10 at 21:27.
finding a way to very easily (as simple as double-clicinking) install Android apps would give developers an new market to target and would put ubuntu in a better position to be installed on netbooks, tablets and other smaller devices.

See the 7 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 29 Mar 11 at 00:16) >>

Advise users of potential problems before installing Ubuntu  
Written by hellocatfood the 9 Nov 09 at 21:36. Global category: Installation. Not an idea
Some people who come to use Ubuntu may install it thinking that it is a solution to all of their problems. Whilst in many cases this could be true there are of course problems when it is not. Examples which I want to bring attention to are:

* Voiding of warranty: Although the operating system should not have a negative impact on the hardware (unless you overclock) and thus shouldn't void an warranties, some companies may want to argue that they've modified their system so heavily that it is in fact their fault that the hardware is faulty.

* Hardware incompatibility: In my experience with new Ubuntu users the biggest turnoffs for them are complications in 3D graphics and wireless Internet. Whilst the new Checkbox system testing goes some way to testing a system prior to installing it is not presented by default and new users may miss it and install Ubuntu and be disappointed when some things don't work. (it's already been widely discussed that the LiveCD preview is not always representative of a complete installation).

* Any known issues with their hardware: If bugs relating to their hardware are known this should be detected and presented to them. A wealth of information regarding their hardware will undoubtedly be available via the Internet or bug reports on Launchpad.

Whilst these issues may turn away potential users I think it is very important for Ubuntu to be honest with its users and admit that everything might not work and that they install Ubuntu at their own risk. This will avoid a lot of disappointment and bad press.
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Solution #1: Be honest and advise users to research before installing
Written by hellocatfood the 9 Nov 09 at 21:36.
In relation to the three scenarios I presented:

* Advise new users to contact their hardware manufacturer to ask if installing a new operating system will invalidate their warranty. (No one wants to void a warranty on a £500+ system, especially if they've just bought it). Also explain that their hardware manufacturer will not be able to provide help on using their system.

* Run Checkbox before installation by default but offer the user the chance to skip it entirely. This way, Ubuntu still gets information about hardware compatibility issues should they choose not to install it. If they skip it then that's +1 new user!

* Using the specs of their computer show a list of known problems with their hardware from launchpad. This is especially helpful if a user is install an LTS or current version sometime after its release.

See the 1 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 15 Nov 09 at 20:14) >>

Get Community Support from the Desktop  
Written by hellocatfood the 1 Oct 09 at 13:15. Global category: Documentation. New
I'm sure that we're all aware of the criticisms that open source software faces, one of which is documentation and support. One of the best source of information in both of these cases is to ask the community. There are countless amounts of websites offering advice on common and less common issues that users may face. I feel, however, that finding this information in the first instance can be quite hard and time consuming, especially for those without advance knowledge of keyword searches in Google. Also, posting a request or question in the unofficial Ubuntu forum doesn't always yield successful results. Messages can get lost in archives within a few hours and you can't always guarantee that the person with the answer will be browsing the forum.

There is an opportunity in Ubuntu for it to tap into the unofficial community support within the desktop environment that I feel it is missing.
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Solution #1: Include results from the web in Help search results
Written by hellocatfood the 1 Oct 09 at 13:15.
When a user enters a search term or clicks on one of the help topics a list of related community rated/approved articles could appear along side it, with something clearly stating that it unofficial support.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
The thumbs up/down are there to rate the usefulness of that suggestion in relation to the search.

In the case that someone searches for something more specific to Ubuntu the results could come from a community suggested set of Ubuntu related links e.g. ubuntuforum.org, www.workswithu.com etc. The ratings system and overall maturity of search algorithms could be used to filter out spam and unrelated results.

Overall I feel this could help people find answers to their questions a lot easier and empower the community more

Add a comment or propose a solution >>

Is the extracting archive window needed?  
Written by hellocatfood the 27 Jun 09 at 18:47. Global category: Look and Feel. New
The window for displaying the progress of extracting archives is useful but I feel it is information that could be displayed in a more efficient way. I think, where possible, there should be less windows popping up for repetitive actions.

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Solution #1: Icons showing extraction progress
Written by hellocatfood the 27 Jun 09 at 18:47.
Instead of (or, in addition to) the current window for displaying progress in extracting archives show the progress bar for the current archive in the place of the icon.

I've put a screenshot of what I mean here: http://img193.imageshack.us/i/screenshot27183204.png/
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Solution #2: Use notifications
Written by Anto the 2 Jul 09 at 10:31.
Use the new ubuntu notifications to display the progress of this action

Add a comment or propose a solution >>