Contributor hgibson

A separate partition for /home has been proposed for a long time in the forums. It implies some risks, though, so based on disk size Ubiquity should estimate the amount of space that should be left for / or whether a separate partition should be made at all. Then...

-The first time an user installs Ubuntu, he is given the option to set a separate /home. This option is selected by default, with a size for each partition based on a sane guess:

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/7958/firstinstallaro2.png

-Of course, he can just choose not to set a separate /home. This option will be selected by default if the results of the system test suggest that's the best thing to do.

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/6498/firstinstallbfs6.png

-Manual install is also possible. Selecting it greys out everything related to separate /home, since it's implied that the user doesn't want to be guided.

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/7976/firstinstallcvc2.png

-If the user set a separate /home, the next time he installs Ubuntu a new option appears and is selected by default, prompting to use the existing /home partition. All other options are still available, though.

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/9034/secondinstalliq1.png

[....]

People around the globe that are using/concidering using Ubuntu are afraid that some of their hardware won't work for them. And some are frustrated to buy additional add-on cards to work around unsupportad onboard chips. All this could be avoided with a lookup in an ubuntu Hardware Database Website.

Some problematic hardware can be used with more or less work if helping information is available together with the hardware compatabillity data.

The hardware database can be found at http://hwdb.ubuntu.com/

From idea #47: The data should then be available in a format that is simple for users to browse on-line when considering new hardware.

Currently there is no way to easily share files between multiple local users. I am talking about full read-write access to particular folder, eg. music folder.

Example: Alice and Bob uses the same computer. Alice has read access to Bob's home folder. Bob has read access to Alice's home folder. They want to fully share (read/write) their music. So they should ideally create /home/music folder, put all the music there and use it. Everything Bob puts into there, Alice should be able to read and remove, and vice versa. This is currently impossible in Ubuntu. Bob has to manually fix permissions every time Alice wants to delete something Bob's (Bob creates /home/music/Britney, but Alice can't delete /home/music/Britney/song1.mp3).

I have discussed this issue with several linux gurus and there is currently no easy nor difficult way to achieve this in Linux on the same (ext3) partition. With every proposed solution I can give you counterexample (group permissions, ACLs, local Samba, local NFS, etc - there is always problem when moving files). There would have to be created utility to set shared folders and some daemon would have to monitor changes and modify permissions.

Currently the easiest solution known for me is to share files on separate (ironically) NTFS partition, because when mounting NTFS you can force user/group/permissions on file access. What a shame, we use Microsoft technologies just to share files between Ubuntu users.

This problem is quite serious, give it a thought or two. Everyone who is not using Ubuntu computer alone and wants to share music/films/etc between multiple users knows what I am talking about.

//New info:
Atany has proposed in the comment that BindFS project can be used to achieve this functinality:
http://code.google.com/p/bindfs/
I have tried it and it works very well. Developers which would like to implement this idea should have a look on BindFS, it's very promising tool, it could provide all necessary background for this.

See: http://www.ubuntu.sun.ac.za/wiki/index.php/Pulseaudio

It is very complex and intimidating for a new user to activate pulseaudio if using an old Ubuntu install CD.

Provide a method to upgrade and setup in a simple way.

Add good support for gaming input devices and game controllers.

Such as;
* Joysticks
* Gamepad
* Steering wheel
* Light guns
* Dance pads
* Glove
* Wiimote

And support functionality such as;
* Force feedback
* Accelerometer
* Gyroscope

While requesting features to the open source community which consist mainly of free workers, we may often forget to say how much we like Ubuntu and look like costumers requesting.

So you can say thank you to the thousands of developers and users who gave their time by voting for this article :)

As a user I want to be able to listen to audio or watch videos with the least amount of setup. I would like to have a single interface (Codec Manager) that lists all of the most common audio and video formats and shows me if I am missing the necessary codec for playback.

Use Case: Enable MP3 playback.
Precondition: MP3s are not currently playable.
1. User logs into the system.
2. User opens the Codec Manager.
3. System displays a list of common audio/video formats.
4. User selects MP3s.
5. System displays some info about MP3s.
6. System displays a list of available codecs.
7. User selects a codec and clicks Apply.
8. System downloads and installs the selected codec.
9. System informs the user when completed.

Other possible features:
- Display a list of audio/video types that are missing codecs.
- An auto-setup function, that grabs the recommended codec for all formats.

Audio and Video formats that should be supported:

Audio:
- MP3
- OGG
- AAC
- FLAC
- Real Audio

Video:
- MP4

[....]

OpenOffice.org is quite sluggish with its default settings. Every time I install Ubuntu, one of the first things I do is change the OpenOffice.org settings.

I usually change the settings as follows:
MEMORY - 30 steps, 128MB, 20 objects, 20MB per object
JAVA - Do not use Java
VIEW - Open GL, optimized output, dithering, refresh during interaction and hardware acceleration all ticked.


Without the View settings changed, running old powerpoint presentations in slideshow mode literally brings a dual core processor to a halt.


I'm not sure that the default settings should be exactly as described above because I'm not sure what ramifications that might have for other computers, but it seems to be that there is a lot of room for improvement in performance.

While each version of Ubuntu inevitably adds the ability to configure system settings graphically, the community lacks a centralized movement for a higher percentage of graphical configuration overall.

Instead, the solution seems to be to just complain about individual parts that we'd like to see options for.

More proprietary operating systems have a higher percentage of settings that can be configured graphically, which can make it easier for a new user to troubleshoot alone. Ubuntu has a great community, but the experience of a new user can be too dependent on the community. Too often I have found myself unable to 'click around' and figure out what to do, and instead have been forced to use a guide which directs me to use terminal commands which would scare a lot of novice computer users.

Being a computer reseller is quite a complicated undertaking, perhaps information on howto do this might be very beneficial in promoting Ubuntu, things like:
1. Costing model - how to arrive at selling price depending on whether one assembles or use a white box (as a spreadsheet).
2. Supported hardware - this would be taken care by supported hardware list.
3. Howto pitch deployment of Ubuntu in an organization.
4. Importing hardware - which companies are reputable to deal with.

I know some of this information would be specific to a particular area, but a framework would go a long way.

I have not heard of a single university computer store that carries _any_ type of Linux preloads.

Exposure to Ubuntu is a great educational experience due to the lack of artificial barriers to learning about the underlying system (source is available). The fact that preloaded machies are not commonly available runs counter to a university's central mission.

The popularity of MacOS on university campuses in the 1990's was largely due to aggressive educational discounts and dealmaking.

What would it take to change this??

When you use multiple USB hard drives you might know the problem: you unplugged one of them and rebooted. Now some drives, even non-USB drives, have changed their names e.g. from "disk-2" to "disk-1". Sounds like no biggie, but suddenly some programs don't find their files anymore and all folder settings and thumbnails are gone.
Idea: Have Ubuntu remember the drives by their unique ID or something and issue the same name whenever it's plugged in.

Greetings
wiberg

When I'm at Ubuntu's GDM login screen, from the "Options" menu, I can choose "Select Session", choosing between Gnome, KDE, or XFCE. But what if I'm only interested in running a certain Virtual Machine?

Oftentimes, all I'm interested in is using a particular Virtual Machine (from VMware Workstation/Player, or Virtualbox). It feels like overkill to log into Gnome (taking up considerable RAM and CPU on weaker computers), just so that I can, in turn, launch a Virtual Machine in VMware or Virtualbox (and then go "full-screen", which hides Gnome anyway).

It should be possible that VMware Workstation/Player, and/or Virtualbox be choices in the "Select Session" dialog of GDM. That is to say, VMware/Virtualbox should behave, and be treated like "Desktop Environments" (in their own right) as far as GDM is concerned. Each of these Virtualization Softwares could be thought of as a "Desktop Environment proxy" because the VMs that they run contain their own equivalent of a Desktop Environment.

This would be a great feature whenever multiple people use the same computer, but some obstinate people may ONLY want to use a Windows VM (directly after logging in), while others want to log into a traditional "Desktop Environment" like Gnome. In this way, a stubborn Windows user who does not want to learn Ubuntu can still be cajoled into using an Ubuntu computer, since they can still easily use a Windows VM, never having to learn how to use Gnome (or KDE, etc.).

This would be a far better option than having a computer being "dual-boot" between Windows and Ubuntu. By using this method described, whenever a Windows VM is in use, the Ubuntu box can still be:
-SSH'ed into remotely for system maintenance
-logged into remotely over XDMCP
-files can remotely transferred in and out using SCP or samba, etc.

The "Ubuntu-ness" of the host machine ("underneath" the Windows VM) would also make the computer more secure (less prone to viruses, etc.), if "NAT" networking is used within a given Windows VM.

Kiss dual-booting goodbye, when this brainstorm comes to fruition!

[....]

Please provide a way to remove the duplicate tag for an idea. Sometimes, ideas get erroneously marked as duplicates, as is the case with idea 5160 and 3596.
Or provide a new tag, related, so that dieas which are not duplicates but that are related to each other can be classified as such.
I think that the ideas mentioned above are related but not duplicates.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability_lab

Since Ubuntu is largely a community project it is difficult to measure the success of a desktop project. Traditional economics states that the market place is the arbiter of good products. However since Ubuntu is not commercial, how can market forces mediate it's success and determine which desktop software project is a winner.

The monopoly of other software vendors makes it even more difficult to look for indicators of a successful desktop software project. A monopoly eliminates competition and forces a product upon you, market forces do not mediate.

Brainstorm is an excellent step in providing a measurable feedback indicator of a products performance, however we need to measure further by actually testing the product on a larger public audience.

Only then can we objectively determine what needs to be done.

=Methodology=
Setup centers for testing, run by volunteers who manage testing of a prescribed set of common computer tasks. For example:

==Common Tasks==
1. Read email
2. Surf the web
3. Play music
4. Play video

==Admin Tasks==
1. Add a user
2. Delete a user

[....]

When you click "Save as" menu item in gnome application a dialog windows appears and you naturally start typing new name but that field doesn't have focus and you have to click it. It would be perfect to give focus to the name field automatically.

Introductory Video about Ubuntu on Ubuntu's main page or a link from the main page.

Great the user and show them the world of Linux and Ubuntu and how they can get stated.

Possible video contents are;

1. History of open source.
2. News clip contents of governments etc.. adopting open source.
3. A hello welcome from the Ubuntu team ;-)
4. A tutorial about the different desktop environments.
5. A windows migration tutorial.
6. Best practices regarding backups, the home folder, file sharing, security etc..
7. Finally acknowledgement to those who made Ubuntu possible like Linus, Ian Murdoch and so on.

So far, it seems that brainstorm is going at a snails pace. I understand that it takes time to implement ideas, but why not do what Dell Ideastorm does by adding a notification when an idea is under review or reviewed. This really help people know how their ideas are doing.

http://www.ubuntu.com/community/processes/techboard

Idea's related to changing duplicates's
========================================
Idea Votes
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/1512/ 22
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/2504/ 76
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/2811/ 15
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/2840/ -6
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/3165/ 20
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/3739/ -5
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/3795/ 117
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/3839/ 15
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/4465/ 20
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/4903/ 15
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/5306/ -10
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/5381/ 10

[....]

Not everyone can develop software, as not everybody has the required skill todo so.

However pretty much everybody can write documentation.

We, the free open source software community have a strong, intelligent and vibrant multicultural international community, consisting of lots of bright people who want to contribute.

We could make a collaborative wiki documentation project. A project to create industry-leading, world-class, top-notch documentation of Linux software. Available in many languages.