Contributor hunt.topher

OpenOffice is a pretty flexible office suite but it's annoying to me when I'm writing a document with multiple languages in it and I need to specify the language of each paragraph for the spellchecker. Fortunately this is easy to do (in the right-click context menu) but I would love it if OpenOffice could automatically detect what language it should use to spellcheck each paragraph.

One approach: if the spellchecker notices that a given paragraph has an unusual number of errors (say, more than 50% of the words are caught by the spellchecker), it can check its installed langauges lists to see if the sentence gets less errors in any other languages. If so, switch the style of that paragraph / section to spellcheck in that language.

On my Inspiron 1520 laptop, when the Ubuntu splash screen is present and the OS is loading, I can use the fn-keys to adjust the screen's brightness. However once the login window appears, these keys no longer control brightness until I'm fully logged in to my system. Similarly, I can't adjust the system volume until I've logged in, which can be disruptive if I am in a library and need to log in, and I don't have any way of muting the volume short of logging into a failsafe (silent) terminal session to mute from command line.

I would love it if you could just use your laptop's fn keys to adjust brightness and volume from the login window.

Currently, Compiz works well with the workspace switcher and so forth. However, there are two features missing that would increase Compiz's integration with multiple workspaces. (If I'm missing something big, feel free to add it in comments!)

1) Compiz supports multiple wallpapers (one per workspace) but Nautilus doesn't, meaning that multiple backgrounds is only possible if you disable Nautilus from drawing the desktop. There are patches to this online... couldn't this feature be added to make Nautilus and Compiz work together more nicely?

2) Gnome-panel only refreshes the buttons for minimized windows after Compiz's animations have finished. This may seem like a minor glitch, but if you are used to switching workspaces frequently, it would be very useful to have each workspace's window button panel reflect the windows on that screen, not the screen you are coming from - especially for users of the desktop cube.

One of Hardy's many great new features is that a greyed-out icon appears whenever a package manager is downloading files. However, when Ubuntu periodically checks for updates, it doesn't need to just download files; it then has to reload the package database, check for packages needing updates, etc. and while all of this is happening, the hard drive is grinding away, performance is slowed, and users are left clueless as to why Ubuntu slows down for this time - especially if no updates are found, so the process just dies silently.

I think it would be great if the package manager status bar icon were displayed both when a packman is downloading files, AND when a packman is then processing those files - so that users feel more in-tune with what is happening on their system. This would make Ubuntu's functionality a little more transparent to everyday users who are confused by Ubuntu's periodic sluggishness.

I'm talking about the window that pops up when you right-click on a file or folder in Nautilus and select "Properties".

Maybe it's just me... but 90% of the time when I have the Properties window of any file open for more than a few seconds, it's because I'm watching the file/folder to note whether its size is changing. But the Properties window doesn't refresh the filesize data. Refreshing the Properties window data every couple seconds would be a very useful feature for me and it wouldn't be too difficult to implement... please consider!

Update-manager is a great system but it's not very informative to non-geeks. I can see a simple fix which includes the number of bugs fixed in the information about each package, which could be displayed in a column in the list of package updates available. This would give basic users an appreciation for the fact that package updates are constantly improving Ubuntu through each update.

Any alternate suggestions which could give everyday users a more personable experience with the update manager than the current "Description of Update" field which says things like "login.c: ignore SIGPIPE when creating an error email..."?

As Ubuntu continues improving, doubtlessly there will be many new features to alert users to with each upgrade. There will also be optional changes that Ubuntu *could* make, but wants to check with the user first.

Example situation:
Ubuntu X.XX has slightly rearranged the toolbar and main menu for convenience. User A has used Ubuntu for about a year and has his toolbar set up as he wants it; however, on upgrading to X.XX, A would happily change to the new configuration if presented with the option.

Here's my proposal:
When Ubuntu is upgraded or some significant package upgrade is made, an icon in the status bar shows a balloon pop-up saying "We have some questions for you about optional changes to your system. Click here for more information." (Similar to the "Updates available" pop-up.) When the user clicks the icon, a window appears listing any questions Ubuntu has for him (i.e. "Ubuntu X.XX has a new default background image. Would you like to change?", or "Your newly upgraded system now supports advanced desktop effects. Would you like to turn them on?", or "This version of Ubuntu uses Brasero as its default CD-burner. Would you like to switch to Brasero, or keep using X instead?") as well as any alerts Ubuntu has for the user. (i.e. "This version of Ubuntu uses a slightly different network manager. Click _this link_ for more information.")

Advantages:
Incorporating an "optional changes and alerts" notifier window into Ubuntu would give Ubuntu additional flexibility when making changes in the future. Developers could depend on a streamlined "message center" where users will be notified about any changes or possible changes to their system. Also, this update system would be very non-invasive (the user opens the window whenever he's ready) and could include a "Deny all changes" button for users who like their system just the way it is.

Such a system could give Ubuntu flexibility not only to incorporate new, optional features on upgrade; but also to provide the possibility to upgrade features *in between* releases if a must-have feature comes out.


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Ubuntu is getting more amazing with each release but it still has some basic usability problems. And that's hard to avoid: no matter what interface layout you choose, chances are some people are going to be confused. One place I see this a lot with users is in preference windows where the various options might not be well-enough labelled to make their actions clear to the non-geek user.

Remember how Windows used to have a "?" button next to the minimize, maximize, and close buttons on many windows? I haven't seen it around in a while - certainly not in Ubuntu. But now I'm starting to think that it might be worthwhile to make it a norm for windows to have that "?" button there.

If layout designers expected that "?" button to be there, they will probably be more likely to add in helpful tool tips that explain exactly what each button and checkbox does in case the basic label doesn't make it clear. The user can click the "?", then clicks the field in question, and the explanation pops up.

This would be a slight change in standards which would encourage developers to include the "?" button in their GUI windows, and would force developers to put a little more thought into dummyproof program design. Whadya think?

It's all well and good to include the newest browser in Ubuntu Hardy, even when it's beta. Firefox 3 is aesthetic, fast, safe, and featureful, and undeniably a huge improvement over Firefox 2. However, I experience 5-10 crashes *per day* when visiting common sites like Gmail and Google Reader in Firefox. I'm sorry to have to say this, but for a "stability-centered" release I find this unacceptable and I doubt I'm the only one experiencing these crashes... can Ubuntu find some temporary solution to improve Firefox's stability for the time until Mozilla fixes FF3's stability problems?

EDIT: Other user comments have made it clear to me that this is actually not a widespread problem and might be Flash-related. Thanks for the feedback, guys.