Contributor idimmu

It would be great to allow users of pidgin sending SMS through some SMS-gate (don't have idea of particular one) - should be a free one (probably we'll be forced to use gates with advertisements)

* Equivalent linux apps to be proposed in the installation action

yes, it's simple :

look at all programs installed in the 'program files' windows folder and
ask the user if he want to install the equivalent linux app !
(from Wubi or Desktop install) .

If someone has a special interest on something, maybe we can give him the equivalent programs of ones he use to play under Windows/MacOS.

Those specific programs may not be included in the CD/DVD but installed from internet.

for instance :
blender -> install blender !
MikTeX -> install TeX & LaTeX
music/video edition...
etc....

Obviously due to cost shipit cant always send out free cds. Why not send out sticky cd labels and cd sleeves. This would cut costs and enable people to burn copys of ubuntu and hand them out looking professional.

It would be cool if you could set the screensaver to
"Water Effect".
Instead of having a screensaver pop up, water drops fall
on your desktop or windows.

Linux does a great job at creating thumbnails for pictures and videos, but music is left as just a generic audio icon. Clearly this is because it's hard to represent an audio file visually. But actually, why couldn't album art be used? Obviously some audio files would stay generic icons as they are not professional albums, but a large majority of audio files could now have a visual representation.

Perhaps there could be some plugin for your file browser that collects the album artwork from your default mp3 software, or maybe the file browser could connect directly to the internet to get them itself?

Maybe the icons could also have a number in the top corner denoting the album track.

Ubuntu is the name chosen for a global project and a distro based on Gnome. Kubuntu is another distro based on kde from the very same project.
I believe they deserve the same support from the project since Gnome and Kde are the most popular desktop manager out there.
It seems quite obvious to me, the project is very much focused on one and only distro, its first baby : ubuntu.
And it shows. Kubuntu web site looks quite poor and unprofessional compared to ubuntu. Most graphic choices like the kdm default theme (even if it's supposed to be a matter of taste) look, again, unprofessional. And finally the whole distro doesn't seem to have the same amount of attention when it comes to details (one example among others: the little thing on ubuntu warning the user about the existence of proprietary drivers for display which does not exist on kubuntu).
I've been told once, like a year ago, by an ubuntu dev that the situation is such because the project doesn't feel like fragmenting its market share.
Whatever is the official position of the project, I don't think you should do things half way.
The Kde project is itself in full evolution with Kde 4. It does deserve full support from ubuntu.

Thank you for reading.

Because sometimes things don't sound like nearly as good an idea when you've thought on it a while. :-)

Could there be a way to mark an idea as "favourite" in brainstorm.ubuntu? To star, or bookmark an idea so I can find it more easily later on and see what people have commented?

It would make ubuntu much less intimidating for windows server admins if there was a gui which allowed configuation of common network services such as:

web
ssh
mail
database
vpn
dhcp
ldap
dns

Some of these are easier than others but I have seen very little work on this front and I think it will help win over windows admins.

Yeah, 'MySQL, Apache, & PHP' installed by default for servers.

In most graphical applications, whenever some password is required like sudo and during login, the password is echoed like stars ******. Someone, who sits next to can see (yes of course, and hear), how many chars your secret phrase has. It would be better to not echo the number of characters.

Initially I doesn't make sense, I know it. But, some times when you try to install the Gnome or KDE desktop after the default installation it doesn´t work very well or at all.
It supposed to be a server system for Linux experts (and it is absolutely well done), but also it should consider be able to been administrated by a new web master like me.
This make sense when you install de server system in a remote sever. It is so difficult to start the GUI without an assistance service.
(Or include the option at least)

Most server oriented Linux distribution consists of a bare system with manual configuration of every single services and no integration. THose are provided as a product, not as a solution.

I'm using SME Server 7.3, a nice CentOS based distribution, wich provide a large set of features, including (from contribs.org website) :

Ease of Administration
... web-based interface to enable easy administration ...
File and Print Sharing
... easy sharing of files and printers to Windows and Macintosh clients... via web, ftp, or file sharing.
Internet Connection
... gateway ... minimal configuration...
Email
... secure reliable email server ... individual and group addresses... webmail ... Antivirus and SpamAssassin ...
Firewall
Remote Access
... client-to-server VPNs...
Directory Services
Web Hosting
Raid and Backup
Automatic Updates
Extensible

SME use a template based configuration system writent in perl. It's a real pain to customize some configuration files, but in most case it just works.

SME server is currently a good alternative to Windows SBS server and is up and running in less than 30 minutes in most cases.


[....]

Fix Dom0 only memory to a given value by default.

Xen Central management console for easeier provisioning faster Management then xenman/convirt with create,destroy,pause and migration with web/gui/ncurces gui

Ebox Platform is a very capable SME server web administration interface. Some work has been done already but limited resources have mostly hamstrung this effort. This tool set is currently optimized for Debian Sarge, but alpha packages do exist for Gutsy. This is a unique and effective administration tool that would give Ubuntu a leg up on other Distributions competing in the SME server market.

http://www.ebox-platform.com

Link to Packages:

http://www.ebox-platform.com/ubuntu

Xen kernels in Ubuntu Repositories are very very unstable and buggy.Especially the kernels which have Xen forward ported to them.It looks like they were not even stress tested before putting up on Ubuntu repositories.

Can there be a wiki page where you have all the hardware systems on which a xen kernel in repo was tested?

Same can go for normal kernels too.

I guess this is very important as Ubuntu is loosing people on the server front because of these issues.I know because my employer switched to CentOS instead of to Ubuntu, just because of this instability.

Thanks,
--rautela

Can someone hack together an Ubuntu spin that loads just enough to get Xen working, with remote admin tools like virt-manager so that I can install a box in the corner, build VMs remotely, and allow most of the resources on the machine to be available for the Xen clients? Wait. Thats VMware... *doh*
Sorry, not trying to be facetious, really. I just dont like EMC tracking what I download and run. The spam is horrid.

One Product which Ubuntu could easy adopt and is not ebox.

Features:
1. Webinterface
2. Configuration by command-line is still absolutely possible and supported.
3. Python based, the web-part is in PHP.
4. Very easy to extend.
5. You only need one server with a webserver for the web-interface, not on every server to manage.
6. You only need one small python daemon on each server to manage.


I have already posted this Idea, but I think it was mistake to mention the Company who pay the developers.
So please vote for both ideas.

Goto: http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/2301/

BTW: I also think FreeIPA is a good choice, but I guess FreeIPA is not yet complete and much more afford to fit it in Ubuntu. The linked solution is ready today. And less complex then freeIPA.

Keywords: LDAP,Kerberos,Samba,Server

Currently the only way to install predefined collections of server software (DNS, LAMP, Mail, Print, Samba, etc..) is during the text based server install, and through synaptic ('Edit' menu -> 'Mark Packages by Task') after the server installation is complete (and only if you installed a GUI!).
I think it would be beneficial for server admins to have an option during installations that allows them to install a basic xserver GUI with a server management console.

The GUI would be just a basic X environment (no need for all the useless apps). A server with just xserver-xorg, xfonts, and basic gnome installed uses almost negligible system resources anyway and [in my opinion] does not expose the system much to any higher degree.

The server management console would be similar to the "Manage Your Server" console currently present in Windows Server 2003/2008, where you can just tick a box next to DNS Server, Mail Server, Apache Web Server, etc..., click apply, and bingo they are installed. The 'Mark Packages by Task' option in synaptic is OK, but it is obscure and limited in terms of options and configurability. It needs to be taken farther.

Having used Windows Server 2003 and pre-release versions of 2008 in production environments, I can tell you that having a graphical management console on the desktop allows for much easier server management and places little resource burden on the system.