Written by ruipires the 1 Mar 08 at 10:47.

Ubuntu Brainstorm was updated in January 2009. Since the idea #2113 was submitted before this update, its rationale and solution are not separated. Please vote accordingly, and if you have the necessary rights, please separate the rationale from the solution. Thanks!

<i>Ubuntu Brainstorm was updated in January 2009. Since the idea #2113 was submitted before this update, its rationale and solution are not separated. Please vote accordingly, and if you have the necessary rights, please separate the rationale from the solution.</i><br /> Thanks!

Written by ricardo the 1 Mar 08 at 20:29.

Ubuntu Brainstorm was updated in January 2009. Since the idea #2297 was submitted before this update, its rationale and solution are not separated. Please vote accordingly, and if you have the necessary rights, please separate the rationale from the solution. Thanks!

<i>Ubuntu Brainstorm was updated in January 2009. Since the idea #2297 was submitted before this update, its rationale and solution are not separated. Please vote accordingly, and if you have the necessary rights, please separate the rationale from the solution.</i><br /> Thanks!

Written by korin43 the 9 Jul 09 at 09:32.

Instead of copying packages from the CD to hard drive as soon as the installer starts, the live CD should start preloading as much of the CD as possible into memory while it's asking the user questions like their locale and name. This should give a noticeable speed boost on computers with enough memory (and shouldn't slow anything down on computers that don't - it would just stop preloading when it runs out of memory).

Instead of copying packages from the CD to hard drive as soon as the installer starts, the live CD should start preloading as much of the CD as possible into memory while it's asking the user questions like their locale and name. This should give a noticeable speed boost on computers with enough memory (and shouldn't slow anything down on computers that don't - it would just stop preloading when it runs out of memory).

Written by Rodrigo the 12 Jul 09 at 15:38.

While you are answering questions the Setup program could be looking for networks, and maybe updating the packages list, so it does install the latest safety files, if the connection is fast, and the user wants.
Maybe asking:
would you like to download the latest safety updates, this could slow down the process of the installment in slower connections.
You wouldn't need to install something and then update it... it could be done in the same step

While you are answering questions the Setup program could be looking for networks, and maybe updating the packages list, so it does install the latest safety files, if the connection is fast, and the user wants. Maybe asking: would you like to download the latest safety updates, this could slow down the process of the installment in slower connections. You wouldn't need to install something and then update it... it could be done in the same step

Written by snadrus the 13 Jul 09 at 16:27.

Slackware did this 15 years ago!

Questions:
, ,

Then while installing: (progress bar underneath)
, , , etc

If it 'feels' slow while you fight the CPU for copy time, then they could always wait until it's finished (like it is now). Obviously those options wouldn't commit until you "finished" the install. This could save 5 minutes.

Slackware did this 15 years ago! Questions: <language>, <keyboard>, <partition> Then while installing: (progress bar underneath) <user info>, <timezone>, <popcon>, etc If it 'feels' slow while you fight the CPU for copy time, then they could always wait until it's finished (like it is now). Obviously those options wouldn't commit until you "finished" the install. This could save 5 minutes.

Written by tigr the 14 Jul 09 at 02:05.

As soon as user selects language (and if it differs from english) installer could start downloading required packages in background.

As soon as user selects language (and if it differs from english) installer could start downloading required packages in background.

Written by aaron.roydhouse the 15 Jul 09 at 12:32.

Great idea. I'd like to propose a very simple implementation of it; that is possibly also the fastest/most efficient way to achieve this.

Given many install targets now have much more spare RAM during an install than the size of a CD; linear read the whole CD image in RAM, mount as an ISO, and install from there.

Linear copying the whole CD is the fastest way to get the install image into RAM and would normally only take between 2 and 7 minutes. So can ask all the simple install questions while that happens. The run the entire current install process from the RAM-mounted ISO.

This feature would only be enabled on targets with more than a CD-worth of free RAM (everything with 1GB or more?). On install targets without enough space RAM, just use the same from-CD install process as now.

Great idea. I'd like to propose a very simple implementation of it; that is possibly also the fastest/most efficient way to achieve this. Given many install targets now have much more spare RAM during an install than the size of a CD; linear read the whole CD image in RAM, mount as an ISO, and install from there. Linear copying the whole CD is the fastest way to get the install image into RAM and would normally only take between 2 and 7 minutes. So can ask all the simple install questions while that happens. The run the entire current install process from the RAM-mounted ISO. This feature would only be enabled on targets with more than a CD-worth of free RAM (everything with 1GB or more?). On install targets without enough space RAM, just use the same from-CD install process as now.

Written by xfuser4 the 20 Jul 09 at 07:24.

There are several reasons why it is a bad idea to do anything in parallel before installation:

1. Loading from the disk during the user input phase of the installer could result in slow responsiveness of the user interface (at least on cheaper hardware, like my notebook, where disk accesses are resulting in a massive slow down of the system).

During the installation phase, Ubuntu should look very responsive - otherwise people will be disappointed.



2. Downloading locales or recent system updates during that phase is also a bad idea - at least, if you don't ask the user to do so. For several reasons:

- The user has an internet connection, that has a volume restriction (this is still usual in some places of the world). So you could destroy the quota of the user.

- To do any bigger access on the internet without notifying the user is generally a bad idea, because the user has not the impression to have the control over the system.

- Normally the user won't configure the WLAN settings, so this operation won't work at all.

There are several reasons why it is a bad idea to do anything in parallel before installation: 1. Loading from the disk during the user input phase of the installer could result in slow responsiveness of the user interface (at least on cheaper hardware, like my notebook, where disk accesses are resulting in a massive slow down of the system). During the installation phase, Ubuntu should look very responsive - otherwise people will be disappointed. 2. Downloading locales or recent system updates during that phase is also a bad idea - at least, if you don't ask the user to do so. For several reasons: - The user has an internet connection, that has a volume restriction (this is still usual in some places of the world). So you could destroy the quota of the user. - To do any bigger access on the internet without notifying the user is generally a bad idea, because the user has not the impression to have the control over the system. - Normally the user won't configure the WLAN settings, so this operation won't work at all. 3. The installation phase is the shortest phase of the system life time. Therefore it is a bad idea, to spend too much development time to it. The installation should work and should be user friendly - but no one really needs other fancy stuff there. Ubuntu installs already very much faster than Windows Vista, Windows XP and MacOS X. The installation is clean and user friendly. So it would be better, to solve other (more important) problems...

Written by r3l1c the 21 Jul 09 at 18:36.

When I saw Search for the "net" while asking questions I immediately had my concerns. Connecting to the internet without the users permission is a Micro$oft problem that I have no desire to include within my favorite operating system.

I think that is a really bad idea

I do like the other ideas though

When I saw Search for the "net" while asking questions I immediately had my concerns. Connecting to the internet without the users permission is a Micro$oft problem that I have no desire to include within my favorite operating system. I think that is a really bad idea I do like the other ideas though

Written by kir360 the 24 Jul 09 at 17:53.

interestingly, the installation of ubuntu to a USB stick finishes very quickly. this might be because the CD image is directly being copied to the USB stick.

We can adopt the same method in here. the installation finishes and the system restarts. then a one-time menu pops up to configure the user details, etc. only the installation partition and grub path has to be given earlier.

interestingly, the installation of ubuntu to a USB stick finishes very quickly. this might be because the CD image is directly being copied to the USB stick. We can adopt the same method in here. the installation finishes and the system restarts. then a one-time menu pops up to configure the user details, etc. only the installation partition and grub path has to be given earlier.

Written by Afroman10496 the 5 Aug 09 at 21:58.

Add an option for an Internet inatall.

Add an option for an Internet inatall.

Written by korin43 the 16 Aug 09 at 08:58.

Before starting the preloading thread, the live CD could check the clock speed and and amount of memory on the target computer. If it is below certain thresholds, the preload thread would not be started at all.

Where the lower bound should be is something that the Ubuntu developers should decide on, since they would know, but a simple example would be on a computer with 4 Gb of memory and a 3 Ghz Core 2 Duo, the Live CD would be loaded into memory (in the background). On a computer with 256 Mb of memory and a Pentium, it would not.

Before starting the preloading thread, the live CD could check the clock speed and and amount of memory on the target computer. If it is below certain thresholds, the preload thread would not be started at all. Where the lower bound should be is something that the Ubuntu developers should decide on, since they would know, but a simple example would be on a computer with 4 Gb of memory and a 3 Ghz Core 2 Duo, the Live CD would be loaded into memory (in the background). On a computer with 256 Mb of memory and a Pentium, it would not.

Written by ravibuz the 16 Jul 09 at 12:23.

If you had a pause button we could pause the download and continue later,We have stop button but it sometimes corrupts the download file.And also add a "Shut down after installation"button to the download manager so that we need no be around when it is updating.

If you had a pause button we could pause the download and continue later,We have stop button but it sometimes corrupts the download file.And also add a "Shut down after installation"button to the download manager so that we need no be around when it is updating.

Written by ravibuz the 16 Jul 09 at 12:25.

Add a button the control the bandwidth used by the update manager while downloading,So that we could browse and do other things.This will help people like me with less bandwidth.

Add a button the control the bandwidth used by the update manager while downloading,So that we could browse and do other things.This will help people like me with less bandwidth.

Written by ravibuz the 16 Jul 09 at 12:32.

Set a clock in update manager where we can tell it to update in a particular period of time and stop in a particular time.This will be helpful for people with limited download.

Set a clock in update manager where we can tell it to update in a particular period of time and stop in a particular time.This will be helpful for people with limited download.

Written by Rodrigo the 18 Jul 09 at 08:14.

I remember a few years back a daemon for the SETI project that "felt" the use of the processor, and when it was idle it would make its calculations.
Something similar with the internet would be nice. So it would be downloading, but when you want to see a new web or send an email the net will be free in very little time. Maybe through a "pause" as Solution #1 said.

I remember a few years back a daemon for the SETI project that "felt" the use of the processor, and when it was idle it would make its calculations. Something similar with the internet would be nice. So it would be downloading, but when you want to see a new web or send an email the net will be free in very little time. Maybe through a "pause" as Solution #1 said.

Written by sf_007 the 20 Jul 09 at 14:02.

There is something called SuperDebs that seems useful to users with slow internet (or no internet at all), but is more focused on new installs of software

There is something called <a href="http://hacktolive.org/wiki/Super_Deb">SuperDebs</a> that seems useful to users with slow internet (or no internet at all), but is more focused on new installs of software

Written by yaknowwat the 21 Jul 09 at 05:55.

LZMA has been updated with LZMA2 included in the newer beta's of 7z which is making it into Karmic.

It seems with the new LZMA2 compression using 2 threads and Solid compression it gives better compression than even RAR's upcoming WINRAR64 with comparable speeds.(LZMA2 with 4 or more threads is about 50% faster and 2 or less threads is about 20% slower, though 2 threads has better compression.)
[ Note: This is for compressing LZMA2Solid could easily be far faster at decompressing ]

I know it won't be as big a difference as moving to delta's but it will cause about a 30% reduction compared to the current tar.gz compression used now which is actually very large when you consider some people have to download 200 MB in gunzip compressed updates with LZMA2 it would be around 150 MB. Huge difference if your connection is slow.

Downside is compression is slower with lzma ,but its designed to have decompression speeds like gunzip fortunately.

LZMA has been updated with LZMA2 included in the newer beta's of 7z which is making it into Karmic. It seems with the new LZMA2 compression using 2 threads and Solid compression it gives better compression than even RAR's upcoming WINRAR64 with comparable speeds.(LZMA2 with 4 or more threads is about 50% faster and 2 or less threads is about 20% slower, though 2 threads has better compression.) [ Note: This is for compressing LZMA2Solid could easily be far faster at decompressing ] I know it won't be as big a difference as moving to delta's but it will cause about a 30% reduction compared to the current tar.gz compression used now which is actually very large when you consider some people have to download 200 MB in gunzip compressed updates with LZMA2 it would be around 150 MB. Huge difference if your connection is slow. Downside is compression is slower with lzma ,but its designed to have decompression speeds like gunzip fortunately.

Written by fernandoc1 the 30 Jul 09 at 15:06.

With an update package file, people can download the most recent updates in a single file and install it.
This solution could help people with slow internet connection, because they can get the file in a Lan House or with a friend that has already downloaded the updates and keep it with him for future use.
It could work like a "service pack" for example, and become available in the ubuntu official site.
I think that with it, there will be even an economy of Ubuntu mirrors bandwidth, because in many places, people put many machines in a same network to update directly from the mirrors and it is not reasonable, because the same download will be done many times.
With the update as a single file package, any download manager can resume a partial download of the file.

With an update package file, people can download the most recent updates in a single file and install it. This solution could help people with slow internet connection, because they can get the file in a Lan House or with a friend that has already downloaded the updates and keep it with him for future use. It could work like a "service pack" for example, and become available in the ubuntu official site. I think that with it, there will be even an economy of Ubuntu mirrors bandwidth, because in many places, people put many machines in a same network to update directly from the mirrors and it is not reasonable, because the same download will be done many times. With the update as a single file package, any download manager can resume a partial download of the file.

Written by put4558350 the 30 Jul 09 at 15:52.

By doing this. The update process will look blend to background. User can just using the computer when download of update file is in progress.

- hidden interface as much as possible.
- put QOS (quality of service) over it. so it dosn't take bandwidth too much when user using internet.
- update as much package as it downloaded when user shutdown or startup so no file is in used.

Optional

- sort important update on top of download list. so important update package get update first.
- reusme last package. so long package can finish.
- popup when download compleate or error.

By doing this. The update process will look blend to background. User can just using the computer when download of update file is in progress. - hidden interface as much as possible. - put QOS (quality of service) over it. so it dosn't take bandwidth too much when user using internet. - update as much package as it downloaded when user shutdown or startup so no file is in used. Optional - sort important update on top of download list. so important update package get update first. - reusme last package. so long package can finish. - popup when download compleate or error.

Written by Drebon the 2 Aug 09 at 11:10.

In certain cases, people have got one low bandwidth connection with a bunch of pc in lan behind. If update manager was able to seed it's downloaded update on local networks it would reduce the usage of bandwidth (only one download per arch).

I think Apple has something similar

In certain cases, people have got one low bandwidth connection with a bunch of pc in lan behind. If update manager was able to seed it's downloaded update on local networks it would reduce the usage of bandwidth (only one download per arch). I think Apple has something similar

Written by fukanchik the 3 Aug 09 at 08:33.

I use low bandwidth gprs connection. During updates i very often see that in the middle of downloading a package the process terminates and starts over from zero (!) again downloading what has already been downloaded! And over and over and over. During this process it consumes times more traffic than entire update. It looks like bug.

If update manager will support continuation of terminated download process (like wget or sometimes firefox does) it will be very helpful.

Upd: delta updates alone will not fix the problem. Such update can itself be of large size.

I use low bandwidth gprs connection. During updates i very often see that in the middle of downloading a package the process terminates and starts over from zero (!) again downloading what has already been downloaded! And over and over and over. During this process it consumes times more traffic than entire update. It looks like bug. If update manager will support continuation of terminated download process (like wget or sometimes firefox does) it will be very helpful. Upd: delta updates alone will not fix the problem. Such update can itself be of large size.

Written by spocky the 3 Aug 09 at 20:21.

At least for the updating of the kernel the uptracker (ksplice.com) can apply diff updates (at least this is what i understood).

At least for the updating of the kernel the uptracker (ksplice.com) can apply diff updates (at least this is what i understood).

Written by mdhunn the 4 Aug 09 at 19:49.

Actually this would be two features. Add the ability to export a list of the installed packages and their versions installed on one machine along with any apps desired onto a thumb drive. And of course the corresponding feature to download and update the drive.

Basically just an update to the download / add packages feature that's all ready there. After all an update done in Synaptic is just as valid as one done in Update Manager or by using apt on the command line. Having both a laptop and a desktop, I might even get some use out of that when my home connection goes down.

Actually this would be two features. Add the ability to export a list of the installed packages and their versions installed on one machine along with any apps desired onto a thumb drive. And of course the corresponding feature to download and update the drive. Basically just an update to the download / add packages feature that's all ready there. After all an update done in Synaptic is just as valid as one done in Update Manager or by using apt on the command line. Having both a laptop and a desktop, I might even get some use out of that when my home connection goes down.

Written by Afroman10496 the 5 Aug 09 at 22:09.

Split it into two parts:

Part one- download the file to one big file

Part two- then, when it is finished downloading, install it with absolutely no need for the Internet.

That way, nothing can screw up the update due to Internet connection failure.

Split it into two parts: Part one- download the file to one big file Part two- then, when it is finished downloading, install it with absolutely no need for the Internet. That way, nothing can screw up the update due to Internet connection failure.

Written by Darwin Survivor the 9 Aug 09 at 22:13.

The package manager is capable of generating a download script, so why not the update manager?

The user could then take that download script to a friend's house, a library or their school and download the files to USB, CD, etc. Then simply insert the media in their computer and BOOM, updated!

It may also be an idea to make the script and OS agnostic as possible (many libraries only have windows) or allow the user to select what OS they will be using to do the download (windows can do ftp via CLI, so it should be possible).

The package manager is capable of generating a download script, so why not the update manager? The user could then take that download script to a friend's house, a library or their school and download the files to USB, CD, etc. Then simply insert the media in their computer and BOOM, updated! It may also be an idea to make the script and OS agnostic as possible (many libraries only have windows) or allow the user to select what OS they will be using to do the download (windows can do ftp via CLI, so it should be possible).

Written by sirish.gauni the 1 Nov 09 at 18:00.

You could just add a pause option to the software center and also show the download rates. Further more if the software center can be made such a way that when the network/internet goes off the download doesn't stop completely and starts from where it left of when the internet is back.

This idea can also be applied to Update manager.

You could just add a pause option to the software center and also show the download rates. Further more if the software center can be made such a way that when the network/internet goes off the download doesn't stop completely and starts from where it left of when the internet is back. This idea can also be applied to Update manager.

Written by Sebin Benjamin the 5 Nov 09 at 16:47.

Allow multiple downloads to take place using all of the bandwidth Or limit usage. Sometimes some files/servers have very low speed. So simultaneous downloads would be helpful

Anyway why would anyone waste time for each file to get downloaded, whereas you could let it download 2 or 3 files depending on the bandwidth and finish the updates faster.

Allow multiple downloads to take place using all of the bandwidth Or limit usage. Sometimes some files/servers have very low speed. So simultaneous downloads would be helpful Anyway why would anyone waste time for each file to get downloaded, whereas you could let it download 2 or 3 files depending on the bandwidth and finish the updates faster.

Written by _sebastian_ the 24 Nov 09 at 12:12.

why not support downloads by torrents to ease load on the servers...

why not support downloads by torrents to ease load on the servers...

Written by pepperpupper the 23 Apr 08 at 14:10.

Ubuntu Brainstorm was updated in January 2009. Since the idea #7464 was submitted before this update, its rationale and solution are not separated. Please vote accordingly, and if you have the necessary rights, please separate the rationale from the solution. Thanks!

<i>Ubuntu Brainstorm was updated in January 2009. Since the idea #7464 was submitted before this update, its rationale and solution are not separated. Please vote accordingly, and if you have the necessary rights, please separate the rationale from the solution.</i><br /> Thanks!