Contributor mlapaglia

After 10 minutes, my screen slowly dims to a total black. But my screen doesn't go into standby-mode or anything else. It just keeps lightning the (now completely black) screen. That means that no power is saved. When the screen goes black, theres no reason not to put it in standby as well.

At first I could'nt understand the method used for installation in linux( after using windows)... I used to get software from cds from a linux magazine and they used to be in source code form (tar.gz files containing the source code)... I thought that since linux is an open source software ,the developers wanted the users to make sure they were open :-) .. that was what i used to say when some of my friends start blaming software management in linux... Then I heard about synaptic . It's a wonderful software for those who have good internet connection.

In a normal case when a user tries to install a software ,he has to add source (repo)(apt-get line) and then the key and all that stuff .. then he reloads in synaptic ..and the package can be installed easily by right clicking and selecting install (which also selects the dependencies required) ..

Instead why can't there be a system to search the package from the internet (after searching in the repos that has already been added in synaptic) and ask the user to select a repo from the list of repos and this inturn downloads the key and later the user can do the installation ... a list of repos can be maintained by ubuntu developers..or something like that .. i dont know about the solution for this problem but the idea is to avoid the user for searching the repo(apt-get line) for installing a particular package

Hi All,

I think that the Ubuntu OS should have a search engine, specifically created for web pages created on the Ubuntu OS. The webpages would be for use only by ubuntu users and all pages should be downloaded on the Ubuntu website to your own PC, and then browsed by yourself or network on the Ubuntu OS. So it would not be an internet as such but more of a library of web pages created by Ubuntu users on the for the ubuntu OS.

Many Thanks

It would be nice to see Ubuntu asking some simple questions by step to step at firs boot like Fedora 9 and many other distros does now.

First step: Ask user account and password. It would be usefull for example if someone wants to sell ubuntu pre-installed computers.

Next step: Configure network with network-manager

Third step: If network is working, ask if user wants to enable multiverse etc. repos and maeby install some restricted applications like gstreamer-codecs, adobe flash and java runtime.

When all questions are asked, open GDM and allow user to sing in using just created account...

Ubuntu (with box.net et.al) can offer a paid online service to back up data and store files with capability to synchronize data between the local machine and online drive.

Most users will have their data on this online drive(like box.net) can publish to their friends or family for guest access to shared files,etc(music,movies,docs) via links and also have access to files anywhere (with internet) without worrying about networking with home computers.

Ubuntu may work with Box.net et.al to develop this feature. Then ubuntu team can make money off of this project.

No need to maintain back up drives then.

So, let me tell you, in 2006 I briefly tried ubuntu breeze, well mostly kubuntu. It was nice, and one of the fun things to do was playing prboom. The problem was that sometimes it wouldn't start with sound.

I eventually figured out it had something to do with KDE using the sound, so I learned to just insist, and keep closing prboom and starting it back until sound worked.

Some time later, I upgraded to Dapper Drake, the issue was still there.

I moved back to windows XP, some time passed, and for some reason I tried ubuntu again, Feisty. I didn't really want to play prboom, but I still needed multimedia every once in a while, same problem, two applications that use sound cannot be run simultaneously, if you run one, the other will not be able to ever play sound, not even if the first one is not running sound at all, it happens with floola, with totem, firefox, it is crazy.

2008, Hardy upgrade, I got the issue of not being able to edit war3 maps correctly because both world editor and the game itself use sound, so I must either test stuff muted, or close world editor (which is painful since it often takes ages to open again).

So, I really wish next version(s) could focus on fixing this longstanding issue. I've searched the web and it looks like issues with Alsa.

or react to the power button with a shutdown.

This has happened to me many times, and just today it came to bite a friend of mine who was earnestly giving a try to Ubuntu...and renounced after losing his graphical interface except for bulletx. The problem is simple: sometimes kernel updates are released hours or even days before the restricted drivers packages are updated too (read: recompiled and packaged for new kernel). As a result, obviously, when the system is restarted the graphical driver does not function anymore.
And I am sure that it can happen also with other drivers.

The solution? One of two; either:

the kernel packages are completely held back until ANY AND ALL restricted drivers packages are updated (which is already done in Hardy, to be honest, considering that so far I have done three or four kernel updates and alwyas I saw in contemporary a new, repckaged nvidia-glx-new), or:

the update-manager program should check if any restricted drivers are installed, check if they are up-to-date with the kernel update, and in case they are not, blacklist the kernel updates until such a time when updating is secure.

I think this feature is quite a must; most users in the future are not even going to check what they are going to update at all; and it is sure to turn many people off Ubuntu if they suddenly find their boxes without graphical, or network (potentially even worse considering we have bulletproof X!) support.

There is nothing stopping us as users from deleting core system packages such as grub accidentally. I could tell any ubuntu user to do it, and they may wreck their system.

We should make APT smarter.
* There should be at least 1 kernel for instance, and it should be in the boot manager.
* If grub is the active bootmanager, make sure they know their system wont boot on deletion.
* You delete Xorg-X11, and you'll be hanging in prompt.

We need to make it more foolproof, and have a infrastructure in place to warn users if they are making a potentially fatal mistake.

Every second comment here is "well, it should be in apt". Well, if we want people to use apt for everything and be actively using it, we need to make it safer. I cant uninstall windows from their add/remove programs for instance now can I? Yet, one wrong click in adept will totally kill kubuntu.

Please note: THIS SHOULD BE ADDED AS AN OPTION! By default it should be enabled, except make it easily disabled so everyone wins

There's a feature in Mandriva that is really cool: laptop-kernel. You can use this kernel and your system is all tweaked to be correctly used with a laptop. It' easier to use this and not to have to configure by yourself your computer.

I'm not sure my idea is clear (I'M french so my english is really accurate), but the thing is that it would be great to be able to choose a kernel already optimized for your laptop.

A new wireless card or soundcard alone should not be a reason to upgrade the whole distro (and slow down everything because the newer version demands more resources).
Find a way to offer support for new hardware on all still supported versions of Ubuntu.

Would be better if Live Cd and Alternate Install disk, was only one disk..

I understand that a lot of you may or may not be newbies but a lot of the things that you have listed have either been done already or require very little on your part to enable or install the things that you request. I personally think that we should all just quit griping and just be glad that we can do these things in a short and easy manner. I am in no way an advanced user but the thing that keeps me going is the ability to install or deinstall anything on my buntu. If not for that then I would not be able to do the things in any linux system that I can now do after having to learn first hand. If we take all of this away from the new user, then he will never learn the things he needs to know in order to be a responsible user. This is the reason that the average user on a windows system ends up with an unusable system ridden with viruses and trojans and has to keep reinstalling frequently. I learned the hard way to individualize my system and so should the average new user if for no other reason than to teach them that we can do basically anything with our buntu system and finally live without viruses and have a safe and secure system for our children and other family members. In my opinion you are all just sounding like a bunch of lazy computer users that just want something easy that we can just put in and use right off the bat. If this is the case you can just go back to using your "easy" windows and hope that it continues to run in the near future.

The support to wireless cards in Ubuntu 6.06 was better.
Sometimes when i try to connect to a wireless net, I can't use a Static IP because I lose my conection. My wireless card only works in "Itinerant Mode".

Ubuntu is never really going to take off until the average user can do everything they need to do with their PC without ever having to see the command prompt.

All OS administration etc needs to be possible through the use of dialogs rather than obscure configuration files.

Many users here fail to recognise that the mainstream crowd does not care about politics, and are only voting for ideas that benefit technical users. They should be looking at the usefulness of an idea.

I propose that the Ubuntu development team focus's on usability, rather then politics at all costs, even if it means we lose out on "protests". Voting for this is more to work out the demographic of users, so more ideas of relevence can be posted. If the majority of users prefer to join protests, then we wont post ideas which go against our software morals.

In some cases, it makes sense (like not supporting DVD's out of the box, or MP3's or whatever). In most cases, people aren't looking at it at its usefulness


Some examples of cases where common sense hasn't reigned?
- Docx support in openoffice.
Voted down for politics. Neither geeks nor newbies like having to ask for a copy of a document saved again, its a waste of time. Furthermore, since Microsoft and Apple support them (which is the majority of the market who uses office suites), our protest only inconveniances users, because it sure as hell wont change users minds.

- GUI Server and Non-Gui server.
Voted down, because "all admins should be hardcore console users". Invalid, because I have set up dozens of windows, linux (RHEL and others) and OSX servers. And Ubuntu server sits out as a sore thumb. Only linux admins can touch it. Some servers I set up, users want to be able to easily do something simple like add a new user. And anyone here who did gui design, knows GUI's make configuration easier then editing files if designed correctly, and constrains users from making mistakes. Its also easier to manage a mailserver for instance with a proper administration GUI, then a console type application.

- Linux doesn't get viruses and is more secure then windows.
So therefore, having a centralised security centre (which is way too similar to windows) is bad. Wrong, the whole statement. Because people have gotten so used to defending linux in chatrooms, they fail to look to the future, or vote based on logic.

[....]

Add a default shortcut or launcher in new accounts to run a terminal. I know new users want to avoid the terminal, but it's an rite of passage that all Linux users should eventually go through.

In practice, sometimes a command-line solution is preferable to a GUI solution. For example, when the choice is between copying and pasting a single command -vs- a lot of searching for the right buttons to click and still having to type some configuration details and possibly having the new configuration not persist across reboots.

There is Ctrl+Alt+F1, but I'd expect new users to be more scared of that than the gnome-terminal.

Users could be prompted with a list of options upon installation, installing the specifics of a preset.

For Example, a menu could pop up upon installation that states:

What would be the primary use of this computer?
Multimedia
Office
Server
Internet
School
Custom / Normal
*etc*

Where "Multimedia" would install things like "OGGConvert, Banshee, GTKPod, Miro, etc. "Server" would install things like Samba, etc. The "Custom" or "Normal" setting would install the regularly installed software. Office would install OpenOffice.Org, etc.

Or perhaps this could be on a "Slim release" or something similar.

I just hate having useless software on my computer that I end up removing, and wasting hours doing so.

Due to policies that made computer prices go down there is a increasing amount of e-waste ("old" computers) all over the world. AS much as certain new pices of software demand there is still godd usage to such "old" machines. But the pontencial usage depends on less hardware greedy software. That means, to use these so-called obsolete machines requires the usage of software with less demands of hardware. For instance, an old K6II-500 can still do most of the job of mdoerns Pentiuns 4 and Athlons (and these are also getting obsolete when compared to the new multi-core processor generation). The only thing needed here is a software with low hardware requirement, such as IceWm, QVWM, LXDE (examples of window managers), PCmanfm and XFE (file managers), leafpad/mousepad, scite (text editors), Dillo (web broser), and many more.
My idea is as simple as most of you may be thinkinfg now. If we have so many Ubuntu derivates (Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Fluxbuntu) why not a Canonical offcial remaster of Ubuntu for these "old", obsolete but still working machines?
If we make heir life-time a little longer, maybe we help reduce the incresing e-waste.

For the submitter is frustrating and questionable why for some ideas there is such negative reaction.