Contributor rawsausage - Ubuntu brainstorm

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The Ubuntu community has contributed 22700 ideas, 138270 comments, 2629576 votes

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Implemented ideas

Contributor rawsausage

Fix Suspend and Hibernate

Written by tighem the 28 Feb 08 at 17:22. Global category: System. Not an idea

Suspend and hibernate still seems to be a big issue based on forum posts.

Developer comments

“Fix suspend and hibernate” is not an idea; it is not something that a developer could ever mark as “Implemented”. Suspend and hibernate work for many machines, and making them work for more machines is a matter of fixing individual bugs, not of implementing an idea.

This page has (as shown by the “Mix of improvements” suggestion, and the highly varied “duplicate” ideas) become a vortex for many unrelated ideas. Some of these ideas are good, and some are not so good. They should be separated out and voted on individually.

—mpt

7476
votes

78
votes

Solution #3: Mix of improvements + Solution #1 (letting the user choose)

Written by franco.valoppi the 26 Aug 09 at 03:47.

I think that even using proprietary driver may make it more compatible, always let the user to choose.

On the other hand I have some other ideas to improve performance (probably already implemented):
- Memory trim and garbage collection, before hitbernating.
- Memory Defrag.
- Exclude System Prefetched data from hibernate files. I mean memory used with programs already closed but still in memory in the case you want to open them again.

-31
votes

Solution #4: Add an idle option

Written by qwerty800 the 19 Sep 09 at 14:54.

As a temporary solution, we should add an "idle" option to ubuntu.

Since suspend and hibernate both invole creating a system image and storing it in the ram/in the swap, until we fix this, we need to find another alternative to this.

The only alternative remaining is to leave your computer open during all the night!

Well, my idea is to add an "Idle" option, that would:
-Suspend most of the programs
-Lower the CPU clocking (If possible)
-Lower the fan speed (If possible, trying to emit the less noise possible)
-Lower the HDD speed (If possible)
-Lock the screen

That way, we could still avoid energy wasting, while waiting for a working sleep mode.

136
votes

99
votes

-32
votes

Solution #7: Create solid aternative for laptops where suspend/hibernate doens't work.

Written by FeraTech the 21 Mar 10 at 04:47.

For those laptops where suspend and hibernate do not work Ubuntu should automatically default to an alternative.

A good solution would be to simply have the previous state stored onto the hard drive including all running applications. The laptop would boot normally and all of the previous state would just be stored and controlled by the operating system.

30
votes

-27
votes

10
votes

Solution #10: investigate why suspend works in other distros and not ubuntu

Written by DonnyDonNothin the 22 Nov 10 at 15:36.

investigate why suspend works in other distros and not ubuntu. 's2ram -f' in another distro works flawlessly, but what ever ubuntu uses causes my touchpad to freeze. ask the community to contribute to a list of what hardware and applications work in suspend. much like the voting system here. for example:
XXX touchpads freezing after suspend +6 votes
window contents lost on ati drivers +X votes

0
votes

See the 280 comments or propose a solution >>

Improve dual-screen function

Ubuntu

In :
Priority :	Undefined
Definition :	Approved (Needs guidance)
Implementation :	Implemented
Assignee :	Bryce Harrington

Written by clemdup the 28 Feb 08 at 20:32. Global category: Graphics. In development

I'm bored with dual-screen on GNU/Linux, it really has to have a graphic configuration, and better features.
I would like to move windows from a screen to another, but when I maximize I need it to be in a single screen.

Update: Xrandr GUI blog post by Bryce Harrington

Developer comments

Response from Bryce Harrington: http://blog.qa.ubuntu.com/node/9

6224
votes

See the 69 comments or propose a solution >>

Easy mounting of Images like ISO and CUE

Written by Nanotron the 28 Feb 08 at 20:17. Related project: Nautilus. Implemented

I'm a big fan of Images like .iso. However it is not very easy to mount these Images.

Developer comments

There is already right click->open with "archive mounter" in Gnome, however it currently has a major bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gvfs/+bug/299956

5716
votes

Selected solution (#1): Auto-generated solution of idea #194

Written by Nanotron the 28 Feb 08 at 20:17.

I feel there should be a Tool in Nautilus and Dolphin which allows mounting Images by double Click or something similar. (This feature exists int MacOS). Or with a right click on the I think that would be a very useful Tool for every one.
A good example for this is CDemu.

I know there are some other good programs, but I think that would be the easiest way

691
votes

-16
votes

0
votes

40
votes

-71
votes

-12
votes

Selected solution (#8): Okay, here it is :)

Written by r0g the 28 Oct 09 at 05:09.

In the form of a python script for nautilus actions.

http://www.technicalbloke.com/iso_mount.py

I don't have time to do the unmount command too but it should be easy to adapt if you know a little python, consider that homework & pls post me a copy :)

I think it would be nice if Ubuntu came with some more useful nautilus action scripts and a nicer way of adding/removing them. At the moment getting them in and out is more of a pain than it needs to be. It ought to be as easy as Firefox (if not easier!) to install plugins, maybe then people would make more.

Roger.

-44
votes

See the 65 comments or propose a solution >>

Improve file/folder sharing experience (Samba)

Written by bartong the 29 Feb 08 at 01:35. Global category: Internet & Networking. Implemented

Currently it is very difficult to setup and control access to shared folders without editing conf files and reading detailed instructions on all the variables. I propose that sharing (specifically Samba) be given a well worked GUI and some real TLC to bring it up to standard with the experience on Windows or OS X.

5396
votes

Selected solution (#1): Defaults and GUI Options adjusted appropriately

Written by bartong the 29 Feb 08 at 01:35.

By default a share should be accessible as Read Only by anyone on the network without a username or password (guest access). While guest access should be turned on by default, it should also be easy to turn it off, and if desired to give guests read/write access to the folder.

You should also be able to specify local users who will have read/write access, and these local users should sync with smb users invisibly (ie: the user doesn't need to know that there are two password databases being used).

The Properties window for a folder should contain a Sharing tab with all the options available to choose. I also propose a Shared Folders option in the Preferences menu should list the currently shared folders along with their settings, and provide a button to take you into the dialogue where you can set the options.

127
votes

29
votes

21
votes

Selected solution (#4): Samba Server Configuration Wizard

Written by Agafonov the 18 Nov 09 at 21:29.

We need a simple to use step-by-step wizard which will ask some really simple questions and generate an smb.conf file based on the user's choices.
How about https://launchpad.net/sscw ? It is a working example, although right now it's using zenity. If re-written using python it would become a very handy companion to nautilus-share.
We even should not include smb.conf in the samba package: once installed, samba server will not work until the user has defined how it should behave.

56
votes

Selected solution (#5): Share Sub-Folders by Default

Written by Klau3 the 11 Mar 10 at 01:51.

Right now, when right clicking on a folder and selecting “Sharing Options” – for example you want to share your Music folder and create a guest access to it – Samba will only share the files within the music folder but NOT THE SUB-FOLDERS where all the music is.

When sharing a folder, most people want to give access to sub-folders. For that reason, I suggest to reverse the handling of Samba sharing, so that you would have to click on an extra box to show that you don't want Samba to share sub-folders.

10
votes

3
votes

Selected solution (#7): Allow Ubuntu to change the mounting options of FAT partitions

Written by qwerty800 the 6 Feb 11 at 21:05.

I personally have a file depot on my network where users can drop the files they want everyone to access.
It used to be on a NTFS partition, but is now hosted on the samba network. Doing such was a fairly hard task, since NTFS doesn't save permissions for each file, and is mounted with the 700 permission, while Samba requires XX4 or superior. I had to modify my fstab config file for that, and that's definitively not what I'd call user-friendly.

7
votes

Selected solution (#9): Centralized file-sharing administration

Written by komputes the 17 Aug 11 at 22:42.

The question on many user's mind is "What am I sharing (and to whom)?"

“System > Administration > Shared folders” is a feature that has been removed since 8.04. There has been no replacement for this tool since its disappearance.

Solution is to create a utility that should provide a graphical front-end to configure both samba system shares (managed in /etc/samba/smb.conf) and samba usershares (/var/lib/samba/usershares/).

Stepping a bit outside the scope of the issue (samba), this application should have a pluggable infrastructure which can also be used to show and configure other types of shares (nfs, ftp, ubuntuone).

Central administration, what a concept!

See the 49 comments or propose a solution >>

Fix compatibility with webcams and microphone

Written by dragonx the 28 Feb 08 at 17:30. Global category: Multimedia. Not an idea

In many cases, I can't configure my webcam or I have problems with the microphone. Now I can use my webcam but only with V4L2 and only 3 programas detect my webcam. It's a good idea can use my webcam in all programs as camorama.

Developer comments

That's pure driver issue in the first place. A big plus is to recommend UVC-based webcams to users, since it takes a lot of work off the shoulders of driver-developers. On the
integration-side proper support for v4l/v4l2 in webcam-related applications needs to be solidified. The ideal application to polish up is cheese of course.

5301
votes

See the 42 comments or propose a solution >>

Create a better hardware database

Ubuntu

In :
Priority :	Low
Definition :	New (Needs guidance)
Implementation :	Unknown
Assignee :	Tomas Gustavsson

Written by Ubuwu the 28 Feb 08 at 15:22. Global category: System. Implemented

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.

Developer comments

Work is on-going at https://launchpad.net/hwtest

5093
votes

See the 47 comments or propose a solution >>

LiveUSB

Written by Taku the 28 Feb 08 at 14:35. Global category: System. Implemented

cdroms are slow, don't allow to modify their content easily, they are weak and not as easy to carry as USB keys.

It would be great to provide Ubuntu as a liveUSB just as Mandriva does. We should be able to carry our distribution on any computer, manage our preferred settings (do I want binary drivers enabled ? what is my preferred resolution ?), etc.

The thing is not to make something transportable, but really a nomad system that could be used just the best way as it could on any computer.

Developer comments

This was implemented by two separate projects! Both Usb-creator (see the blueprint) and Usblive (see its website) allow you to build a live USB system on Intrepid.
The first one is available on the repository, and usblive in this PPA.

4328
votes

0
votes

See the 78 comments or propose a solution >>

Easy way of backing up/moving your documents and settings

Written by stgraber the 28 Feb 08 at 12:10. Global category: System. Implemented

At the moment, if someone wants to backup his documents or prepare a migration from a computer to another there isn't much more than file-roller to create a backup.
Ideally, the user should be able to run a graphic software which would ask what the user wants to backup and where (tape/usb key/remote).
Then the same tool would be able to restore the backup.

It would be useful for both backups and migration from a computer to another.

Update : See duplicates ideas which contain even more great ideas about that idea.

3619
votes

39
votes

Selected solution (#2): Use existing incremental backup utility and some additional scripts

Written by mudd1 the 2 Feb 09 at 10:53.

There are already great utilities like backup2l. All that'd be needed were a good default configuration, perhaps a GUI and a couple of scripts that prevent rendering your system unusable and even unbootable after a restore: Something to fix /etc/fstab (UUIDs, I love them), /boot/grub/menu.lst (same reason) and permissions (random UIDs/GIDs on package installation), all of which is a real PITA at the moment and probably breaks every newbie's neck.

305
votes

Selected solution (#3): Write a GUI for rsnapshot

Written by hurricanefloyd the 14 Mar 09 at 01:47.

rsnapshot is an excellent piece of software that (much like Apple's Time Machine) allows a user to take "snapshots" of his or her system. Using rsnapshot, a user can create snapshots at any interval he wants: hourly, weekly, monthly, every 6 hours, or anything else that cron supports. Restoring from a previous snapshot is as easy as copy and paste.

The problem is that rsnapshot is not the easiest software to use, even for people who are comfortable with the command line. I suggest that Canonical write a GUI for rsnapshot and ship it with Ubuntu.

rsnapshot: http://rsnapshot.org/

181
votes

-27
votes

-73
votes

Selected solution (#6): integrate Dropbox

Written by stefano the 16 Mar 09 at 18:42.

Dropbox is an easy [1] [2], secure [3], cheap [4] [5], based on Amazon S3 [6] and, last but not least, the nautilus client is GPL [7] !!!

and, but it's only an idea, Canonical colud be compensated for paying Dropbox Ubuntu users.

[1] http://www.getdropbox.com/tour
[2] http://www.getdropbox.com/screencast
[3] http://www.getdropbox.com/help/27
[4] http://www.getdropbox.com/help/47
[5] http://www.getdropbox.com/help/15
[6] http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/11/dropbox-the-online-storage-solution-weve-b een-waiting-for/
[7] http://www.getdropbox.com/downloading?os=lnx

42
votes

Selected solution (#7): LuckyBackup, a GUI for rsync

Written by salih.emin the 19 Mar 09 at 01:24.

Recently a new GUI was developed for the most known and reliable backup technology :rsync

luckyBackup is an application for data back-up and synchronization powered by the rsync tool.
It is simple to use, fast (transfers over only changes made and not all data), safe (keeps your data safe by checking all declared directories before proceeding in any data manipulation ), reliable and fully customizable.
Just take a look at this screenshots:
http://luckybackup.sourceforge.net/screenshots.html

-42
votes

Selected solution (#9): Partner with an existing online backup provider for seamless backups

Written by FrankQuist the 20 Mar 09 at 20:11.

Many users do not make back-ups because you need multiple harddrives or more space for that, plus it takes time to set up. Backup should be as low-entry as possible. Online backup systems are a (partial) solution to that problem.

Adding a one-click-to-enable option for free (& cheap to expand) online storage through partnership with an existing vendor would be a major innovation and "selling" point. Yes, space might be limited, but just backing up certain default directories such as documents might do the trick.

50
votes

Selected solution (#10): support btrfs filesystem for native snapshots and data integrity

Written by stefano the 20 Mar 09 at 22:17.

For local (not-online) backups btrfs 'll simplify files versioning (with native snapshot support) and data integrity (with native data chesumming).

btrfs is currently supported by 2.6.29 kernel.

as stated in the home page "Btrfs is under heavy development, and is not suitable for any uses other than benchmarking and review. The Btrfs disk format is not yet finalized, but it will only be changed if a critical bug is found and no workarounds are possible.". Ubuntu should support it as soon as possible after the 1.0 release (Q408).

this idea is complementary to #6 and #8 for local backups with rsync (with btrfs and rsync we'll not need other time-something solutions) but for online offsite backups we'll need ALSO one or more solution as #4, #5, #9.

references:
http://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Main_Page
http://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Development_timeline

12
votes

Selected solution (#11): Support backup PLUG-INs

Written by Craig73 the 21 Mar 09 at 14:45.

OK - well we might get tired of the word plugins... but I see the request for a timevault style backup system, the underlying technology (file system or backup library), and the destination as being 3 separate part of the solution.

But whatever tool is selected - people should be able to add the options they want

1) Option to backup online. Make it easy to add different online services whether it is some random FTP site, S3, a free cloud service, or some other future solution (bit-torrent backups or replication with other machines?)

2) Allow encryption of data. Whether online or offline, we should optionally allow encryption of data. [I see opportunity here to leverage GPU or multiple core processing for stupidly high levels of encryption no?]

-17
votes

-8
votes

12
votes

Selected solution (#14): Add Remastersys as extra option for backing up the installed system setup to DVD

Written by chappell101 the 30 Mar 09 at 19:01.

I'm not suggesting having only Remastersys or using it for a whole system back up of your files, but as another option to go alongside one of the above for files. It would be just imaging your choice of applications and desktop appearance preferences ect. To enable very easy system restore installation exactly to your liking from a worst case scenario that the HD fail and had to be replaced. The application is also very user friendly for new users to use.

26
votes

Selected solution (#15): Include "Back In Time" as default backup tool

Written by sajmon75 the 7 Apr 09 at 12:17.

A simple and smart solution:
http://backintime.le-web.org/

From web site:
Back In Time is a simple backup system for Linux inspired from “flyback project” and “TimeVault”. The backup is done by taking snapshots of a specified set of directories.

Currently there are two GUI available: Gnome and KDE 4 (>= 4.1).

All you have to do is configure:

* Where to save snapshot
* What directories to backup
* When backup should be done (manual, every hour, every day, every week, every month)

23
votes

Selected solution (#16): Use Déjà Dup

Written by mterry the 6 May 09 at 16:47.

This solution is a little self-serving, since I'm the maintainer of Déjà Dup, but I think it fits the bill. At least, my aim is to fit this bill.

A quick description: A simple GUI that makes backing up the 'right way' (off-site, regular, incremental, encrypted) easy. It's based on the command-line tool duplicity.

https://launchpad.net/deja-dup

As robbiew mentions in the comments, this was added to Ubuntu for Jaunty (go to Add/Remove and search for it). There is also a PPA supporting as far back as Hardy in the link above.

I love feedback/bug reports!

158
votes

Selected solution (#18): Add a migration/transfer tool in System->Administration

Written by leandro123 the 28 Jun 09 at 20:43.

A migration tool will (1) collect the enviroment (of the user or the computer) including the personal preferences in a machine independent way (e.g. Thunderbird, Mozilla, Pidgin, config files), the personal files (home directory), the list of installed applications, and (2) send them to another computer (via ssh, rexec, ssl, etc.) or create an archive to be transferred and then imported by the same application on the new computer.

46
votes

Selected solution (#19): Add a "transfer settings from existing installation" in the installer.

Written by Michael Safyan the 3 Jul 09 at 21:39.

I suggest we have something at the end of the Ubuntu installation process that, like at the end of the Mac OS X installation process, asks the user if he/she would like to transfer his/her files and settings from an existing copy of Ubuntu. If selected, the user can choose to transfer data via the Internet or through a USB or other physical connection. The Ubuntu install will then transfer (most of) the contents of "/home" and "/etc" (depending on what can be reasonably copied from one installation to another), and the new installation will use the apt-get markings of the previous installation to download and install the appropriate packages.

6
votes

-10
votes

Selected solution (#21): Here is a simple GUI program for backup written in python

Written by Zorba the 8 Feb 10 at 08:17.

I realized a simple program with python and Qt4 to make easier backup of files or system configuration. You are totally free to modify this code, and I hope this could be useful for many Ubuntu users. I think it could be a good idea to insert it into system settings (the system settings for KDE and the settings menu for GNOME). If someone can make a porting to GTK+ the integration with GNOME will be better.

You can download the program here: zorbaproject.uuuq.com/upload/easybackupgui.tar.gz

to test it simply open a console, enter the folder where you have unpacked the tar, and type "python easybackupgui.py": some features need sudo.

3
votes

Selected solution (#23): System backup and restore

Written by benoyanthony the 14 Jul 10 at 10:24.

Ubuntu should come up with MS windows like user interface where in user can backup the sytem and restore point is generated which can be reloaded as and when required. This restore point will include user setting and sytem setting if required by user. Also need to give provision to copy the restore point file to any required location on HDD or any other storage media.

7
votes

Selected solution (#25): Backup Center

Written by natureflow the 17 Oct 10 at 13:33.

I propose a "Backup Center", where you:
* Can choose directories to backup or your whole home directory
* Can create a key to encrypt your backup, if you want
* Can print your key or copy it to an media
* Can select network destinations for your backup like Ubuntu One Storage, Secure FTP, Secure WebDAV, SMB, etc.
* Can select local storage devices like USB storages
* Can select a timetable for the backup on the local USB storage, which might require the user to periodic connect it to the computer when prompted
* and, of course: Can easily play back your backup, when your files are gone

There should be an intelligent daemon in the background which accomplishes the backup. If an backup destination is not available or full, the user should be warned.

6
votes

1
votes

Selected solution (#31): Option at CD install to recover from UBUNTU ONE programs and settings

Written by mitcoes the 13 Jun 11 at 10:39.

At USC an option to backup to UBUNTU ONE:

1.- The list of main repository installed/unsinstalled programs and settings
2.- The same with PPAs and PPAs programs and settings

At CD Install an option to recover your list of programs and settings and in a separate option PPAs ones where you can select all or pick some. - Sometimes PPas programs can be the cause of system inestability -

This way you can make installation profiles or make easier the reinstallation when it is necessary.

As well ubuntu would know the program change / install preferences from users with datamining of this backups.

For example I use to install VLC, Qbittorrent, Chromium, Chrome, Opera, & Thunderbird

See the 56 comments or propose a solution >>

Codec Manager

Written by intarwub the 29 Feb 08 at 00:32. Global category: Multimedia. Already implemented

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

[....]

Developer comments

Attacks the problem from the wrong angle. I don't think many users would care about a "codec manager", that sounds very much like a geek tool. Heck, *I* wouldn't care about a codec manager. I care about watching my videos. :-)

To me this already seems solved very elegantly with the existing easy-codec-installation.

3253
votes

See the 68 comments or propose a solution >>

Graphical frontend to edit GRUB menu

Ubuntu

In :
Priority :	Undefined
Definition :	New (Needs guidance)
Implementation :	Unknown
Assignee :

Written by aysiu the 28 Feb 08 at 18:51. Global category: System. New

Right now, the most likely successful migrations to Ubuntu happen for *nix experts and total novices who have someone install Ubuntu for them, but the most likely people to try Ubuntu are Windows power users--those who like a lot of configuration options but who are also used to using the GUI for tweaking options and not manually editing a text configuration file.

The most popular requests for editing the /boot/grub/menu.lst file involve changing the default boot option (to Windows instead of Ubuntu) and changing the timeout before a boot option is selected. The other less popular ones would be just bonus features, I guess.

2887
votes

73
votes

See the 36 comments or propose a solution >>

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