Contributor rs3york

When keeping the same /home/ for years, it quickly becomes an unmaintainable mess of hidden folders.

You can't even delete them without being sure because it might contain important data.

Freedesktop has issued a recommandation to solve this problem :
http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/latest/ar01s03.html

Implementing this would allow to easily reset your configuration to the default one without loosing any data. For Ubuntu beta testers or people that care about having the default config, it would be a big advantage. It would also solve a lot of upgrade problems that some people have and that cannot be reproduced because it's a particular preference migration bug.

The problem and its solution is described here for the GNOME desktop but it applies for any application : http://ploum.frimouvy.org/?184-cleaning-user-preferences-keeping-user-data


My suggestion is to make the FD.o recommandation an official Ubuntu recommandation, trying to lobby so applications in Ubuntu follow this spec, at least the one in main.

A suggestion for the GNOME desktop has also been issued :
http://live.gnome.org/GnomeGoals/XDGConfigFolders

Even if you install Ubuntu in other language than English, OpenOffice and Firefox come without any trace of the selected language, everything is in English.
Although it isn't difficult to do, it would be very useful to many people to have that programs configured for their language by default: application language, dictionaries, thesaurus...

or react to the power button with a shutdown.

Still show wireless signal/network status even when manually configured Network Manager

The brainstorm site needs to have a new item in the user menu: Ideas I've commented on. For many comments, people are looking for responses, or are curious to know what other people are saying. You could also provide the ability to "watch" topics, and be notified when they are updated and/or comments are made.

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.

Under the orange loading bar I think it should say what version it is loading. The writing can be quite small or even grey on the black background but I think it should be there.

I saw this feature in a distribution called Pardus. When the installation is actually finished, the computer asks the user if he still remembers the password he set. If no, the user can reset the password again.

This seems to be very useful and gentle. I never actually forget my password, but I think many people do, especially as most of the Windows-users didn't have a password on Windows.

1. There are deeply invasive performance/scalability/latency fixes for CFS regressions (vs. 2.6.24) in the 2.6.25 tree. These fixes are too invasive to be ported to the 2.6.24 kernel without significant risk.

2. Many of the driver updates/new drivers in the kernel-ubuntu package are merged into upstream as of 2.6.25. (This is always true, but the smaller the delta against upstream the better on release day).

3. Fedora 9 is based on 2.6.25 which means that key RH kernel developers are aggressively working to get the feature and performance/scalability regressions vs. 2.6.18 & 22 fixed.

4. The kgdb patch will probably be merged at the start of the 2.6.26 cycle which means the delta vs. 2.6.25 kernel should be pretty manageable. This would be really valuable from an LTS ongoing perspective.

5. The RT patch will be better maintained (and smaller) against 2.6.25. (see #3)

6. Better virtualization and SELinux support (see #3).

Given the life-cycle of an LTS release (especially this one which will finally have a meaningful chance to enter the data center) these considerations are especially important.

Obviously 2.6.25 would have to be in addition to 2.6.24 for the Hardy 8.04 LTS release time-frame, but it does allow the aforementioned benefits to be propagated forward.

When you install Ubuntu with other O.S. installed. You have the option "To Install in the free space contiguous", but if you don't defrag previusly the partiton, you would have problems with this option, beacuse you couldn´t make a partition with the real free space.

The solution is that you would chose the option "Make a defrag before you could choose make the partitions"

Sorry for my English ;)

A separate partition for /home has been proposed for a long time in the forums. It implies some risks, though, so based on disk size Ubiquity should estimate the amount of space that should be left for / or whether a separate partition should be made at all. Then...

-The first time an user installs Ubuntu, he is given the option to set a separate /home. This option is selected by default, with a size for each partition based on a sane guess:

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/7958/firstinstallaro2.png

-Of course, he can just choose not to set a separate /home. This option will be selected by default if the results of the system test suggest that's the best thing to do.

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/6498/firstinstallbfs6.png

-Manual install is also possible. Selecting it greys out everything related to separate /home, since it's implied that the user doesn't want to be guided.

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/7976/firstinstallcvc2.png

-If the user set a separate /home, the next time he installs Ubuntu a new option appears and is selected by default, prompting to use the existing /home partition. All other options are still available, though.

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/9034/secondinstalliq1.png

[....]

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.

There is a wide community of online artists capable of creating brilliant, unique artwork.

heading: Get your artwork on 10 million desktops

Ubuntu, the world's most popular Linux distribution, needs a new theme. The winner will appear in the default desktop of Ubuntu 8.10.

We're looking for original wallpapers, that match Ubuntu's color palette. You entry should also include a suggested combination of application, icon, and window themes. These can be existing themes, or your own original works - you only need to submit a wallpaper to win.

Work must be CC licensed, and be openable in either Inkscape or Gimp (rest of criteria continues)

Submit your works to DeviantArt and include the words [Ubuntu810].


Good luck!

Some ideas need to be generic, but some are so jokingly generic or obvious, it doesn't help developers at all. One example is the oldskool idea "Better hardware support".

Well, Everything in the hardware category is a dupe of that. It got over 1000 votes, yet it does not help developers at all, is obvious, and it cannot be fulfilled. "Better webcam support" is a tad more specific, at least people can mention exactly which webcams they are having issues with. Better would be to say "support UVB webcams out of the box".

Any comments in "Better hardware support" will be so broad, it wont help target specific hardware

There must be a way to stop this sillyness. Ideas marked as requiring more info or obvious should notify the author, and close the idea. Otherwise we end up with unattainable ideas, that get us nowhere, and dent future development.Mods should have the last say so the system wont be abused.


Otherwise next idea I post should be "Make ubuntu more user friendly". Yeah, that will get me to most popular ever. But it shouldn't!

Many ideas on brainstorm are just bugs, and brainstorm is not for bugs, its for ideas. If you got a bug, go to launchpad. Obviously not everyone new to ubuntu knows that, so they post it here as an idea. There should be some warning, most likely when you're submitting a new idea, that that's the way it is.

Every 2 weeks you should write a blog entry about which ideas caught the eye of developers, which ones shouldn't be submitted anymore because its currently in work, which ones surprised developers as being as popular as they were, any trends you are spotting. Just generally give some feedback on the suggestions here. Otherwise you are in risk of people thinking this is a one way process with people never getting any feedback on what the developers make of their ideas.

The Gimp project has a site where people can propose new ideas for the next GIMP GUI, and after every 25 submissions the developers post a blog explaining what they made of the ideas. Even if its just a short list of what trends they spotted over the last few weeks it's always interesting to read and gives you a sense that your suggestions are actually being considered.

I think Brainstorm needs something similar.