Contributor tomaszx

As clearly as that,multimedia codecs should be included
in default installation only installed when user agrees
to Restricted drivers copyrights(most of users still
dont know about what are multimedia copyrights from
windows environment),i mean drivers for playing
MP3,most popular audio and video formats.most of users
agree to install codecs if they dont let them install
Ubuntu JEOS.
if this is not achievable,Make a Deb packages for most
popular codecs(as in xp) for playing these files and
make it available on ubuntu website.its frustrating
to find that i need to download every time i install and
one codecs version doesnt work with all Ubuntu versions
like different codecs for different Ubuntu versions
fawn,gutsy etc.

Make an extra repository for latest kernels. Many of us have problems with devices that are not compatible with the kernel. Some of these problems are solved with the next kernel. For example my atheros works with 2.6.25 but i am stack with 2.6.24 and i had to wait for 6 months to get a new kernel and have my wifi working. There sould be a repo for kernel updates and the users will have the choice to activate it or not.

It really needs one. :)

Would it be possible to add an option for seeing two windows in one filebrowser, in order to push files around ?

this is one of those things which, once you've used it, you ask yourself how you ever did otherwise. i have used 'norton commander' (DOS) in the past, and 'total commander' (for MS Windows, google it), and also the kde file manager 'krusader'. all of these are split into two windows. its much more compact, and much easier to keep order on the desktop.

(Or is this something that the Gnome people would have to do ?)

I use now wicd and it's , ,much better than NetworkManager.. More work is needed for NetworkManager

(See multiples duplicates and comments about more requested improvement)

Create this minimal edition only with very basic software and the graphical interface!
in this way each user can customize his own disto and then remaster a live cd in order to have a fully customized system from a fresh install!

Also create a rolling release like Debian testing, where users install it only once and then get the newest packages with few bugs. This way the users won't have a "static" installation and therefore would not have to upgrade every 6 months!

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.

I think a tool/deamon that save the users setting on a usb stick would be nice.

Backup configuration files and settings like...
- GnuPG keys
- e-mail settings
- contact list
- unit settings (metric/imperial)
- paper size (A4/letter)
- currency
- timezone
- locale settings
- printer configuration
- network configuration
- ...

It should basically do what Apple .Mac sync service does, but on USB-Sticks. This tool should not be an entire backup tool for all kind of data! Only small configuration settings and perhaps some desktop gadgets.

After first time configuration, it could automatically sync the data throught a background daemon started by d-bus, after the usb stick is connected, per example. If a user has GnuPG installed, the possibility to encrypt the data should be offered to the user.

During install, if the usb stick is present, the installer could prompt for import the settings and configure all of them. This would accelerate and simplify the entire installation process.

Let me create virtual folders (like evolution search folders) by selecting TAGs and filetypes of the files that should show up in them.

Examples for such virtual folders:
All PDFs containing the words (TAGs) "Java";
All Images (filetype group) tagged with "summer" or containing this word in their name;

I'll never open Nautilus again (at least not to browse filesystem structures)! I will have search folders for the clients I am working on currently on my desktop and as bookmarks in my file-chooser.

I can also drop files onto these folders and the files will get the TAGs of these folders.

So even if I delete/disable these folders, the files have the TAGs and the folders could be formed again.

I'd like to see a way for non-admin users to install programs via apt, into their home directory , so they don't need root access every time they even want tiny, succinct apps (like a fortune cookie program), and still have the convenience of a package manager

There would be no security risk or overall risk to system stability as apt would run with user privileges, so they would still not be able to do any worse then they normally could do.

Dangerous programs like VMware would still not be able to be fully installed (because kernel module installation requires root). And they would not be able to erase Xorg because they don't have write access to the Xorg directories.

But they could eliminate their reliance on tar.gz's from websites, and install programs such as vdrift or open office, using the standard package managers, without requiring root intervention.

A policy could be set in a config files to determine if local users should be able to use apt with local user permissions. The code for this is easy! That way you can still stop them using apt if you wish :D

PROS
1) Untrusted noobies can install or mess around in the full APT repo without ANY risk of system damage.
2) I can hand grandma a ubuntu laptop, without sudo/root access, allow her to install programs, without risk or giving her root.
3) This could technically be implemented now, with only a few changes to synaptic or adept. Apt is already ready
4) This is a way for users to step up to more advanced package managers, without screwing up the system.

CONS
1.1) A bit more hdd space usage. But people should be using quota's anyway to protect against this in most environments.

[....]

Algunas aplicaciones podrían ser nativas, como el XMMS, MPlayer, GNOME-MPlayer.

Currently, the default Grub Menu is ultra confusing for the average user. When a first time Linux user boots their system, they see three confusing boot options. Which one are they meant to select?

It would be more intuitive if the Grub Boot Menu Options were as followed:

Ubuntu 8.04
Ubuntu 8.04 (Fail-Safe)
Ubuntu 8.04 (Memory Test)
Microsoft Windows

This way, all the boot options are available, but the user can almost instantly understand what they are and what they mean.

Some elderly people have great problems with holding the mouse still enough in between the first and second click of a "double click" so the clicks register as two individual clicks instead of a double click. Not because the time interval between them was too long, but because the mouse pointer moved a tiny bit in-between the first and second click because of the shaking of their hand.

Some users have such a problem with this that it gets to the point that double-clicking is impossible for them, and because of that it becomes impossible for them to use a mouse, and they are forced to switch to a trackball where this problem does not exist, as the user can let go of the ball before double clicking.

Perhaps a change to the mouse driver, with a "relaxed double clicking" check-box in the mouse configuration menu, that allows for the clicks not only to come slowly, but also with a small movement in between them, might help in these cases.

As double clicks might also be used inside applications, setting the desktop to "single click" is not a sufficient solution.

In the panel, it would be handy to be able to tile windows horizontally and vertically instead of just minimising, maximising and moving to other desktops.

At present, I spend a lot of time resizing windows when it should be automated.

Smart local DNS would work in a similar way to openDNS only locally. This is not to replace normal DNS, but to go in between the host file and normal DNS. This could almost be thought of as a smart host file.

It would redirect some typos.
www.unbuntu.com to www.ubuntu.com
anything.co to anything.com

could be used to enable AOL style browser keywords.

could provide custom 404 pages with suggestions on. Revenue from these links could be used to promote ubuntu.

8.10 is to focus on networking, this would certainly improve the internet browser experience.

Sometimes we need to see our desktop. It is intuitive to be able to click on it (if part of it is showing), just as you click on a window to raise it. However, to prevent people from accidentally doing this, we could make it so you have to double click the desktop to show it.

It really is more intuitive than an obscure button that n00bs don't really get.

This is what I want:

I want to be able to mark applications "Not Compiz compatible" so that Compiz shuts down when I launch a game or some other 3D-heavy application. This is something I want to improve stability and performance for such applications.

A better compilation of the hardware inside your computer/laptop. The current hardware manager is quite complicated looking and doesn't list details in a readable manner. Instead of listing generic names, it should list brand names, hardware versions, etc. On a Mac there is a very nice "About this MAC" that list specific details about the hardware in a computer with easy to understand details and actively updated changes. It also included build information that could list Ubuntu core files, version numbers, dependencies etc.

Simply said, a one stop shop, for a user to see what is in their computer and details of core software. A GUI could show a schematic diagram on how the various part of the computer are connected and work together.

This could be tied to the "hardware compatibility" idea and any incompatibility could be listed in here.

http://www.os2world.com/os2files/images/xf86cfg_gui_main.gif
http://www.linux-user.de/ausgabe/2002/08/068-answergirl/xf86cfg-1.png
http://www.zejack.com/article/barebone/shuttle/ss51g/651.gif

OpenOffice.org is quite sluggish with its default settings. Every time I install Ubuntu, one of the first things I do is change the OpenOffice.org settings.

I usually change the settings as follows:
MEMORY - 30 steps, 128MB, 20 objects, 20MB per object
JAVA - Do not use Java
VIEW - Open GL, optimized output, dithering, refresh during interaction and hardware acceleration all ticked.


Without the View settings changed, running old powerpoint presentations in slideshow mode literally brings a dual core processor to a halt.


I'm not sure that the default settings should be exactly as described above because I'm not sure what ramifications that might have for other computers, but it seems to be that there is a lot of room for improvement in performance.

Totem is a good player, but vlc is much better. Please put the best software as default in ubuntu, because the problems of new users , coming from windows, will decrease a lot with vlc, that recognise more codecs than totem.