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The Ubuntu community has contributed 21986 ideas, 135057 comments, 2615221 votes
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Popular ideas Here are the last 6 months most popular ideas about Ubuntu.

A Good Tool for Academics and Students  
Written by jesuisbenjamin the 16 Mar 12 at 10:27. Global category: Education. New
I am a student in Humanities. I went through my studies using Ubuntu. It was great, but it could have been better.

Recently I dicovered a non-free software called Mendeley, which provides many features required for academics and studies:

- management of library and implementation of citation in LibreOffice
- share and annotation of PDF articles and books among work-groups and think tanks
- find and communicate with others who work on similar subjects

Mendeley however is made in such a way that it uploads all one's PDFs on a cloud, before you can upload your library, you already have surpassed the default 500MB capacity of the cloud, and you are required to pay 5 to 10 or more EUR per month.

As a student, I cannot afford such a price, and I doubt many could (especially in countries where currency is weak).

Ubuntu, and Linux users in general deserve better. If anything free and open source software should encourage education and sharing. Hence, the idea is to create a free and open-source software similar to Mendeley for students and academics.*

* yes, there are already few available tools that do bits of what is described above, but no complete and comprehensive working environment to do all the above consistently.
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Solution #1: A Peer-to-Peer Equivalent of Mendeley
Written by jesuisbenjamin the 16 Mar 12 at 10:27.
The main strategy of Mendeley is to force cloud use, clugging the cloud and driving to consumption. Sources, like digital books and articles are even duplicated on their server, rather than using the same file for all its users.

The most important features:

* manage library
* implement citation
* annotate PDFs
* share documents and annotations
* find others

do not require a cloud indeed. The entire service could exist using peer to peer, like .e.g. SoulSeek / Museeq.

The service could be a lot cheaper and accessible to all this way.

I propose to make a similar software using peer-to-peer, making the use of a cloud (like Ubuntu One) optional to those who have the means pay for a larger space on servers.
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Solution #2: A All-New Simple Program
Written by Felix_Kay the 22 Mar 12 at 00:55.
Suggested features would be:

- Intuitive, not overcrowded program with optional cloud storing

- Libreoffice integration

- Ability to create bibliography from a written text like an essay or paper

- Ability to complete bibliographical data from internet catalogues

- Ability to compile a bibliography using citation standards as a Libreoffice-document

- International features: e.g. include French, Spanish, German, Chinese or whatever citation rules

See the 12 comments or propose a solution >>

Boy Scouts Merit Badge  
Written by troop504roadkill the 17 Mar 12 at 20:19. Global category: Education. New
I am a scoutmaster in a Boy Scout troop, and I am interested in creating an unofficial, or if you want to go through the proper channels, an official merit badge for Linux. I am not even a Linux user right now but I want to learn and want to help other people learn.

Currently, I am teaching the Computers merit badge to my troop. And, I have gone above and beyond to teach them things that are not in the requirements. Computers are a part of people's daily lives and they need help understanding how to use them better.

A Linux merit badge would be a good way to get more people interested in Linux at a younger age. The Boy Scouts of America or Girl Scouts of America may not be interested but for Boy Scouts, unofficial merit badges can be created and awarded. The boys wear them on the inside of their merit badge sash. A former scoutmaster in our troop awarded a coffee making merit badge.
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Solution #1: Boy Scouts Merit Badge
Written by troop504roadkill the 17 Mar 12 at 20:19.
If someone could develop a simple webpage with the requirements and helpful links. There would need to be a instructions on how to obtain Ubuntu, install it and configure it. Then there would need to be instructions on how to do the things that people do on their PCs and Macs.

I know this is not a simple project, but I am going to start reading a Linux for non-geeks book and get started on making notes and requirements for a badge that I could eventually award boys in my troop. Hopefully, you will see this as an opportunity to get young kids involved with Linux.

See the 2 comments or propose a solution >>