Ubuntu QA:
BlogBrainstormPackage status
Log in
Ubuntu QA
Gnome
Idea sandbox Idea sandbox
Popular ideas Popular ideas
Ideas in development Ideas in development
Implemented ideas Implemented ideas

Contributor cudjoe on Gnome

Unify system tray behaviour (drop-down menus)  
Written by vectart the 25 Oct 09 at 09:52. New
In new Ubuntu Karmic release, system tray has a new type of buttons in tray.
So I found 3 different types of behavoiur after clicking on tray applets.

Here is illustration:
-114
votes
up equal down
Solution #2: Notification area
Written by luisjeronimo the 27 Oct 09 at 11:46.
Some can think this is silly, but i think it would be a good solution, that Ubuntu make a new notification area fully costumisable and it should be very intuitive, like you could pass all the icons with one click only.
-65
votes
up equal down
Solution #4: Leave Button Style
Written by Breakable the 2 Nov 09 at 20:54.
I like button style more than changing icon background. And it should require less testing for the icons.
108
votes
up equal down
Solution #5: Raise this issue to the Ayatana team
Written by rrnwexec the 5 Nov 09 at 23:31.
The Ayatana project is an effort to make Ubuntu more "human". This thread is a perfect candidate for inclusion. Can someone from the team adopt/nominate it, or can someone here track down an Ayatana member and have them participate in the discussion?
-8
votes
up equal down
Solution #7: Set a default but make it configurable
Written by jyaan the 14 Nov 09 at 11:28.
I propose that we settle on one of the styles for a default, but make a GConf key so that it can be changed (without needing to clutter GNOME's settings with more sections). Many GNOME apps use GConf, so this is the standard way to access 'advanced' settings.

See the 22 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 16 Nov 09 at 17:27) >>

Log-in with fingerprint (set it up easily)  
Written by mike.thorton the 19 Oct 09 at 15:03. New
Many laptops have fingerprint readers included and many of these devices finally work today. However, we can't use them as they are not supported by the software (GDM,GNOME,...).

What we want is to have an option to use our finger(s) and/or our password to log into the system.

Maybe we should extend this later for general authentication of a whole system.
264
votes
up equal down
Solution #1: Just use the fedora's solution
Written by mike.thorton the 19 Oct 09 at 15:03.
The simplest solution is probably to implement the fedora's one:

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/Fingerprint
106
votes
up equal down
Solution #2: Enable it only when warning about security risks
Written by xfuser4 the 19 Oct 09 at 17:25.
Biometric sensors are known to have potential security risks (see comment).

When enabling finger print readers, the user should be informed about it.
27
votes
up equal down
Solution #3: Make it a package file installable like an app.
Written by Jaksco the 30 Oct 09 at 20:49.
Make it a package file installable like an app.
35
votes
up equal down
Solution #4: Make sure there is an option for fingerprint + password authentication.
Written by Jon Monreal the 5 Nov 09 at 13:35.
Based on the comments about security risks, it seems like this should naturally be an option.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authentication#History_and_state-of-the-art : "Hybrid or two-tiered authentication methods offer a compelling solution." Fingerprints can be swiped and used and there are plenty of methods for getting a password (peeking, social engineering, brute force, etc.); getting both would likely prove to be more difficult.

At any rate, a fingerprint on top of a normal password would definitely stop a casual snooper.
11
votes
up equal down
Solution #5: show captured fingerprint graphically to demonstrate the device adequacy
Written by daddo the 8 Nov 09 at 21:43.
Show live the fingerprint reader output graphically and let the users to decide, is it secure enough or not.

At the moment, users don't realize at which quality are their fingerprints captured. Show it them!

It could be also solution for showing how good is the the fingerprint reader which is in use.


See the 9 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 16 Nov 09 at 00:12) >>

Notify for Daylight Savingtime  
Written by xeniac the 25 Oct 09 at 10:35. New
Today Daylight Saving Time switched back to GMT +1 in my region. As a long term Linux User i always trust my PC clock, but my girlfriend is new to Ubuntu and was confused, her nolonger-Windows PC does't bug her that he changed the Time automaticly and she should check if the changes are correct.

It also happend to me that my GNU/Linux PC changed the Timezone and i didn't realize it. So i didn't changed my Alarm-Clock per hand and overslept the next day.
210
votes
up equal down
Solution #1: Add DST Notification to the Clock Applet
Written by xeniac the 25 Oct 09 at 10:35.
For each User the standard clock-applet could show an explanation mark when the time has been changed to DST, or back.
Mockup: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1816843/DST-statusbar.png

If the user expands the clock-applet he sees an additional Message explaining to him that the clock has been set forward/backward, and why this had happend.
Mockup: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1816843/DST-Clock.png

This notification stay for each user the whole day, or as long as he clicked on the applet to see the message.

77
votes
up equal down
Solution #2: And make it optionnal
Written by Ssdg the 25 Oct 09 at 22:58.
I understand xeniac... but I'm part of the people who don't really bother this (especially because I'm not working on sunday, nor praying in the morning) but I understand it's easy to forget switching to winter's time and miss apointments.

So make it enabled by default and allow people to easily turn it off.
70
votes
up equal down
Solution #3: Use Notify-OSD to inform the user
Written by Elkimo the 1 Nov 09 at 18:17.
The user only needs to be informed once, so one notification on startup should be enough, this will keep the panel clean (no explanation mark you have to click before it goes away), and will be as unobstructive as possible.

See the 4 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 14 Nov 09 at 05:36) >>

Make gnome-system-monitor more accessible via CTRL-ALT-DELETE  
Written by strattonbrazil the 14 Jul 08 at 22:28. New
gnome-system-monitor provides a cleaner interface than Windows "Task Manager", and provides many useful features including list of processes running, memory and network usage, etc.

This functionality should be more accessible by key binding it by default to CTRL-ALT-DELETE as Windows does--as this is more familiar to users coming from Windows. The current key binding for CTRL-ALT-DELETE brings up the shutdown/logout options, which is already accessible as a desktop button, which is redundant for a relatively less used function.

gnome-system-monitor is an idle interface for monitoring the system and killing processes without using the terminal and provides an interface for doing this that most are already familiar with. Changing it's key binding would make it's functionality much more accessible.
1084
votes
up equal down
Solution #1: Auto-generated solution of idea #11133
Written by strattonbrazil the 14 Jul 08 at 22:28.
Ubuntu Brainstorm was updated in January 2009. Since the idea #11133 was submitted before this update, its rationale and solution are not separated. Please vote accordingly, and if you have the necessary rights, please separate the rationale from the solution. Thanks!
602
votes
up equal down
Solution #2: Give key combination that forces 'recovery screen' on screen
Written by jarko_ the 22 Feb 09 at 12:46.
Like in some other systems, associate key combination to bring up 'recovery screen' or similary named one.

This window doesn't have to be normal GTK-window, but something from the upper level, like GDM (or xorg if going for extreme) created 'recovery screen/task manager'. This should ensure that no window or full screen application could hide or block the 'recovery screen'.

This recovery screen could have options to kill programs, log out, shutdown and lock computer etc.
-134
votes
up equal down
Solution #3: Add "close annoying application" to System Monitor
Written by Magnes the 23 Feb 09 at 07:46.
If there is an application that uses all the resources allow closing it (if it uses all the memory) or make it nicer (if it uses all the CPU) by one click in System Monitor.
47
votes
up equal down
Solution #4: Solution #1 + Separate X Session & NCurses
Written by jamessnell the 26 Feb 09 at 20:37.
== Graphical ==
If a separate X session configured entirely to show a System Monitor could be very well insulated from buggy applications.

In those cases where a game causes you to change video modes and then screws up, you'll still have a graceful way to touch the System Monitor.

== Command-Line ==
An ncurses interface (like that of "aptitude") for the command line would also be awesome for those cases when the entire Xorg system ignores you. This would help when the keyboard is being ignored as it'd be fast to pull up over ssh.


Yes this is could basically be a wrapper interface to ps.
-52
votes
up equal down
Solution #5: Just make a ncurses application (with mouse support)
Written by zooounds the 3 Mar 09 at 11:15.
It rest in a tty until needed and can be used to kill application even if X is totaly broken.
-45
votes
up equal down
Solution #6: Add "Open System Monitor" option to Logout dialog
Written by cousteau the 5 Mar 09 at 17:27.
Ctrl+Alt+Del opens the Logout dialog (at least on Hardy). So it would be nice to add an "Open System Monitor" option to it.
80
votes
up equal down
Solution #7: Add xKill and gnome-system-monitor to the available functions for shortcuts
Written by jackmcslay the 7 Mar 09 at 14:57.
This is a continuation of #2. We should get xkill and gnome-system-monitor among the available action options on
System>Preferences>Keyboard shortcuts

so, even if Ctrl+Alt+Del remains as "logout" shortcut, the option of binding it to Ctrl+Alt+Del remains available
82
votes
up equal down
Solution #8: Bring back ctrl-alt-esc to fire up xkill (or gnome equivalent)
Written by Tom Mann the 12 Mar 09 at 20:47.
In KDE and XFCE, if you hit CTRL-ALT-ESC, your cursor turns into an X (or a skull and crossbones) and clicking any app (it doesn't have to be stuck) kills it.

I still don't get why it disappeared from Ubuntu's Gnome Desktop (I'm not sure if this happens on any other distros Gnome desktop)
14
votes
up equal down
Solution #9: Renice too-busy processes + bring up system monitor
Written by quartz the 20 Mar 09 at 17:12.
The system monitor window needs to be responsive, not just there.

Just bringing up system monitor (or a new manager if necessary) is not enough is the CPU is totally taken, if it comes up, any process(es) that might be hogging resources should be reniced to a slightly lower priority and the system monitor process should be started fairly high.

(A good question is what to do if the problem is with X itself, since renicing it might slow down the system monitor too)
16
votes
up equal down
Solution #10: Capture CAD in kernel and GUI task manager draw direct to screen (framebuffer)
Written by Craig73 the 21 Mar 09 at 14:28.
Capture CTRL+ALT+DEL (or perhaps the second CTRL+ALT+DEL for just "frozen systems") at the kernel level, which opens a graphical task manager (logoff / process manager / whatever) which draws directly to the screen (bypassing X which may be frozen)

To implement this - it would write to the framebuffer, and would likely require KMS and DRI2. [Ideally it would capture the current screen in the framebuffer, and draw the dialog on top, for a integrated feeling].

Then have it fall back to VGA text only if it can't grab a graphical framebuffer (things are really hurting)

My intent is to handle cases such as X being frozen, or in a full screen game, etc.
4
votes
up equal down
Solution #11: Add a "magic keys" combinaison
Written by qwerty800 the 11 Jun 09 at 21:17.
It would be really nice to have a shortcut like Alt+SysRq+X, that automatically kill the focused application. Using a such shortcut would avoid the inconvenience of passing trough the task manager, nor restart the whole X server and to work with the full screen programs! Having a 16:10 monitor often causes me to get stuck with unsupported resolutions. When that happens, I have to restart my whole X server and THAT'S annoying!

Plus, "X" is easy to remember, because:
*It's not currently used.
*It can refer to Xkill
*It can refer to Xorg
*It can refer to the Window decoration (X=Close)!
5
votes
up equal down
Solution #12: Set xkill command for Ctrl+Alt+Esc by default
Written by Shnatsel the 25 Jul 09 at 10:09.
Xfce did so, and if something hangs, it's easy to kill it. GNOME has a panel applet for such purposes, but if a fullscreen game hangs, it's useless.

See the 51 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 3 Nov 09 at 01:24) >>

Have gnome accept non-rectangular desktops  
Written by rpgsimmaster the 9 Oct 09 at 01:39. New
When working with multiple monitors of different resolutions, and when not working with panels above/below the smaller of the monitors, the desktop icons can spill into areas of the desktop not visible to the user. It is also possible to lose the mouse in this area because the mouse boundaries are specified by the desktop, not the screens.

When in multi-head mode on Windows using different resolutions, Windows restricts the movement of the mouse to stay within the area of the desktop, which may be non-rectangular. Gnome (or even X) needs to do something like this.
182
votes
up equal down
Solution #1: Have gnome restrict mouse movement and desktop icons
Written by rpgsimmaster the 9 Oct 09 at 01:39.
Have gnome restrict mouse movement and desktop icons to within the visible monitor area, not just the virtual desktop.
84
votes
up equal down
Solution #2: Teach gnome "the end of a screen"
Written by Jack Sabbath the 13 Oct 09 at 22:19.
This option contains more, than just "restrict mouse movement".
Gnome should be able to know, which screen has which resolution.

E.g. If the main monitor has a resolution of 1280x800 and the 2nd 1680x1050 - AWNs feature "Maximized windows cannot overlap the bar" does not work, because AWN gets the distance to the bottom from the whole resolution (which is 2960x1050) instead of the active screen. So A maximized window covers the AWN Bar, but doesn't use the lower space on the 2nd monitor.

See the 3 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 31 Oct 09 at 15:18) >>

Move disk space warning (karmic) from a dialog window to a notification  
Written by Apiman the 26 Jun 09 at 16:39. New
Trying karmic I've seen that it warns you about low disk space on any partition. The problem is that it uses a dialog window and you must press a key to get rid of it. The warning itself it's a good idea but that method it's not convenient at all; it's very annoying.
571
votes
up equal down
Solution #1: Use the new eye candy notification system instead
Written by Apiman the 26 Jun 09 at 16:39.
Instead using a dialog window, use libnotify. It's much more beautiful.
-163
votes
up equal down
Solution #3: Use both notification and alert box.
Written by Darwin Survivor the 27 Jun 09 at 11:15.
Have the notification used when disk space is relatively low (10% for instance), but have an alert window (with action button) when disk space becomes critical (2 or 3% for instance)
576
votes
up equal down
Solution #4: Change the color of the notification system for important things.
Written by Maxime7101 the 29 Jun 09 at 17:10.
The notification system has to be different if for example a new song is playing or if the disk space is low.

So I purpose to change the color (maybe red), or make flash it.

L2Image

It could be a great thing if the user should click the notification system, to show that he became aware of the warning.
-111
votes
up equal down
Solution #5: Tray icon
Written by Lachu the 1 Jul 09 at 14:20.
Add tray icon called "show notification". In this mode user might read and interaction with notification.
82
votes
up equal down
Solution #6: Notification logger
Written by twocool the 1 Jul 09 at 21:31.
Create a daemon to log all notifications and a GUI application to see it.
14
votes
up equal down
Solution #7: Use Indicator not OSD
Written by nachokb the 8 Jul 09 at 15:12.
Many of these proposal (including the screenshot) violate the NotifyOSD guidelines (no interaction, disposable, non critical notifications). For these kinds of stuff, I think the Indicator Applet is the appropriate medium. This was pointed at by cheesehead in the comments. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/NotifyOSD#Interaction
-69
votes
up equal down
Solution #8: Use a popup indicator
Written by da brain the 8 Jul 09 at 22:45.
Use something like the update notifier that pops up from the top bar. It will flash to the user that it is running out of disk space.

See the 10 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 13 Oct 09 at 13:51) >>

Use the new Ubuntu notifications to alert when hardware is detected  
Written by christophski the 3 Jun 09 at 10:51. New
At the moment, if I plug in a webcam or a USB mouse, there is nothing visual to say that Ubuntu has correctly detected the new hardware, to see if it's been properly detected, I have to actually start using it.

(wasn't sure what related project to put)
1104
votes
up equal down
Solution #1: Use the new Ubuntu Notifications
Written by christophski the 3 Jun 09 at 10:51.
We could use the new Ubuntu notifications to do provide this alert. Just something simple like "USB Webcam detected" with an icon of a webcam.
-119
votes
up equal down
Solution #2: Make them optional
Written by cheesehead the 3 Jun 09 at 15:50.
Since I already have hotplug scripts that execute when a new device is detected, I don't need these notifications. In this case, detection notifications would be a nuisance.
96
votes
up equal down
Solution #3: Use HAL notify script
Written by DnaX the 6 Jun 09 at 00:11.
An implementation of solution #1: There is this python script that notify new devices discovered by HAL. Work fine.

https://code.launchpad.net/~dnax88/+junk/hal-notify

Some examples:


-255
votes
up equal down
Solution #4: Only notify about problematic devices
Written by jamespgray the 7 Jun 09 at 18:47.
I expect when I plug in a new device it will be detected and configured and ready for my use within 10 seconds or so. A notification can be displayed if the device is NOT usable for some reason or isn't ready within the 10 seconds. (2 different notification messages).

The old equation: silence = success
418
votes
up equal down
Solution #5: Green popup=working hardware / Red popup=not supported, extra attention...
Written by walterav the 7 Jun 09 at 22:37.
It might give a "false assumption" that the hardware is also supported and directly working with ubuntu.

My suggestion would be that it gives a notification that is green/if the hardware directly works, it might fade away!

Other wise make the notification "red" with a extra dialog box that say's this hardware is not supported, or needs the following procedure, or something with cancel.

This idea can be combined with solution 1 / 3
-90
votes
up equal down
Solution #6: Menu
Written by Mentalikryst the 14 Jun 09 at 22:05.
Give a menu that gives some information such as:

*Status
*Compatibility
*Type of Device
*Programs which use the device (So give Nautilus/Dolphin for a USB Flash Drive, Network Manager for a WiFi adapter, etc.)

The menu would fade away and would not be obtrusive, but would give the user information about the device and give options on what to do.
71
votes
up equal down
Solution #7: Solution 1 + icon that provides configuration
Written by DaVince the 15 Jun 09 at 22:25.
It would probably be a good idea to have an icon pop up while a notification is shown, so that accessibility to configuration of this little tool is available. Anyone who doesn't like the notifications or wants to disable them for certain hardware will be able to do so by clicking this icon (a special configuration window will pop up).

The icon will automatically disappear shortly after the notification was shown.

See the 27 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 24 Aug 09 at 13:09) >>

Focus an attention of user on shutdown confirmation dialog  
Written by Haku the 1 Apr 09 at 12:08. New
In Jaunty Jackalope 9.04 beta is added shutdown/restart/logout confirmation dialog. This dialog is important at the moment. Focus an attention of user on it.
768
votes
up equal down
Solution #1: Fade down ambient to focus on dialog
Written by Haku the 1 Apr 09 at 12:08.
Fade down all the ambient to focus on dialog. Something like ADD Helper in Compiz do or when an administrative password is required.

Without fading
Without fading

With fading
With fading
258
votes
up equal down
Solution #2: Fade out gradually as time runs out
Written by robertjlee the 1 Apr 09 at 17:56.
The ambiant focus could be faded down smoothly as the time runs out, increasingly drawing the user's attention to the dialog.

This would be less intrusive than #1, and allow the user to more easily finish whatever they're doing, save work etc. when the dialog appears before the screen became too dark to use
-64
votes
up equal down
Solution #3: Let Compiz do this
Written by sandrex the 7 Apr 09 at 13:42.
I liked it, but Compiz is actually the 3d desktop for linux.
Then I think this should be propose to compiz developers.
Let Compiz do this.
-11
votes
up equal down
Solution #4: Play default or custom logout music
Written by ricardisimo the 7 May 09 at 09:25.
Some faux bossa nova cheese or Muzak would be perfect for the timed logout. The first minute of All Natural Lemon and Lime Flavors' "Spin Cycle" is my first choice. Once that particular joke starts to wear on you, just plug in some modal jazz or baroque piano piece.

See the 19 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 26 Jul 09 at 15:34) >>

Preload the Gnome Main Menu  
Written by rouge568 the 1 Sep 08 at 21:01. New
When I boot up, the gnome menu should load up by default. I have to wait 2-3 seconds after clicking the menu icon for it to load. This load should have already been done, as the first thing many people do once booting up is to run a program via the menu. It is the little polishes like this that make Ubuntu such a great operating system.
368
votes
up equal down
Solution #1: Preload the gnome-main-menu in the idle time after a user logs in
Written by rouge568 the 1 Sep 08 at 21:01.
Pretty Self-Explanatory.

See the 6 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 22 Jul 09 at 15:24) >>

Thumbnail Maintenance  
Written by ezekiel_000 the 22 Dec 08 at 13:21. New
Gnome needs a thumbnail clean-up tool or process similar to the Thumbnail Maintenance tool in Comix 4.0.1 to remove all thumbnail files for files that no longer exist or have moved.

After 2 years of using Ubuntu I was able to free up ~500mb of space in removing old thumbnails from ~600Mb down to less than 100Mb.

This could be a tool or an automatic process triggered by file operations.
278
votes
up equal down
Solution #1: Auto-generated solution of idea #16721
Written by ezekiel_000 the 22 Dec 08 at 13:21.
Ubuntu Brainstorm was updated in January 2009. Since the idea #16721 was submitted before this update, its rationale and solution are not separated. Please vote accordingly, and if you have the necessary rights, please separate the rationale from the solution. Thanks!

See the 6 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 23 Dec 08 at 12:15) >>

1 2 Next >>