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Popular ideas Here are the most popular ideas ever about Gnome.

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.
1121
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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!
615
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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.
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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.
53
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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.
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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.
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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.
84
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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
90
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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)
21
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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)
20
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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.
6
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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)!
11
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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.
-2
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Solution #13: easy solution
Written by viva.amego the 5 Mar 10 at 03:37.
its good idea and there is an easy solution for now


right click (system > administration > system monitor)
select (add this launcher to panel)
right click (system monitor "in panel")
select (properties )
copy ( command )

run (system > preference > keyboard shortcuts)
click ( add)

name -> system monitor
command -> right click( paste)

click (apply)

and you had shourtcut
4
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Solution #14: Start new X Session
Written by Lachu the 28 Mar 10 at 17:06.
Simply start a new X Session for every application using fullscreen mode.
3
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Solution #15: Option to disallow fullscreen for all applications.
Written by trezker the 28 Mar 10 at 05:57.
Simply put, whenever an app makes a call to set a fullscreen mode the system refuses to do it.
2
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Solution #16: CTRL ALT DEL minimize all windows and open gnome-system-monitor. Tested!
Written by dottornik the 27 Apr 10 at 14:51.
Gizmod intercepts ctrl-alt-del (even when fullscreen application have focus) and execute:
wmctrl -k on (minimize all windows)
gnome-system-monitor

tested in Lucid & Karmic and work with:
-XBMC fullscreen crashed by youtube plugin
-fullscreen crashed gmameui
-fullscreen crashed flash player
-lot of crashed stuff

Instructions:

-install wmctrl
sudo apt-get install wmctrl

-disable default ctrl-alt-del shortcut from System>Preferences>Keyboard shortcuts

-install gizmod
http://gizmod.sourceforge.net/
install and set group permissions (see HOWTO - Setting Input Device Permissions - Creating a udev Rule)

-edit 199-Keyboard-Default.py in ~/.gizmod/gizmod/modules.d/
add this:

elif Gizmo.getKeyState(GizmoKey.KEY_DELETE) >= 1 and Gizmo.getKeyState(GizmoKey.KEY_LEFTCTRL) >= 1 and Gizmo.getKeyState(GizmoKey.KEY_LEFTALT) >= 1:

subprocess.Popen(["wmctrl", "-k", "on"])
subprocess.Popen(["gnome-system-monitor"])
return True

This is a python script, please respect document indentation!

Excuse me for my bad english...

coming soon:
automatic install and config script....

See the 52 comments or propose a solution >>

More consistent way to choose file associations   forum
Written by jimmux the 28 Feb 08 at 23:54. New
There are apparently a number of ways to choose the default application for a given file type. This should be more consistent. Ideally it should be possible when using the "Open with..." menu item to select an application from what is available under the Applications menu, rather than from the often limited list that is presented.
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Solution #1: Auto-generated solution of idea #253
Written by jimmux the 28 Feb 08 at 23:54.
Ubuntu Brainstorm was updated in January 2009. Since the idea #253 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 9 comments or propose a solution >>

I would like to be notified when a large file operation (copy/move) is completed  
Written by martinbrook the 19 Mar 10 at 11:23. New
I often perform moderately large copy/move operations which take more than a few minutes. I like to leave these running in the background and get on with some other work in the meantime, and return to the task I was dealing with once the file operation is complete.

I usually close (i.e. hide) the 'file operations' dialog so that it doesn't distract me while I'm working.

The problem is that I don't have an easy way to know when the copy/move is done. The only thing I can really do is keep checking the notification area to see if the 'file operations' icon has vanished.
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Solution #1: Provide a libnotify popup when a file operation is complete
Written by martinbrook the 19 Mar 10 at 11:23.
A simple message such as 'Moving 342 files from /home/martin to /media/disk completed successfully' would suffice.

Sample:

138
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Solution #2: Notify only if the operation's time is higher than a customized time.
Written by Ssdg the 20 Mar 10 at 12:56.
All in the title.
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Solution #3: Notify when user indicates lessened immediacy
Written by Dataphile the 21 Mar 10 at 18:36.
As the submitter noted, putting things in the background is the issue here, as their status updates aren't apparent. If the file operation window is focused, then it doesn't make sense to notify the user, so I believe Solution #1 is overkill.

Adding a new setting to customize the time interval (Solution #2) also seems like overkill from this perspective.

So, I'm wondering, why not just fire up the libnotify popup when the file transfer completes and the file operation window is not focused, as that indicates the user has focused on other priorities?
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Solution #4: As #1, but user enables the feature via a checkbox
Written by martinbrook the 30 Mar 10 at 14:08.
As in the image below. The checkbox would be unchecked by default.


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Solution #5: As #4, but only notify when ALL file operations are complete
Written by martinbrook the 30 Mar 10 at 14:16.
Have a single checkbox at the bottom of the File Operations window saying "Notify me when all file operations are complete".
24
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Solution #6: Create a Process Manager
Written by Penguin Guy the 31 Mar 10 at 19:00.
Create a daemon that will manage processes. Add support for not only copying files, but also things like downloading and installing files.


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Solution #7: expanding on #1 and #4
Written by Snow Keld the 5 Apr 10 at 05:27.
both solutions, #1, and #4, are great, but i often miss the libnotify bubbles.

i think that it should be set to always announce with libnotify, but also have the check box and raise/prioritize what window when its finished instead of closing it auto.

which means on a file transfer, if you do not click the box then when the transfer completes it will be sent to libnotify and the window will close (and the bubble will pop up for a moment)

when you click the check box and the transfer finishes the libnotify bubbly will still pop up for a moment, but the transfer window will stay open and be raised to the top saying your transfer is done, in this way you'll be notified for sure.
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Solution #8: Let the user decide when the popup should appear
Written by man0riaX the 6 Apr 10 at 16:20.
Create a simple and easy-to-use configuration dialogue to configure in what situations a popup should appear, e.g.:

Notification when
- single file operation done (yes/no)
- all file operations done (yes/no)
- file operation gave an error message (yes/no)
[you can extend this list on your wishes]
e.g.
- Firefox download complete (yes/no) [deactivate the built-in firefox notification then]

You can also extend this and disable the default-notifications, such as
- Rhythmbox notification (yes/no)
- Empathy notification (yes/no)

Also, to come back to that file-operation-notification, in that control panel you can decide what exactly a "large file operation" is; means you can tell the system that you want to see a notification if the file(s) is/are larger than 10GB (let the user decide about a value here), but not to show a notification if the file(s) is/are smaller, for example.
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Solution #9: Have a timer running on a panel that starts blinking once the job's done.
Written by SuNk8 the 6 Apr 10 at 19:44.
This solution's very similar to the alarm/timer applet on a panel.
Also we could have a warning sound for the same.
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Solution #10: make it windows7-like
Written by Goury the 14 Apr 10 at 08:05.
coz not only mac have good ui
mergin progressbar with button background is perfect idea
16
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Solution #11: Make an AppIndicator for file transfers & downloads
Written by spocky the 28 Apr 10 at 19:05.
I think the current move of Ubuntu to use Indicators to interact to different typ of applications like MessagingMenu would perfectly fit to an appIndicator for FileTransfers and Downloads

See the 14 comments or propose a solution >>

More details about files in nautilus list view  
No information about this blueprint
Information is updated every 5 minutes.
Please wait till the next update.
spec
Written by francois the 20 Mar 08 at 16:21. New
Nautilus could detect if a folder contains a majority of a certain type of files and adapt the type and number of columns to provide more useful details.

I think of pictures folders, where it could show exif informations about pictures like the resolution of the picture and its capture date (in addition to the modification date)

I also think of music folders, where it could show the bitrate,the length and the (ID3) tags of the music files.
I think this would be very useful.

In addition, the ability to add/remove columns should be available by the right click on the listview header.

Please see the comments for further ideas

From #6245 (merged):

Having an extra column in the list showing something like "23x456" would be ideal, because you could see the info for all the files in the folder at once.

Have the info in the status-bar would be better than what we've got currently (right-click->properties->image shows the info in Nautilus, but it's not very efficient)


745
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Solution #1: Auto-generated solution of idea #5211
Written by francois the 20 Mar 08 at 16:21.
Ubuntu Brainstorm was updated in January 2009. Since the idea #5211 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!
6
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Solution #2: As a temporary Solution, use the following script.
Written by ENigma885 the 11 Sep 09 at 10:00.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=878683

Here's a screenshot of how it looks, pretty awesome indeed, http://yfrog.com/5jmp3id3j
and
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

**And for those who want an easier way:
01 - Download the script from http://www.2shared.com/file/7716528/d1676f26/bsc-v2.html to ur desktop
02 - Install the needed dependencies (make sure universe source is enabled "System>Administration>Software Sources>Ubuntu Software tab")
sudo apt-get install python-nautilus python-mutagen python-pyexiv2
03 - Make a directory in ur home/.nautilus named "python-extensions"
mkdir ~/.nautilus/python-extensions
04 - Copy the script to it (if done graphically, hit ctrl+H to view hidden folders in ur home directory)
cp bsc-v2.py ~/.nautilus/python-extensions
05 - Make the script executable
chmod a+x ~/.nautilus/python-extensions/bsc-v2.py
06 - Close all Nautilus windows
killall nautilus
07 - Relaunch Nautilus

See the 11 comments or propose a solution >>

ubuntu main menu icons are too big, they take too much space  
Written by slsolaris the 30 Jan 09 at 04:56. New
when I install new applications my ubuntu main menu goes to long, and there are too much space between icons. This detracts from usability, and looks ugly, when you are hit with a 5 mile long applications list.
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Solution #1: smaller icons for ubuntu main menu by default
Written by slsolaris the 30 Jan 09 at 04:56.
Use smaller icons in the ubuntu main menu, to prevent it to get long and out of control.
Here is a screen shot of what I mean.
This is not a mock up, this is done by editing gtk+ file
https://dl.getdropbox.com/u/384589/small%20menu.png
636
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Solution #2: Smaller icons as an option, automatically activated for smaller resolutions
Written by Magnes the 30 Jan 09 at 09:32.
Use normal icons, they are OK, but give the user an option to use smaller ones. And if the resolution is small (for example on netbook screen) automatically activate smaller icons in menu.
-120
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Solution #3: Shorten the places menu by removing/combining less used items
Written by eugene2k the 4 Feb 09 at 11:45.
The problem is not the icons, it's the whole places menu - it's simply too long. If it were shorter it would be more usable and less confusing.
-204
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Solution #4: Use more sub-menus
Written by dflemstr the 4 Feb 09 at 20:01.
The most intuitive way to shorten the menus (At least the "Applications" and "System" menus) would be to simply add more sub-menus.
For instance, instead having multimedia apps directly on the "Multimedia"-menu, there could be sub-menus like "Multimedia>Media Players" and "Multimedia>Audio Production".

Alot of other distros use this system (For instance Debian and UbuntuStudio (At least for the "Multimedia"-menu) ) and Ubuntu could aswell.

It wouldn't only shorten menus, but also making it possible to find your applications/settings faster.
-141
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Solution #5: Menu with more columns and smaller icons.
Written by admin.luis the 4 Feb 09 at 22:29.
A configuration option to have a smaller icons and more than one column per submenu.
The option should include a parameter to indicate the number of icons to be grouped as columns. Columns of 12/14 items by default should be ok.
(I hate the up/down arrow on gnome menus)
126
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Solution #6: Use normal size till it fills up then get smaller automaticaly
Written by C.H.E.W.S. the 5 Feb 09 at 15:28.
In firefox when you open tabs they are one size but as you use the space they start to shrink till a certain point in witch it does not go smaller and puts them in a drop down list. This same idea could be used for Ubuntu menus.
-86
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Solution #7: Replace the traditional menu with something more dynamic
Written by zerothis the 6 Feb 09 at 20:50.
Each menu items should be tagable. The right click menu could have "add a tag" and "remove a tag" submenus listing tags and an "advanced tags manager". A text box at the top of the menu could accept simple filters to dynamically list the menu. "games" would produce a menu with only items tagged "games". Including a negative tag would exclude items from the dynamic menu. For instance "games -turnbased". When no text was entered, all the menu items would be visible in sub menus named after tags. Sub menus would list all the items with that tag but also include sub sub menus based on the other tags the items included. Items with multiple tags would be reachable in multiple ways. For instance,
games>Internet>wine>pogo2go
Internet>games>wine>pogo2go
wine>Internet>games>pogo2go
wine>games>pogo2go
wine>pogo2go
games>pogo2go
and so on. The top level sub menus based on tags would be a very big list. Navigating the sub sub menus to deeper levels reduces the size of the list because the items listed must be tagged with the name of each menu navigated.
games>Internet>wine> would only show game including all three of these tags. This sub menu would show the equivalent of typing "games Internet wine" in the text box above.

See the 3 comments or propose a solution >>

Informational screensavers  
Written by bgfeldm the 18 Mar 08 at 00:23. New
Screensaver with usefulness, add some Informative or Educational Screensavers.

Clock and Weather Screensaver
-- Alarm Clock and Weather Screensaver.
-- World Clock Screensaver.
-- Local Weather with Weather Around the World Screensaver.
-- Count Down to Specific Date Screensaver.
-- World Atlas Map (Countries and Bodies of Water) Screensaver.
-- Human Body (Muscles and Bones) Screensaver.
-- System and Network Status Screensaver.
-- User Photos Slideshow Screensaver.
-- Panoramic view of landscapes screensaver.
-- Destination Photos from Around the World Sceensaver.
-- Icon which shows up when new Mail or Instant Message Arrives.
-- RSS Screensaver.
---- World News screensaver.
---- Word of the day screensaver.
---- Today in History screensaver.
---- Nutritional Health Tip Screensaver.
---- Screensaver with Collection of Jokes.
---- Various Dictionary Screensavers (Programming Terms, Linux, Mathematics, Science, Legal, Tech...)
595
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Solution #1: Clock Screensaver
Written by bgfeldm the 18 Mar 08 at 00:23.
add a Clock Screensaver.
22
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Solution #2: Weather Screensaver
Written by bgfeldm the 12 May 09 at 01:59.
add a Weather Screensaver
43
votes
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Solution #3: RSS Screensaver
Written by bgfeldm the 12 May 09 at 02:06.
a RSS Screensaver

Which can then be used as a:
---- World News screensaver.
---- Word of the day screensaver.
---- Today/Date in History screensaver.
---- Nutritional Health Tip Screensaver.
---- Screensaver with Collection of Jokes.
---- Various Dictionary Screensavers (Programming Terms, Linux, Mathematics, Science, Legal, Tech...)
16
votes
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Solution #4: Count Down Screensaver
Written by bgfeldm the 12 May 09 at 02:12.
Screensaver which Counts Down to a Specific Date.

count down to:
Next Software Release (Ubuntu)
Graduation
Midterm/Final Exam
Work/School Deadline
Wedding
Birthday
Anniversary
Family Reunion
Next Election
NASA Space Launch

18
votes
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Solution #5: System and Network Status Screensaver
Written by bgfeldm the 12 May 09 at 02:17.
Screensaver to display System and Network Status. Could be useful to a system administrator.
16
votes
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Solution #6: Landscapes Screensaver
Written by bgfeldm the 12 May 09 at 02:23.
-- Panoramic view of landscapes screensaver.
-- Destination Photos from Around the World Sceensaver.
15
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Solution #7: World Clock Screensaver
Written by bgfeldm the 12 May 09 at 02:33.
screensaver which displays a World Clock which displays
-- different time zones
-- day and night (sun/moon) shadow on the earth.
16
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Solution #8: Notification Screensaver
Written by bgfeldm the 12 May 09 at 02:42.
Notification Screensaver which:
--glows different colors
--displays a short note
--plays warming tone

when triggered by:
-- System Alerts.
-- alarm clock.
-- weather changes.
-- email/im messages.
17
votes
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Solution #9: World Atlas Screensaver
Written by bgfeldm the 12 May 09 at 02:47.
Screensaver which displays a World Atlas Map (Countries, Mountain Ranges and Bodies of Water);

Screensaver useful for Interest or Study of Geography.

15
votes
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Solution #10: Human Body Screensaver
Written by bgfeldm the 12 May 09 at 02:53.
Human Body Screensaver; Human Sciences.

which displays:
Human Skeleton; Skeletal System (Bones)
Human Anatomy Muscular System (Muscles)

Which could also change/rotate to:
Human Biology
Human Nervous System
Human Cardiovascular System
Human Digestive System
Human Lymphatic System
Human Endocrine System

Screensaver useful for Interest or Study of Human Sciences.
17
votes
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Solution #11: Famous Art Screensaver
Written by bgfeldm the 12 May 09 at 13:40.
Screensaver of Famous art. useful for Art Appreciation.

Example of some famous artist:
Leonardo De Vinci
Michelangelo
Titian
Rapheal
Monet
Picasso
Renoir
Van Gogh

40
votes
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Solution #12: Music current playing Song Screensaver
Written by bgfeldm the 12 May 09 at 14:02.
Multimedia Screensaver which shows:

Music Song Info for current playing song (MP3 ID3 tags):
artist
song title
album
album art


Screensaver useful for Music Appreciation.
19
votes
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Solution #13: Planetarium Screensaver
Written by bgfeldm the 19 May 09 at 14:38.
Screen Saver which shows the night sky, stars and planets. planetarium. Study or appreciation of astronomy.

Could use pictures taken from NASA's
Astronomy Picture of the Day
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/
43
votes
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Solution #14: Quote Of The Day screensaver
Written by pepperpupper the 16 Sep 08 at 07:07.
Add a QOTD screensaver that displays random quotes reflecting the "Ubuntu-philosophy".
115
votes
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Solution #15: Promote turning off screens instead of using screensavers
Written by amrhassan the 18 Jan 09 at 01:27.
To save some power, you should have your monitor turned off instead of using a screensaver.

I read somewhere - don't remember where exactly - that screensavers were used because old CRT monitors take some time to power up after sleep, that doesn't happen any more with LCD screens, so why still use screensavers! Go green.
43
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Solution #16: Create a 'setting'-button in screen savers preferences.
Written by jeypeyy the 18 Jan 09 at 17:48.
If there was a settings-button in the screen savers preferences we could change the text from the GLText screen saver. With this we could show usefule info like time and date, computer's name, user's name etc.
2
votes
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Solution #17: Play Easy Listening Music From LastFm
Written by Basem the 24 Mar 09 at 05:08.
Play music from last fm if network connection exists, otherwise it plays some music from local drives, while maintaining a low volume and showing some photos.
4
votes
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Solution #18: Chemical elements and information about those.
Written by teranos the 5 Jul 10 at 17:27.
All the chemical elements + shape + info.

* Recommended for Edubuntu.
30
votes
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Solution #19: Optionally, add clock to any screensaver
Written by kreep the 4 Nov 10 at 21:08.
Add an option to add a clock (analog or digital, whichever is preferred by the user) to a chosen corner of the screen while the screensaver is running, no matter what the screensaver is.
4
votes
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Solution #20: Screensaver widgets
Written by Oxwivi the 18 Nov 10 at 07:12.
Create widgets to display any of the options mentioned by the solutions above.
2
votes
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Solution #21: Help me in writing/finishing an RSS screen saver
Written by mk2366 the 30 May 11 at 21:37.

See the 28 comments or propose a solution >>

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.
584
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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.
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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)
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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 12 comments or propose a solution >>

Changing font color in Gnome panel requires hacking  
Written by wleoncio the 5 Aug 09 at 12:06. New
This is a problem that affects practically anyone who enjoys tweaking his desktop. Sometimes, the background color (or texture) one chooses doesn't go with the window theme's font color. The problem is that it is not yet possible to change the panel font color by right-clicking a panel and choosing "Properties". Instead, one must create a file on his home folder and insert some code, on which he must inform the RGB code for the color he wants. Altogether, it is a very complicated procedure for anyone who's not a geek, which definitely detracts from the user experience (one of the main foci of the Ubuntu devs).
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Solution #1: Add a "Font" tab to the Gnome panel Properties dialog
Written by wleoncio the 5 Aug 09 at 12:06.
The dialog would be similar to this one:


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Solution #2: Install Gnome Color Chooser by default
Written by 21h the 6 Aug 09 at 18:02.
Install this program by default for more advanced interface configurin or integrate it to Appearance Settings.
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Solution #3: Add the functanality to the Appearance settings.
Written by nloewen the 10 Aug 09 at 04:08.
You should be able to change font colours from Appearance settings -> fonts.
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Solution #4: Add a GUI tool to install new fonts to the system
Written by fernandoc1 the 23 Aug 09 at 12:55.
I know that this is not directly related to the idea, but there is no easy tool to add fonts to the system via a GUI tool.
I think that a tool to do this isn't to difficult to build, because the task is simple: it should only be a script that people open a file browser, select the fonts and the system copies it to /usr/share/fonts and than rebuild font cache.
It is not a hard task, but would be a great tool to people that don't like to work in a terminal.

See the 6 comments or propose a solution >>

Gnome-Panel: Do we really need to manually accomodate each item?  
Written by wolterh the 11 Mar 09 at 02:40. New
The gnome-panel, an application which I really like because its ability to be customized and functionality, is sometimes painful to organize. And I say painful because when you want to move an item, or remove one, you have to unlock, move and maybe lock again, every item.
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Solution #1: Add a "gravity" feature.
Written by wolterh the 11 Mar 09 at 02:40.
I propose to give every item, on it's properties, an option to gravitate to one of either extremes of the panel. This way, when you remove an item the items will maintain their organization making your panels look clean without an effort.
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Solution #2: Give the Panel a global "Unlock" and "Lock" feature
Written by stevemot the 11 Mar 09 at 14:26.
The main reason that re-organizing the Panel is such a pain is that the user has to unlock each of the items on the Panel individually before they can be moved. This solution proposes to add a right-click context menu item to the Panel to unlock all of the objects in the Panel, allowing them to be dragged about at will. When finished, the user just selects a corresponding "Lock all" option. The advantage with this solution is that it should not require any changes to the many objects that can be added to the Panel, only to the Panel itself (it just needs to walk through its list of objects calling "unlock" on each one).
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Solution #4: Remove the "Lock To Panel" option
Written by kenden the 17 Mar 09 at 23:46.
What is the use of the "Lock To Panel" feature?

Locking a icon into place in the panel? To avoid it moving around?

But why would it move around?

Only because the user would move it!

And if the user wants to move it, why would she unlock it, move it and lock it back?

What's the point of having it locked?
The icons are not going to move by themselves!
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Solution #5: Sticky panel
Written by axayg the 18 Mar 09 at 02:25.
Solution#2 is definitely great. However, this is the simplest to implement and is, at the face of it, a simple copy-paste from M$ Windows. We should do something better than that. eg.
Graviate to one of the sides or make the icon panel slightly sticky. That way when you want to move icons in/out, drag/drop anywhere else on the panel, it does not come off just like that. It makes some sound like "pluck" and is clearly shows that its coming out of a sticky panel. That way, a firm lock is not necessarily needed - a firm lock could be an add-on to enable/disable moving around of icons.
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Solution #6: Visual splits in the panels.
Written by tchalvakspam the 19 Mar 09 at 16:16.
The problem is that the panel is a line, and it's hard to keep stuff organized on that line.

So: Allow the panel to be "broken" visually, whether by separators that are transparent or the converse, by allowing grouping the elements on the panel in groups and then letting the space in-between groups become transparent.

So instead of 1 long panel, you could visually split the panel into left and right, or left middle right, or other user-specified organizations.

The key here is that instead of looking like one long worm panel, it should essentially look like multiple sections, each appearing as an independent part of the user interface, even while the underlying system remains intact.
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Solution #7: Allow slide-out panel "stacks".
Written by tchalvakspam the 19 Mar 09 at 16:28.
Another approach to allow better organization of the panel is to provide slide-out sections of panel that can contain multiple icons within them. Like a more robust version of the "Drawer" panel applet that integrates with the panel better. In essence, different sections of the panel could be clicked to slide out a larger section of panel space which would contain more icons, or could just slide out with a stack of the icons it contains themselves. So if you wanted to add links to a number of websites, you could add the drawer-stack and stick all the icons inside it, then when you wanted to launch one site or another, you would click the part of the drawer-stack, it would slide open to show all the icons inside it, and then you would launch the one you wanted.

One ideal implementation of this can be seen in the "stacks" of the dock in OSX Leopard and the "stack" applet of the Cairo-dock app for ubuntu.
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Solution #8: Allow icons to be organized in "frames"
Written by jyaan the 21 Mar 09 at 19:20.
One of the most basic elements of organization on computers is the frame. We use it in GTK+, and of course it has been used on web pages.

I propose that icons can be placed (at the user's option) in a rectangular area. This will not affect the visible appearance of the panel; it is only for organization. It should also allow empty space between icons.

This would allow groups of icons to be treated as a whole (although still movable within the frame, and able to be dragged in and out of the frame), and therefore each frame's contents will never end up mixed with each other.

Typically, I keep certain types of icons/applets together, and being able to drag several at the same time, and not losing their order (on screen resize, for example) would be great.

The user should be able to move the frame from the left edge just as we already do with the notification area and window list.

The problem with most of the solutions is that you'll still need to micro-manage your icons and move them one at a time. If I want to move my launcher icons from one side to the other, I'd like to just drag them as a group. Won't be a problem with Multi-monitor setups, either.
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Solution #9: Move them holding alt
Written by kiersie the 31 Mar 09 at 22:10.
Just like the panels dont move without holding alt-button down since gnome 2.26 do also withe applet/icons
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Solution #10: "Book Shelf" Approach
Written by MestreLion the 11 Jun 09 at 23:42.
This brainstorm has so many ideas because we are trying to address several issues in 1 solution: avoid icon micro-management, ordering icons, grouping icons, avoid accidental changes. A consistent, coherent way would be the "Bookshelf Approach":

- Special separators (SPLITERS) would now divide panel in SECTIONS

- Each section would have its own "gravity" or "orientation" - either left, right, center, or none (=just like today). Like Solution #1, but should be applied to a SECTION, not individual icons, so no need set individual icon properties (no micromanagement).

- Every icon within a section would automatically stack according to its section orientation. So if you delete an icon in the middle of a "left-oriented" section, all icons to the right of it would shift left. In a section with no orientation, icons wouldnt shift.

- To arrange the icons, solution #9 is perfect. No need of lock / unlock. A key combination like the proposed ALT+mouse drag would prevent accidental moving while clicking. You could drag icons to different sections as well.

- Besides ALT+drag for 1-item movement, CTRL+ALT+drag could be used to move all icons in a section (useful for re-arranging groups, as #18 suggests).*

- The Splitters could be moved this way too, to set the width of each section

- Right clicking ANY icon would allow to set its panel and section settings: simply add a "Panel > " and "Section > " item to their context menus. No need to hunt down a blank area of the panel anymore, no need to increase section width just to have a blank area to set its properties.

- Splitters would have 3 context menus added: "Panel >", "Left Section > ", "Right Section >".

- Besides the separators we have today, we could also have "SPACERS" to create invisible spaces between icons we want (like suggested in #8). If the user presses ALT while the mouse is over the panel, the spacers become visible (otherwise would be difficult to find and move them)

- If you delete a splitter, a popup would ask if the newly merged section would inherit the properties of the right or of the left section.

* The ALT and CTRL+ALT is just a suggestion, actual keys would be what gnome developers find most consistent with current interface.

Summing it up, no need of lock/unlock, no need to micromanage icons, no need to hunt blank areas to set up options. And, IMHO, highly friendly and intuitive while still fully customizable.
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Solution #11: Allow multiple selection
Written by panta1978 the 22 Jun 09 at 21:30.
Allow multiple icons selection, simply by clicking with the mouse's left button and selecting the desired area.
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Solution #12: selection with [Alt] key which allows multi move/lock/unlock/remove
Written by xubaj the 26 Aug 09 at 22:31.
just like #11 but with an [Alt] key which prevents accidental rearrangment. by right-clicking the selected icons you can apply multiple preferences (lock/unlock/remove etc.) at once.
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Solution #13: Option to automatic arrange Icons
Written by bliss the 20 Oct 10 at 06:54.
A new option in the (right click) panel menu to auto-arrange icons like the Mac OSX dock or the Windows quickstart.
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Solution #14: No space between items unless spacer is used.
Written by James Haigh the 26 Oct 10 at 17:15.
In KDE items in panels are all next to each other, a spacer can be used to push them apart.

The spacer expands to use all space. So you can have some items on the left, spacer in the middle, and some items on the right.


Panel spacer

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Solution #15: Group Items together
Written by antiGatesGuy the 6 Apr 11 at 14:08.
In Window$ Vista and 7, All open windows of a certain category are grouped together and there are controls so you can do something to the whole group. (Close group, maximize all, cascade, etc.)

See the 17 comments or propose a solution >>

All gnome applications have completely different UI's.  
Written by Darwin Survivor the 13 Jul 09 at 00:29. New
Currently pretty much every gnome application has a completely different UI.

Some applications have long menus, other have lots of buttons. Still others use multiple (read MANY) windows that open.

There is currently the HIG but little is done to enforce or even push this. Users should only need to learn to use a GUI once, they shouldn't have to re-leard GUI's every time they install a new app.

If you install an unfamiliar app from the package manager, you will probably end up starting off with "ok, now where did THIS app put the save button..." This is needs to change.
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Solution #1: Push HIG
Written by Darwin Survivor the 13 Jul 09 at 00:29.
There has been lots of work put into the HIG, but few people are pushing it or even mentioning it for that matter.

Canonical should help push developers and teams to standardize on the HIG principles and make applications more intuitive and familiar to people who have used other gnome applications.
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Solution #2: Start a new UI recommendation.
Written by Darwin Survivor the 13 Jul 09 at 00:31.
HIG may not be the best thing to use for gnome. It may be a better idea to start from scratch and write a new "Recommended UI standards for Gnome applications" definition and push that instead.
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Solution #3: Make a GNOME usability price
Written by xfuser4 the 16 Jul 09 at 09:11.
Make a price that is given every year to projects which have high usability and which are concentrating on user interface guidelines.
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Solution #4: Make a common Icon package.
Written by sathishmanohar the 28 Jul 09 at 21:26.
Make a Gnu public license Icon package with awesome quality, which covers almost all usage. Even a high paid job, wouldn't hurt.

So, that everybody can use those in their projects. and there will be a great consistency among the application using those Icons.

Users will feel home even if they try new applications.
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Solution #5: Make a HIG's application interface, then create API's for programming language
Written by sheol the 5 Aug 09 at 23:01.
HIG's is fine, but it requires developers of open source software to reimplement the HIG's user interface, and also to test for the environment and implement a different interface for KDE.

An easy solution, and one that would solve this problem, but simultaneously encourage development is to create a standard UI API. Then programmers could simply attach actions to common elements (like save), or to custom button in common categories (like edit), and the UI would render itself; and simultaneously conform to the UI guidelines of the environment it is working in.
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Solution #6: HIG requirements for accepting packages in repositories
Written by stoffel the 16 Nov 09 at 11:58.
Communicate a roadmap like the following to the whole community:

[hypothetical example]

* Ubuntu 10.10:
** =main= All Gnome software in the main repository needs to adhere to sections x, y and z of the Gnome HIG. All KDE software in the main repository needs to adhere to sections x, y and z of the KDE HIG. Click here for a list of software that currently is not compliant (click on the software names for details regarding the issues). In May 2010 all software will tested for compliance. Incompliant software will be moved to the universe repository.

* Ubuntu 11.04:
** =main= All Gnome software in the main repository needs to adhere to sections a, b, c, x, y and z of the Gnome HIG. All KDE software in the main repository needs to adhere to sections a, b, c, x, y and z of the KDE HIG. Click here for a list of software that currently is not compliant (click on the software names for details regarding the issues). In November 2010 all software will tested for compliance. Incompliant software will be moved to the universe repository.

* Ubuntu 11.10:
** =main= All Gnome software in the main repository needs to adhere to sections 1, 2, 3, a, b, c, x, y and z of the Gnome HIG. All KDE software in the main repository needs to adhere to sections 1, 2, 3, a, b, c, x, y and z of the KDE HIG. Click here for a list of software that currently is not compliant (click on the software names for details regarding the issues). In May 2011 all software will tested for compliance. Incompliant software will be moved to the universe repository.
** =universe=
All Gnome software in the universe repository needs to adhere to sections x, y and z of the Gnome HIG. All KDE software in the universe repository needs to adhere to sections x, y and z of the KDE HIG. Click here for a list of software that currently is not compliant (click on the software names for details regarding the issues). In May 2011 all software will tested for compliance. Incompliant software will be removed from the universe repository.

* Ubuntu 12.04:
** =main= All Gnome software in the main repository needs to adhere to sections X, Y, Z, 1, 2, 3, a, b, c, x, y and z of the Gnome HIG. All KDE software in the main repository needs to adhere to sections X, Y, Z, 1, 2, 3, a, b, c, x, y and z of the KDE HIG. Click here for a list of software that currently is not compliant (click on the software names for details regarding the issues). In November 2011 all software will tested for compliance. Incompliant software will be moved to the universe repository.
** =universe=
All Gnome software in the universe repository needs to adhere to sections a, b, x, x, y and z of the Gnome HIG. All KDE software in the universe repository needs to adhere to sections a, b, c, x, y and z of the KDE HIG. Click here for a list of software that currently is not compliant (click on the software names for details regarding the issues). In November 2011 all software will tested for compliance. Incompliant software will be removed from the universe repository.

[/hypothetical example]

See the 9 comments or propose a solution >>

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