Written by Frank Roberts the 9 Sep 09 at 22:38.
Related project: Live CD.
Status: New
Rationale
Because netbooks are machines that are made for a very specific task that is quite different from 'normal' desktop use, there are several programs installed that 95% or even 100% of the users will not use. For example:
- Brasero. I'm pretty sure that almost nobody uses his netbook to burn cd's.
- XSane Image Scanner.
- Assistive Technologies. The size of the devices doesnt make it very accessable for the less capable.
- PalmOS Tools. Who does even use a palm these days anyway?
cheesehead(Brainstorm moderator)
wrote on the 10 Sep 09 at 01:11
UNR is basically a set of packages that provide the launcher, maximized windows, and other behaviors. The UNR Team currently does not deal with the standard Ubuntu default install, but adds the additional UNR packages to the default install packages.
What benefits are gained from removing these packages?
Are the benefits worth the effort of increasing the scope of the UNR team's job?
alourie(Idea reviewer)
wrote on the 10 Sep 09 at 09:07
@cheesehead
I believe the effort worth it. UNR edition needs to be sensitive to the environment it is run on, and on the Netbooks specifically, the space is expensive.
So even if the only thing that will be gained here is the storage space, I think it would be a welcomed effort.
Besides, what is the purpose of creating a different remix which only provides few packages? Don't you think this would be the waste of time?
But creating remix that actually benefits netbook users more than just standard install + some packages - that would worth it.
Brasero isn't needed in the default install, because most netbooks don't even have an optical drive. If the user buys one separately, they can just apt-get Brasero later, but a lot of people just use USB for their netbook so as to not have to carry a CD burner around with them.
Scanner> can be used
Brasero> indeed CD burning could not be done on thoses power efficient devices
Assistive techs> I'm not blind, but I'm not sure the small keyboard is THAT hard to use. And if you can't see very well, let's just magnify more and it will be fine ... no?
PalmOS Tools> maybe... are PalmOS running devices the only compatible devices?
@cheesehead
I think it would give benefits, most of them are named above so im not going to repeat them.
Thinking longer about the case, I was wondering if it wouldn't be an even better idea to even increase the UNR-team's job more. The UNR can improve greatly if not only preinstalled software, but also the linux kernel and processes starting up would be considered carefully.
The devices are an important and continually growing niche in the market, Ubuntu is not by far optimized for it besides the menu and last but not least; the netbooks are very standard devices (same processors etc) so optimizing would not be very difficult...
Please don't mess with assistive software you don't know how or when people are using this. Removing it is just downright disrespectful. Are you saying people with disabilities wont buy a netbook? Sorry wrong.