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Give Gimp, Inkscape and Scribus a unified look and feel  
Written by ubby the 26 Jun 09 at 10:14. Related project: GIMP Image Editor. New
Adobe has a Creative Suite with a unified look and feel that is very easy to work with for people who daily work with the Adobe Creative Suite programs.

Information about Adobe Creative Suite:
http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/

Information about Gimp, Inkscape and Scribus:
http://www.gimp.org
http://www.inkscape.org
http://www.scribus.net

202
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Solution #1: Give Gimp, Inkscape and Scribus a unified look and feel
Written by ubby the 26 Jun 09 at 10:14.
This will make Gimp, Inkscape and Scribus better to compete with the Adobe Creative Suite.
Because of a unified look and feel it will be easier to work with the programs.

To accomplish this the developers of the programs need to work together.
Maybe the developers can get help from universities who are working with graphic software.
-37
votes
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Solution #2: All-in-one Modular Graphic Software
Written by carvao the 26 Jun 09 at 15:45.
A software composed by different modules: a viewer, bitmap editor, vector editor, desktop publishing, web creator, and so on. The user chooses which modules wants to install or use by the time he/she opens a file or creates a new project.
121
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Solution #3: Develop a "recommended" UI plan for gnome projects.
Written by Darwin Survivor the 26 Jun 09 at 20:09.
I'm not sure if one already exists, so bear with me.

One of the problems I believe is keeping programs from unifying is the lack of a recommended UI design. People start making projects and just throw buttons at it whenever they need a new feature. Over time the layout becomes caotic and a huge mess, so the project enters a "fix-it" stage where the UI is redone and made more functional.

The problem is that each project is doing this individually and only taking small hints from other projects. If there were a simple, elegant and extendable layout and scheme for gnome, or linux for that matter, it would help the projects in the "fix-it" stage to evolve into having similarly designed UIs.

What we need is that simple, elegant yet extensible layout design and a group of people (or projects) to start pushing it.
34
votes
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Solution #4: Ensure that all creative applications work properly with Gnome-Globalmenu
Written by ethana2 the 28 Jun 09 at 23:35.
When you have a large screen with a scribus or inkscape window maximized, a menu bar that's not on the top screen edge becomes inconvenient. While ubuntu isn't likely to default to a global menu for a variety of reasons, it's a crucial part of the professional workflow --ask any graphic designer who uses a Mac Pro with a Cinema display.

See the 11 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. Related project: Gnome. 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.
185
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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 prettier.
-47
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Solution #2: Require confirmation only once
Written by Apiman the 26 Jun 09 at 16:41.
It might be a good idea to request user confirmation so we ensure that user is aware about the situation, but it's not a good idea to bother him on every start up.
-27
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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)
89
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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.
1
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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.
12
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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.

See the 2 comments or propose a solution >>

Change the way tabs behave in Gedit, Nautilus, Terminal.  
Written by pau.moreno the 15 Jun 09 at 11:42. Related project: Gnome. New
When multiple tabs are open in Gedit, Nautilus or the Terminal, two arrows appear in the left part and the right part of the tabs bar to scroll across them.

Hitting on these arrows, instead of showing the hidden tabs without changing the active one, just activates the next or the previous tab. This behaviour makes the navigation through the tabs a bit tough, especially when the active tab is the first one and the user wants to see the rightmost tabs.

Moreover, there is no possibility to see a list of all the open tabs at a glance.
360
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Solution #1: Make tabs behave as they do in Firefox
Written by pau.moreno the 15 Jun 09 at 11:42.
Firefox handles tabs in a more practical way. Tab scrolling buttons just scroll across the tabs bar, without changing the active one. It is the user who will activate another one (if she desires so) by clicking on it.

Also, Firefox has a button on the right end of the tabs bar that shows a handy drop-down list with all the open tabs.
-135
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Solution #2: Make tabs behave like "Tree Tab Style"
Written by dbotelho the 17 Jun 09 at 09:12.
I think that "Tree Tab Style"( firefox plugin) makes tabs much more useful than the default firefox tabs behavior.
Look at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5890 to see how they work
-21
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Solution #3: Keep scrolling behavior (as in all other GTK apps) but add a tabs dropdown menu
Written by m.lettner the 28 Jun 09 at 08:28.
the scrolling behavior comes from GTK and so it is consistent across the whole GNOME desktop. that's one of the thinks which make GTK/GNOME so special. i would love to have that feature in firefox...
however, a nice addition would be to remove the left right arrows and to add a dropdown menu with all opened tabs like firefox has.
35
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Solution #4: Make Ctrl-Tab scroll through tabs as in browsers
Written by feydrutha the 30 Jun 09 at 15:15.
Ctrl-tab has become the standard keyboard shortcut for scrolling through tabs (thanks to browsers).

Make this available in all the gtk applications that use tabs.

See the 4 comments or propose a solution >>

Keep current GNOME interface, instead of using GNOME Shell  
Written by Linux-user the 7 Jun 09 at 16:39. Related project: Gnome. New
The developers of GNOME are thinking about changing their interface. They want to replace the current interface (top panel and bottom panel) with something they call GNOME Shell. This new interface will have a bar on the top called "Activities". The old menu called "Applications" will be gone and you'll have to type the name of the application to start this application.

Screenshots:
http://live.gnome.org/GnomeShell/Screenshots

I really don't like this new interface and I've seen many other people complaining about this new interface.
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Solution #1: Keep the current panels
Written by Linux-user the 7 Jun 09 at 16:39.
Why does GNOME has to start developing a completely new interface? Let them first finish the current one. Let them first solve those thousands of bugs which are in GNOME for more than several years (to give some examples: icons on the desktop are still overlapping each other, in Nautilus it's still impossible to lasso files in List View, in Nautilus it's still impossible to create a new directory from the right mouse button in List View if there are more items in the directory than fit on the screen).

Those guys keep on adding new features and now they want to introduce a completely new interface. Finish the something before starting something new. Fix bugs before adding new features.
472
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Solution #2: Allow the user to decide - add as menu/appearance option
Written by tuxxy the 7 Jun 09 at 22:10.
In future GNOME releases users should be able to choose either the GNOME shell design or be able to revert back to the standard panel GNOME layout. This new design feature could be added as a menu or appearance option to accommodate the users who prefer the old standard GNOME layout.

Not providing this option could alienate some users and force them to adopt a new desktop environment.
256
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Solution #3: gnome shell should take profit from wide-screen displays
Written by yzarc the 8 Jun 09 at 00:12.
the screens is getting wider and wider but gnome seems to don't care about it and gnome shell looks like is in the same way. two horizontal bars also in the gnome shell and even harder to customize.

gnome should profit the opportunity of a brand new interface concept to improve the use of wide-screen. Let the top and button area free and use the side parts (optionally), it is impossible with the current gnome interface, nothing work properly.
133
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Solution #4: Use Gnome Shell, but make things more discoverable
Written by Endolith the 11 Jun 09 at 16:26.
Gnome Shell looks like an improvement. Searching for activities or documents is better and faster than menus if you know what you're looking for. But searching only works if you know the name of the thing you're searching for. The traditional hierarchical navigation is better suited for when you know what you want to do, but don't know what program does it.

There should still be categories, and you should be able to see them in the search results and navigate through them if you type their names. Applications should be assigned to multiple categories as appropriate, like Totem could be in both "Audio" and "Video".

Searching should work on both the application name and the program's description, as well as synonyms, so you can find Firefox by searching for "web browser", for instance.

With an empty search box, something needs to be shown to help the user get started searching for apps and realize what it's capable of.
51
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Solution #5: Make the transition smooth
Written by aadityabhatia the 18 Jun 09 at 21:46.
Lobby the folks at Gnome to make the transition as smooth as possible.

1. Take small steps towards the new UI rather than one big leap. Every step should involve a small change.
2. The UI must be intuitive at every step.
3. Do NOT force all the users to use the new UI. Instead, make every change OPTIONAL.

Bottom line is that those who wish to stick to the classic Gnome interface should be allowed to do so until they're ready to move on.
10
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Solution #6: Take more time for the transition
Written by xfuser4 the 2 Jul 09 at 09:22.
I don't think that its a bad idea to make a "hard" transition between Gnome 2 and Gnome 3.

But I think, that the Gnome people are hurrying too much. It would be better to take enough time to design Gnome 3.

- It would be important to use (paied?) user interface specialists to design Gnome Shell

- It would be important to make great API designs and provide great development tools for Gnome 3

See the 24 comments or propose a solution >>

Auto detect the Wireless Security for WEP encryption  
Written by shang the 17 Jun 09 at 17:20. Related project: Network Manager. New

I understand WEP is not the most secure wireless encryption. However,
many people still use it at home these days. MANY users have the "pass"
but doesn't know which security option to pick. In Jaunty, We have:

WEP 40/128-bit Key
WEP 128-bit Passphrase
241
votes
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Solution #1: Auto Detect Entry or checkbox
Written by shang the 17 Jun 09 at 17:20.

We should have a little box or an default entry call "Auto Detect", and
let the Network Manager take care of the security option.
95
votes
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Solution #2: brute-force detection
Written by lasl92260 the 18 Jun 09 at 22:52.
Their should be an option asking the user if he wants to auto-detect the encryption type of the connection...
Once the pass submitted the system would try all encryption methods available until the connection is established and works successfully

See the 5 comments or propose a solution >>

GUI For Configuring Surround Sound In PulseAudio  
Written by AdemoS the 20 Jun 09 at 05:18. Global category: Look and Feel. New
Setting up surround sound in PulseAudio is easy for novice and expert Linux users, they can just follow a tutorial like this one and be on their way:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=795525

But for new Linux users, following the directions might be too complicated.

201
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Solution #1: Add A Section To Volume Control GUI
Written by AdemoS the 20 Jun 09 at 05:18.
I suggest adding to a section to the Volume Control GUI, to make configuring surround sound easy.

The section should include:
- a picture of each speaker setup, to help the user know which setup they use.
- a button to test the speaker setup, similar to the Sound Preferences window.
- a button to access advanced speaker settings, such as Rodrigo's options (see Solution #2)

An example, is how Windows 7 configures surround sound:

197
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Solution #2: #1 + More options
Written by Rodrigo the 21 Jun 09 at 13:47.
Why stop there, we could have more options in the GUI, for example, being able to choose the delay between front and back, or the volume of each channel.
Or maybe some effects like the surround equipment do.
Like in this mockup:
(Sorry I am still working on my Gimp skills)
From ubuntu
100
votes
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Solution #3: Add a "modes" feature.
Written by Darwin Survivor the 21 Jun 09 at 20:45.
A lot of people with surround systems also use their machines with desktop speakers, headphones, etc.

You should be able to set up volume "modes".

Ex:
regular: desktop speakers activated
surround: all the goodness of a pre-balanced surround setup
headphones: disable everything except the headphones


You could even have events trigger certain modes such as going into headphone mode when headphones are plugged in.

See the 4 comments or propose a solution >>

Prevent multiple printing with a notification  
Written by simbobo the 24 Jun 09 at 10:24. Related project: Gnome. New
Many users, especially less computer-literate ones, have sent a document to the printer, and when it doesn't print, they send it again. I recently opened a print queue to find the same document 6 times. Normally the problem is a simple as the printer being switched off, or a cable being unplugged.

I suggest that if the same document is sent more than once to a printer that there should be a notification of this, and maybe a dialogue confirming that you want to send the document multiple times.
139
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Solution #1: Notification of printing duplication
Written by simbobo the 24 Jun 09 at 10:24.
A notification box alerts the user that the same document has been sent again to the printer and asks the user to confirm that this is correct
128
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Solution #2: Use Notify-OSD
Written by Rodrigo the 24 Jun 09 at 16:56.
Use Notify-OSD to tell the user about the problems, like:
- Printer not plugged.
- No paper.

Some printers are able to tell the OS those facts, lets use the new OSD to tell the user.
62
votes
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Solution #3: Notify the user about printer's status before sending print job
Written by dino the 24 Jun 09 at 21:24.
Do not use notify-OSD to notify the user it wont work what he want the computer/printer to do but inform the user before within the print dialog.

Examples:
* no / not enough ink
* not enough paper
* not plugged in (I think this works right now)

For not-critical messages like "ink low but not so low it might affect image quality" use OSD.

See the 3 comments or propose a solution >>

Default Grub Backround-Ubuntu  
Written by MattFinck21 the 21 Jun 09 at 07:18. Global category: Graphics. New
well when you first install ubuntu to your system, the grub backround, has the default black backround, kinda boring looking ya think?
177
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Solution #1: Ubuntu Grub Backround
Written by MattFinck21 the 21 Jun 09 at 07:18.
i was thinking that ubuntu team should design an default ubuntu grub backround for future releases..or atleast add them to the current ones. after all it would go nice after seeing the linux mint did that.
-54
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Solution #2: let the user choose
Written by lasl92260 the 23 Jun 09 at 15:59.
The user should be prompt during the installation process if he wants to add an image to grub or not.
You should also make a preview of the page how it will apear with the selected image...
43
votes
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Solution #3: same as #2 but not durring installation
Written by lasl92260 the 23 Jun 09 at 16:06.
The same as #2 but without adding it by default, you should add an option in [System]>[prefs]>[sessions] to let the user choose when he wants to...

See the 12 comments or propose a solution >>

Apt should be easier and more flexible  
Written by dysmann the 17 Jun 09 at 13:19. Global category: Usability. New
When we want to install a driver, a codec or a software and another software is installing, an error message appairs saying "Another process of APT is running ...", and sometimes closes the installation : if another process of apt is running and we need to play a video and we don't have the codec, the codec is not installed.

1) The message is unfriendly
2) The installation of the needed stuff isn't done
188
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Solution #1: Wait until the installation process is finished
Written by dysmann the 17 Jun 09 at 13:19.
- The message speaking about processes, apt and dpkg should be replaced by a message like "An installation is in progress, waiting for it to finish"
- instead of closing the installer because another process is running, just wait
220
votes
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Solution #2: Download packages while waiting the other installation process to finish
Written by dysmann the 17 Jun 09 at 13:21.
Packages should also be downloaded while waiting like in Solution #1
68
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Solution #3: Apt should not lock others APT processes while downloading packages
Written by dysmann the 17 Jun 09 at 13:29.
Apt should lock others apt processes just while installing packages and not while downloading them
-32
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Solution #4: Common dependencies downloaded first, first program downloaded is installed
Written by dysmann the 17 Jun 09 at 13:38.
When two softwares installed at the same time meet the same dependencies, theese dependencies should be downloaded in priority.The first software fully downloaded with all its dependencies should be installed first.
33
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Solution #5: Add second instance's actions to first instance.
Written by Darwin Survivor the 17 Jun 09 at 20:46.
The second instance of apt-get should be able to scan the actions of the first and detect if the end result will have any conflicts. If there are no conflicts, it should be able to simply "add" it's actions to the first instance's todo list.

If you couple this with Solution #4 (allowing simultaneous downloads of one app while installing another), you could take the now serial-only package manager and make it VERY parallel.
93
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Solution #6: use a Queue or Waiting List
Written by Shady3D the 18 Jun 09 at 07:13.
if i'm updating the system and want to install new application, you can open synaptic and do what you want, and click apply; but the system will not do anything until the update finishes, then the synaptic or add/remove takes control and start do what it wants to do.

so the package manager won't lock the GUI; instead u will be able to do any thing and when u click apply; the tasks that u want to do will be in a queue.
-31
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Solution #7: Apt should allow installations into user home directory
Written by AndrewLuecke the 18 Jun 09 at 12:08.
Apt forces users to install programs systemwide currently, and therefore requires root privileges. Users should be able to use APT to install programs into their home directory.
-17
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Solution #8: concurrent transaction safe backend engine
Written by LucaCappelletti the 19 Jun 09 at 10:41.
To do a little improvement I image reorganize the apt code to welcome to a very lightweight concurrent transaction safe db back-end engine.
Should sqlite a viable option?
45
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Solution #9: Simply use PackageKit
Written by Matthias the 19 Jun 09 at 18:50.
PackageKit has nearly all functions requested, it's really fast and under active development. The current version works perfectly with APT.
0
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Solution #10: Have a priority list
Written by SakJur the 2 Jul 09 at 09:15.
Sometimes I don't want to do huge updates due to the long hold it makes in my job, so why not use a priority list which enables two apt-session work togheter and overlap each other?
Eg. I start an update and then i need to use DVDs and installs libdvdcss which is installed between two updates, and then it continues as normal with the update.

See the 6 comments or propose a solution >>

Ubuntu Startup Is Disjointed  
Written by balloooza the 4 Jun 09 at 16:51. Related project: Gnome. New
This is what I get when I type in my login info at the login screen, it is disjointed, and appears as unprofessional, I think that ubuntu should focus on start up like KDE, where there is always something on the screen (ie, in KDE the splash screen waits for all to load before showing the loaded desktop)

(press enter at gdm login) Wait 5 sec seeing black screen > The see start up screen (I enabled) But the splash screen only shows the loading of the file manager > The splash screen disappears, and the desktop is still loading!! (In My Opinion, that should have all happened while the splash screen was still there)



Also I would like to clarify what some commenter misunderstood, I am fully aware that Ubuntu has put an effort into the boot up, I know that during the release of jaunty, the speed was improved. I also know karmic will tackle the glitchy X server start up, I am not talking about that. I am not talking about the "boot" up (ie. The running of the init scripts) I am talking about the GDM, I would like to see a nice smooth login. Windows is notorious for showing the desktop, and having to "wait for the hour glass" and the "notification icons" to all load up, this is what I would like to address, to make it an advantage of ubuntu, when you see the desktop, it is ready.
384
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Solution #1: Solution:
Written by balloooza the 4 Jun 09 at 16:51.
Obviously, some group of developers were assigned to make the Ubuntu boot up faster, they seemed to forget that boot up is only half of the start up procedure, I know in Karmic Mark S. noted that they would make the boot up smother by loading graphics drivers to take ayay the flicker on your screen, so this seems to be a place of interest for Ubuntu,but this dose nothing to the software that is organizing the start up, But I would like to see the default Ubuntu integrate

(also I would like to say that even though splash screen is bad in gnome development, there is always room for improvement)
- What I think should happen
(I press enter at login) See Splash screen immediatly, seeing whatever load in the background > Splash screen goes away, and desktop is 100% ready, that means that the only thing that should happen is the network applet to connect.

-Gnome Splash Screen (by default, it will load everything)

-No black screens (I am not talking about Xserver errors, I am talking about when nothing is loaded, and there is nothing to show)
-84
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Solution #2: Show Grayed out desktop while loading
Written by tibasic the 7 Jun 09 at 18:42.
When you shut down you computer an automatic screenshot is taken in grayscale of your desktop. Instead of showing blackness show the grayed out picture once everything is done loading fade the desktop back into color. (Basically the opposite of shutting down when the screen fades out when it asks you if you want to shut down, instead you fade in)
-4
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Solution #3: Solution #2 but using a more accurate picture
Written by Ssdg the 11 Jun 09 at 09:17.
Instead of taking the screenshot at shutdown, capture the screen at the previous startup, in that case you don't see the documents you where working on last time that won't be open at startup.


See the 5 comments or propose a solution >>

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