Brainstorm

Ubuntu Brainstorm Update

Mon, 2008-03-03 22:21 — nali

Four amazing days have passed since the launch of brainstorm.ubuntu.com, and all we can say is Whoah! A couple of numbers:

• 10,000 registered users
• 2700 ideas (in comparison, Dell Ideastorm has 9000 ideas)

And the numbers keep growing! We had not expected such a success.

http://fridge.ubuntu.com/node/1365

I've been contributing to brainstorm since it came out about 3 to 4 days ago. I think that it is a GREAT idea, and that Ubuntu should keep it running for every new release. Great ideas have already been implemented and will be included with the final Hardy Heron release like:

idea #80: Clean up Preferences and Administration.

First of all: What is the difference between Preferences and Administration? For example: why do I see 'Encryption and Keyrings' in Preferences and 'Keyring Manager' in Administration? What is the difference between 'Default Printer' and 'Printing'? Why do I have to disable the Tracker under Sessions and not under Search and Indexing? And why are these menu's so large? I have 24 items in Preferences (they don't even fit on my screen!) and 18 items in Administration. To put all this stuff in a popup menu is bad interface design imho. Besides, the number of option should be much smaller. A few suggestions:

- Merge 'Screensaver', 'Screen Resolution' and 'Screens and Graphics'.
- Merge 'Network', 'Network Proxy' and 'Network Tools'.
- Merge 'Update Manager, Synaptic Package Manager, Software Sources'.
- Merge 'Encryption and Keyrings', 'Authorizations', 'Keyring Manager'.


Below are all settings I can visit via the System menu. This is just way too much.


-- Preferences --
Universal Access
About Me
Appearance
Bluetooth
Default Printer
Encryption and Keyrings
Keyboard
Keyboard Shortcuts
Main Menu
Mouse
Network Proxy
PalmOS Devices (I don't have one)
Power Management
Preferred Applications
Remote Desktop
Removable Drives and Media
SCIM Input Method Setup (What is this?)
Screen Resolution
Screensaver
Search and Index (Why can't I disable the tracker here?)
Sessions
Sound
System Settings
Windows

-- Administration --
Authorizations (for what?)
Hardware Drivers
Keyring Manager (for what?)
Language Support
Login Window
Network
Network Tools
Printing
Screens and Graphics
Services
Shared Folders
Software Sources
Synaptic Package Manager (imagine a new user: wtf is Synaptic?)
System Log
System Monitor
Time and Date
Update Manager
Users and Groups

And of course, I have submitted ideas as well. Here is one that I think definitely needs some looking at.

idea #2386: Replace Xsane with Gnome Scan

Honestly, opening up Xsane is a little daunting! The first time I opened it up I had no idea what was going on! I didn't know what to choose, or what window not to click, it really was something almost terrifying. I downloaded Gnome Scan from the Add/Remove right afterwards and was greeted with a nice, simple interface, where all I had to do was click scan! It was nice, and I think that Ubuntu should replace Xsane with Gnome scan because it will show a professional / easy interface to deal with. Xsane is advanced and scary to new users, making it unattractive.

What's also cool is that you can have your own button to support your idea.

Come on Ubuntu users! Join the party! Come and submit your idea as to what will make Ubuntu better for you and everyone else!