What feature would you like to see in gnome?

[wildman4god]

I was wodering what features people are looking forward to and hoping that gnome adds in their next release.

As for me: I want to beable to make a file hidden via left click menu or properties without changing the file name (a script that adds the files name to a .hidden file, would also create the file if it doesn't yet exist.)

I also want to show files in separate groups when sorting (windows has done this for a while and I miss it, also dolpine does it so it is possible.)

Now your turn, what features do you want to see in gnome.

[Changturkey]

A decent default video player.

[Jengajam2]

A lighter version for older machines.

[levelnext]

option for Global Menu :P

[wersdaluv]

Something like Windows Movie Maker. Don't suggest stuff like Cinelerra or Kdenlive to me.

[FuturePilot]

something like windows movie maker. Don't suggest stuff like cinelerra or kdenlive to me.

+1

[Sorivenul]

Are you talking GNOME 3? Because rumor has it they'll already be including mine:
tiling window management (http://live.gnome.org/ScratchPad/TiledGroupedWindows)

This is also listen on the xmonad blog, as they are supposed to be working with the GNOME team on this.

[YaroMan86]

Animated desktops (From various sources: GIF, PNG, Flash, and of course video formats.)

Second the different default movie player. Totem is... bad.

[smartboyathome]

Are you talking GNOME 3? Because rumor has it they'll already be including mine:
tiling window management (http://live.gnome.org/ScratchPad/TiledGroupedWindows)

This is also listen on the xmonad blog, as they are supposed to be working with the GNOME team on this.

Please don't tell me it will be default... :(

And what is bad about totem? If you have problems, use Totem-xine. I find I don't need it though, and only open up VLC for watching DVDs.

[tdrusk]

Are you talking GNOME 3? Because rumor has it they'll already be including mine:
tiling window management (http://live.gnome.org/ScratchPad/TiledGroupedWindows)

This is also listen on the xmonad blog, as they are supposed to be working with the GNOME team on this.
I was about to suggest that.

A way to setup hotkeys without opening gconf-editor

[Sorivenul]

Please don't tell me it will be default... :(
From what I've found, no. It will be an option the user can enable.

[mentallaxative]

A lighter version for older machines.

Xfce?

[hessiess]

Tiling WM, decent keyboard short cuts and *NO* icons on the desktop.


Something like Windows Movie Maker. Don't suggest stuff like Cinelerra or Kdenlive to me
WMM is a toy, in other words *USELESS*. Use a real video editor.

[billgoldberg]

A decent default video player.

In what way is Totem giving you trouble?

I use it to play all my videos and it actually is better than the new vlc player.

[eternalnewbee]

A panel, on which you can see everything you normally see, except for the panel itself.

[bash]

Well there seems to be some discussion going on on how to change the look and feel of the GNOME desktop:

http://live.gnome.org/Boston2008/GUIHackfest/WindowManagementAndMore

[steeleyuk]

A panel, on which you can see everything you normally see, except for the panel itself.

Transparency?

[wildman4god]

I thought of something else, you know how you can decorate the panel with a bmp, png, etc. well after selecting the image i want an option to set the transparency of the images for better visual appeal. And mabey a template for gimp or some program to aid in making your own images for panel,you know for the artistically chanlanged umong us. :P

[eternalnewbee]

Transparency?
Window List?

[eternalnewbee]

Can you spot the differences?

[Jengajam2]

Xfce?
Na, no matter how styled XFCE looks as compared to GNOME, it just doesn't feel the same. I mean I'd like to see a version of gnome that has less needless features (cut out transparency and all the other eye candy), is very small and fast, has only the essential built in applications, and configure anything else to where it can run on a >2000 computer at a decent speed.

[rudihawk]

Maybe more speed, less bloat.

[eternalnewbee]

I was wodering what features people are looking forward to and hoping that gnome adds in their next release.
No expectations here. Just positive thinking. (Ubuntu is my evolving dream)

[jomiolto]

Something similar to Folder View plasmoid from KDE 4 :)

[Hire]

option for Global Menu :P

+1000. I WANT IT


Something like Windows Movie Maker. Don't suggest stuff like Cinelerra or Kdenlive to me.

Pitivi


A decent default video player.

Totem is nice, where is the problem?

[wildman4god]

Some other nice features i want to see:

A new animated login windows that takes it theme ques from the main users theme so it automatically matches.

Have the boot screen also take ques from desktop theme.

I have an idea for a new login screen I'll see if i can make a mock up, it will be crude as I am artistically challenged.

[Mr. Picklesworth]

Some other nice features i want to see:

A new animated login windows that takes it theme ques from the main users theme so it automatically matches.

Have the boot screen also take ques from desktop theme.

I have an idea for a new login screen I'll see if i can make a mock up, it will be crude as I am artistically challenged.

Actually, that first one exists :)
The new overhauled GDM is using straight GTK and Metacity, making transitions super smooth and causing the thing to look and feel awesome. It also uses a real notification area, so there's a working battery applet and power management exists as if you are logged in. New GDM hasn't hit Ubuntu yet, but you can check it out in the latest Fedora live CD (stick it on a USB flash drive using their Live USB tool).

As for the boot screen, I agree. Again Fedora has some neat attempts at graphical boot, previously RedHat Graphical Boot and more recently Plymouth (coming in Fedora 10), both of which are capable of really high end graphics to get that consistent feel going. Quite cool stuff.
Plymouth is particularly cool because it can have 100% seamless transitions with the right hardware support. That is, there are no display mode changes in the graphical boot screen (it all happens really quickly and ahead of time), the boot screen works at the appropriate resolution and ultimately there is a cross fade between that and GDM (the login screen). Then, also with the appropriate hardware support, switching terminals or logging out of a GNOME session should be just as seamless without the blank screen thing we currently experience.

[wildman4god]

Actually, that first one exists :)
The new overhauled GDM is using straight GTK and Metacity, making transitions super smooth and causing the thing to look and feel awesome. It also uses a real notification area, so there's a working battery applet and power management exists as if you are logged in. New GDM hasn't hit Ubuntu yet, but you can check it out in the latest Fedora live CD (stick it on a USB flash drive using their Live USB tool).

As for the boot screen, I agree. Again Fedora has some neat attempts at graphical boot, previously RedHat Graphical Boot and more recently Plymouth (coming in Fedora 10), both of which are capable of really high end graphics to get that consistent feel going. Quite cool stuff.
Plymouth is particularly cool because it can have 100% seamless transitions with the right hardware support. That is, there are no display mode changes in the graphical boot screen (it all happens really quickly and ahead of time), the boot screen works at the appropriate resolution and ultimately there is a cross fade between that and GDM (the login screen). Then, also with the appropriate hardware support, switching terminals or logging out of a GNOME session should be just as seamless without the blank screen thing we currently experience.

Thanks for that, another feature I thought of is to have gnome know what to do with .sh and .bin (those generic installers large companies use so they can install on any version of linux) its a pain, i should only have to double-click it or have the option to install at download, I shouldn't need the terminal at all, especially since ubuntu is suposed to be for the average human, most people I know if I pull up a terminal they automatically freak and think I am some uber geek, which i'm not.

[wildman4god]

Another small thing is some more default theme options like slickness to be installed out of the box, because the default ubuntu theme is ugly no offense to anyone who does like it.

[doorknob60]

Something like Windows Movie Maker. Don't suggest stuff like Cinelerra or Kdenlive to me.

Yes! I'm not a big Gnome fan, but I don't like any of Linux's video editors right now, so if Gnome made a good one I'd be fine with all those gnome libs being installed along with it.

[chucky chuckaluck]

if gnome has tiling as an option, that will impress me (i think i'm becoming a total jerk on the subject). making that dreadful gconf editor more like the old kcontrol and less like the windows registery would be so much better. scrollable workspaces and a right-click menu, for non-tilers, would be a good thing (i can't understand why kde4 has either abandoned these, or hidden them).
i don't really care about default apps. it's not so hard to dump totem for vlc, or mplayer, etc., etc.

[steveneddy]

I would like to be able to drag the open windows around on the bottom bar kinda like you can drag the windows around in open tabs in Firefox.

This way if I have a preference in order on the bottom bar, it really won't matter what order I open them in, I can move them when I find it necessary.

[Mr. Picklesworth]

I would like to be able to drag the open windows around on the bottom bar kinda like you can drag the windows around in open tabs in Firefox.

This way if I have a preference in order on the bottom bar, it really won't matter what order I open them in, I can move them when I find it necessary.

You can! (Since Hardy, at least). You can even drag them out of or on to the workspace switcher :)

[cardinals_fan]

It wouldn't have to be tiling, but total keyboard control would be necessary for me to even consider GNOME.

[-grubby]

A better menu system - I hate all these windows95-like menus. Also, tiling and configurable keyboard shortcuts (does it have these?) would be good.

[MaxIBoy]

Tiling WM, decent keyboard short cuts and *NO* icons on the desktop.


WMM is a toy, in other words *USELESS*. Use a real video editor.
+1 for tiling (semi-tiling would be even better,) +1 for keyboard control, +1 for critique of WMM, -1,000,000 for no icons. There are other things to use that space for, like conky, desklets, and stuff like that, but icons are USEFUL.


Although the icon-adding code needs some work. I don't like it when I plug in a flash drive, and the icon for it appears either on top of another icon or underneath of my integrated terminal (see screenshot.)

[cardinals_fan]

but icons are USEFUL.

That would depend on the person. I have absolutely no use for icons on my desktop.

[-grubby]

that would depend on the person. I have absolutely no use for icons on my desktop.

+1

[FuturePilot]

How about being able to drag a file over a folder and have Nautilus open that folder.

Another one, implement this https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/metacity/+bug/29560

[MaxIBoy]

Another thing I want in GNOME is more reconfigurability, at an extremely low level. You can never have enough reconfigurability. I'm talking about reconfiguration at the very deepest level possible. It would make this whole discussion moot.


That would depend on the person. I have absolutely no use for icons on my desktop. In no way did I say anything to the contrary. However, the person I quoted proposed that they should be removed outright.

I could see an option to remove them, but I want the feature to stay.

Notice that in my screenshot, I've put all the programs I need often on my upper panel, and I'm using my desktop as my "to deal with" pile. Other people will have other uses for the icon feature.

[galenorama]

+1 for tiling (semi-tiling would be even better,) +1 for keyboard control, +1 for critique of WMM, -1,000,000 for no icons. There are other things to use that space for, like conky, desklets, and stuff like that, but icons are USEFUL.


Although the icon-adding code needs some work. I don't like it when I plug in a flash drive, and the icon for it appears either on top of another icon or underneath of my integrated terminal (see screenshot.)
I hate to ask, but what is tiling?

[cardinals_fan]

I hate to ask, but what is tiling?
In a floating window manager, such as Metacity, Kwin, Xfwm4, or *box, windows open on top of each other. In a tiling window manager, they are "tiled" so that they all fit the screen.

[chucky chuckaluck]

icons are useful? for what, scaring away the icons of rival DE's?

[MaxIBoy]

I hate to ask, but what is tiling?
See screenshot (not my desktop, I did a google image search.)

Note that a lot of window managers support both tiling and floating (overlapping) windows. Wmii is an example.


A typical tiling window manager doesn't have window control buttons (shade, minimize, maximize, close, and so on) in the window titlebar, as these buttons wouldn't make sense in a tiling environment and only waste space. Instead, keyboard shortcuts are used. In wmii, for example, "alt-l" means "select whatever window is to the right of the current one."

[damis648]

Compositing in GTK.

[skitter.rusty]

Like a quick preview feature for all files almost like that cover flow thing in Mac

[MaxIBoy]

Compositing in GTK.Well, there's already the Gtk drop-in window manager of Compiz. However, it would be nice if developers had some way of controlling the effects that are applied to their programs (so, for example, the "back" button in a web browser would cause a neat-looking animated sideways scrolling effect.) If they were to add this feature, they should cooperate with Compiz instead of starting from scratch.


Like a quick preview feature for all files almost like that cover flow thing in MacTrue story:

One time, I was at a friend's house, and he was playing music with his Macintosh. he was using the coverflow feature of Finder to identify albums using album art, and it was taking him ages to flip through the list. He said something along the lines of, "It's taking a long time to find my Alice Cooper albums, but it's easier to look for the right album art than it is to look through the list of identical icons." I reached over his shoulder, and tapped the "A" key, then the "L" key, on his keyboard. Finder selected an Abba album at first, then an Alice Cooper one. This friend was absolutely stunned. Moral of the story: coverflow is useless.

However, a more polished thumbnail feature would be nice. We've already got thumbnails for images, videos, and plaintext files, but we could go further. Replace the rows of identical pairs of quarter notes with album art, wherever possible. Replace the rows of identical "folder" icons with small thumbnails of the first few items in the directory. Replace the generic openoffice logo with a thumbnail of the text inside (this would require an ODF parsing script integrated into Nautilus.)

[wildman4god]

Another good feature to see, is when you move a file into system folders, instead of saying you can't doit, don't have permision, it should first pop up with a warning that messing with system files can wreke havoc on your system, you click continue and it prompts for your password and moves the file, it my os i'll do what i want, it sould also do this when you open a system file for editing.

[damis648]

Well, there's already the Gtk drop-in window manager of Compiz. However, it would be nice if developers had some way of controlling the effects that are applied to their programs (so, for example, the "back" button in a web browser would cause a neat-looking animated sideways scrolling effect.) If they were to add this feature, they should cooperate with Compiz instead of starting from scratch.

+1, they would be pretty awesome. If they could maybe develop a sort-of GNOME plugin for compiz, that would allow these sort of things, it would be the coolest thing ever. I love compiz already, if we got this there is no end to what we can do in animations.

[Glucklich]

I don't know if it is a GNOME responsibility but I think that the "Listen Music Player" needs some improvement. It's lightweight and it's actually not bad at all but has to be a bit better to make a decent default player. Like to incorporate portable music devices and that sort of stuff. Because for my iPod, I still use Rhythmbox. So, it makes Listen kinda pretty obsolete addition to the default package. At least in Xubuntu, I don't know if it came on the Ubuntu default package too.
And there was another thing that I don't remember, I'll get back to you when I feel the need of it or when I use the solution that I got for it.

[MaxIBoy]

Another good feature to see, is when you move a file into system folders, instead of saying you can't doit, don't have permision, it should first pop up with a warning that messing with system files can wreke havoc on your system, you click continue and it prompts for your password and moves the file, it my os i'll do what i want, it sould also do this when you open a system file for editing.
Solutions:

Use root wisely and figure out what everything does before you mess with it. If something requires root access, usually there's a good reason.
Some distros do the kind of thing you're talking about. PuppyLinux is an example (although PuppyLinux doesn't use GNOME.)

[wildman4god]

Solutions:

Use root wisely and figure out what everything does before you mess with it. If something requires root access, usually there's a good reason.
Some distros do the kind of thing you're talking about. PuppyLinux is an example (although PuppyLinux doesn't use GNOME.)


its more of a matter of convenance, the place i need this feature is when i want to install a skin on a media player the only way is to place the files in the skin folder of the program, which happens to be a system folder, its just anoying when i want to do something and my computer says no without integrating and option to bypass, i end up using terminal which I don't like, i can use it, i just don't like it, its slower than dragging a dropping.

[zekopeko]

this will be possible when nautilus integrates with policykit.

[MaxIBoy]

its more of a matter of convenance, the place i need this feature is when i want to install a skin on a media player the only way is to place the files in the skin folder of the program, which happens to be a system folder, its just anoying when i want to do something and my computer says no without integrating and option to bypass, i end up using terminal which I don't like, i can use it, i just don't like it, its slower than dragging a dropping.Oh, I see what you're saying now.

That is more of a choice of the Ubuntu developers than the GNOME developers. The Ubuntu developers don't want people logging into their desktops as root (which is what you're talking about,) and they have very valid reasons for that. If I were to tell you how to run in GNOME as root in Ubuntu, the entire thread would be deleted and I would be banned. It's happened before to other people.

In PuppyLinux, you run as root all the time by default, and it warns you to death instead. I know for sure that Ubuntu's setup annoys me less.


If you really want to run as root all the time, other distros allow it.

[dizee]

i know it kind of goes against its whole philosophy, but taking away the ability to configure stuff is stupid.

i mean i sort of understand their point, interfaces should be nice and clean and straightforward. having a bazillion options on display *is* confusing.

but that doesn't mean that they can't keep the interfaces clean while tucking the fun stuff under an "advanced" box for power users. instead of tucking it into gconf-editor or not bothering at all.

case in point - the gnome-screensaver program has no option to configure screensavers. even the ones that are configurable. this isn't much use for the text ones in particular. okay, it's a small thing but it's symptomatic of the problems with the whole gnome philosophy. not that simplicity is bad, but that it need not cost functionality.

but that's not really a feature request, so to stay on topic i'll add another vote for scrollable desktops & right-click menu.

[MaxIBoy]

I agree that reconfigurability is vital. However, some things should be put where you won't see it unless you know what you want to modify. Accomplishing this without burying anything is a delicate art.

[steveneddy]

You can! (Since Hardy, at least). You can even drag them out of or on to the workspace switcher :)

I must be the dumbest dumbass on the forums.

Durrr......

[MaxIBoy]

Hey, I didn't even know about GNU Less until someone told me about it. When I was in full texmode, I used to think I had to do something like this:

maxtothemax@maxtothemax-laptop:/dev$ ls -a > ~/devices.txt
maxtothemax@maxtothemax-laptop:/dev$ emacs ~/devices.txt whenever I had to view something bigger than the screen. Dhurr indeed.

[cardinals_fan]

Compositing in GTK.
How exactly would that work? As I understand it, compositing basically involves rendering the object off-screen before showing it, allowing manipulation. How would that fit in with a toolkit?

[FuturePilot]

Compositing in GTK.

Well, there's already the Gtk drop-in window manager of Compiz. However, it would be nice if developers had some way of controlling the effects that are applied to their programs (so, for example, the "back" button in a web browser would cause a neat-looking animated sideways scrolling effect.) If they were to add this feature, they should cooperate with Compiz instead of starting from scratch.


Clutter (http://clutter-project.org/)

I believe Clutter is already planned to be part of GTK+3/Gnome 3

[decoherence]

Windows Movie Maker is hardly a toy. It may suck (and it does... the snow offa mt fuji) but most of the users at my work have been able to figure it out own their own and use it to create simple videos of conference highlights, field trips, school productions, etc.

While there are much better video editors available for Linux, none of them are nearly as accessible as WMM, and that's the key missing feature preventing greater adoption of powerful programs like Cinelerra.

So add me in for "simple, non linear video editor" or at the very least "simple video conversion tool with reliable and realistic presets."

[blithen]

I was about to suggest that.

A way to setup hotkeys without opening gconf-editor

xbindkeys

[etnlIcarus]

For those of you complaining about totem (Movie Player):

If the video is choppy or pixelated, it means XVideo is disabled. You need to enable it with your video drivers.

If the UI is slugging or at times, completely unresponsive, open up synaptic and remove totem-plugins and totem-plugins-extra. You'll lose Youtube/BBC support but Totem will be fast and snappy.


What I would want in Gnome 3.0:

- Root menu accessible via right-clicking the desktop.

- Either rewrite or replace Metacity as the default WM.

- Fewer applications installed by default.

- Fewer dumb dependencies (can't remove Evolution without taking most of Gnome with it).

- Stop bundling apps together ala gnome-utils.

- Editable toolbars in nautilus and much of it's functionality being seperated into plugins packages to lessen nautilus' footprint.

- Menu editor which doesn't yield such mangled results or eventually result in clicking the apps menu and having to wait 10+ seconds for it to parse before displaying.

[MaxIBoy]

- Fewer dumb dependencies (can't remove Evolution without taking most of Gnome with it).I've had that happen.

How insanely stupid. This needs to be fixed.

[steeleyuk]

- Editable toolbars in nautilus

From the GNOME roadmap, that will appear in 2.26.


- Menu editor which doesn't yield such mangled results or eventually result in clicking the apps menu and having to wait 10+ seconds for it to parse before displaying.

+1 Alacarte really does blow.

[etnlIcarus]

From the GNOME roadmap, that will appear in 2.26. Editable toolbars have been on the Gnome Roadmap since Nautilus was introduced. Apparently tabs were more crucial.

[steeleyuk]

Have faith. :D

[etnlIcarus]

I'm a sceptic. Of Gnome, moreso.

[shadowdude1794]

Built in screen capture (video) would be awesome (could be bound to shift+print screen).

[3rdalbum]

I would like the feature they talked about a couple of years ago, where if you change the filename extension of a file, say from .png to .jpg, it will actually convert the file from a PNG to a JPEG. The same would happen with audio and video files, and presumably with different sorts of documents.

Gnome developers were thinking of adding this not to make our lives easier, but to make things easy for new users. After seeing my father once try to convert an AIFF to a WAVE by renaming it, I think this feature is needed pronto!

[wildman4god]

Another feature I want to see, is the ability to lock certain icons to your desktop so when you "clean up by name" on the desktop only unlocked icons move.

Also a feature in linux mint I want to see on ubuntu is to be able to uninstall a program from the main menu with a right click menu option.

[transmition]

How about an improved search? Both Vista and Leopard seem to be beating ubuntu in this respect.

[wildman4god]

How about an improved search? Both Vista and Leopard seem to be beating ubuntu in this respect.

True, I can never get the search to work correctly in ubuntu.

Also a built in widget engine like KDE 4.x has, I suggest integrating google gadgets in to gnome (i actually prefere yahoo widgets but I don't think they make a linux version.)

Also make USP (ubuntu system panel, (mint uses a simplified version of this)) the default main menu in gnome (or at least ubuntu)

Check out USP in the 3rd party projects forums, they have there own board.

[grahams]

An email client that doesn't hang all the time like Evolution.

Thunderbird with exchange support would be great.

[wildman4god]

An option to let you choose what email/calender program to intigrate in gnome (so the clock applet can remind you of appointments made in thunder bird/sun bird rather than evolution.

[Changturkey]

Something like iLife.

[fballem]

Well there seems to be some discussion going on on how to change the look and feel of the GNOME desktop:

http://live.gnome.org/Boston2008/GUIHackfest/WindowManagementAndMore

Just read this from the link - it would be a disaster! I really like the current two panel, totally customisable look. If I wanted KDE, then I would get KDE, but what I saw in this article looks like KDE except from the top instead of the bottom.

I may be missing something, but I'm certainly not liking what I am seeing for Gnome 3.

[fballem]

Thanks for that, another feature I thought of is to have gnome know what to do with .sh and .bin (those generic installers large companies use so they can install on any version of linux) its a pain, i should only have to double-click it or have the option to install at download, I shouldn't need the terminal at all, especially since ubuntu is suposed to be for the average human, most people I know if I pull up a terminal they automatically freak and think I am some uber geek, which i'm not.

+1 on the installer for .sh and .bin

It would really make life simpler, and perhaps allow the larger companies to provide linux software earlier. It must be a pain to contemplate .deb and .rpm, along with 32-bit and 64-bit issues.

[fballem]

Another small thing is some more default theme options like slickness to be installed out of the box, because the default ubuntu theme is ugly no offense to anyone who does like it.

Keeping the 'ask' generic and simple. I would like to be able to easily setup a default theme to be used on my system. I like ubuntu. I hate orange/brown and it has taken me nearly six months to come up with something that I like. I still haven't figured out how to make this the default theme for new users. That's probably another six month exercise (oh joy!).

[mdsmedia]

True, I can never get the search to work correctly in ubuntu.

Also a built in widget engine like KDE 4.x has, I suggest integrating google gadgets in to gnome (i actually prefere yahoo widgets but I don't think they make a linux version.)

Also make USP (ubuntu system panel, (mint uses a simplified version of this)) the default main menu in gnome (or at least ubuntu)

Check out USP in the 3rd party projects forums, they have there own board.
Yahoo! widgets are the reason I use Linux now. When they were run with Confabulator, before Yahoo! took them over, they slowed my XP to a crawl. When I uninstalled Confabulator, XP still crawled, so I tried the Ubuntu Live CD and soon installed Ubuntu and used it as my main OS.

Thank you Confabulator and your widgets!! :).

[fballem]

That would depend on the person. I have absolutely no use for icons on my desktop.

Perhaps, but it should be a matter of choice. I like keeping icons for my frequently used applications right where I can see them - on the desktop. That way, it's double-click and I get what I need, when I need it. I know that there are others who don't work that way. The current system allows for both, and should continue to allow for both styles of working. Personally, the thought of having to use menus, of any description or depth, to get at my frequently used applications is abhorrent!

[fballem]

I've had that happen.

How insanely stupid. This needs to be fixed.

+1 and add Ekiga to the list of dumb dependencies.

[fballem]

Yahoo! widgets are the reason I use Linux now. When they were run with Confabulator, before Yahoo! took them over, they slowed my XP to a crawl. When I uninstalled Confabulator, XP still crawled, so I tried the Ubuntu Live CD and soon installed Ubuntu and used it as my main OS.

Thank you Confabulator and your widgets!! :).

A bit off-topic, but for me it was Windows Vista and Office 2007. I have used DOS/Windows/Office for 20 years, but I couldn't get used to the changes. A friend suggested that I try ubuntu, and it has worked well for me.

[mdsmedia]

A bit off-topic, but for me it was Windows Vista and Office 2007. I have used DOS/Windows/Office for 20 years, but I couldn't get used to the changes. A friend suggested that I try ubuntu, and it has worked well for me.Yep, a little off topic.....mine was just a reply to a post that resonated with me....wanting widgets in Gnome, like Yahoo! widgets. Kind of full circle for me considering it's why I now use Linux :).

I've used Windows for 20 years (and DOS before that) but have little experience with Vista or Office 07. I still use XP at work, and dual-boot here. All things considered, Windows 95 was a big change from Win 3.11 too. I felt I had control with Win 3.11, but 95 took that away from me to a large degree. With Linux I feel like I've got that back.

[etnlIcarus]

Just read this from the link - it would be a disaster! I really like the current two panel, totally customisable look. If I wanted KDE, then I would get KDE, but what I saw in this article looks like KDE except from the top instead of the bottom.

I may be missing something, but I'm certainly not liking what I am seeing for Gnome 3.


+1 on the installer for .sh and .bin

It would really make life simpler, and perhaps allow the larger companies to provide linux software earlier. It must be a pain to contemplate .deb and .rpm, along with 32-bit and 64-bit issues.


Keeping the 'ask' generic and simple. I would like to be able to easily setup a default theme to be used on my system. I like ubuntu. I hate orange/brown and it has taken me nearly six months to come up with something that I like. I still haven't figured out how to make this the default theme for new users. That's probably another six month exercise (oh joy!).


Perhaps, but it should be a matter of choice. I like keeping icons for my frequently used applications right where I can see them - on the desktop. That way, it's double-click and I get what I need, when I need it. I know that there are others who don't work that way. The current system allows for both, and should continue to allow for both styles of working. Personally, the thought of having to use menus, of any description or depth, to get at my frequently used applications is abhorrent!


+1 and add Ekiga to the list of dumb dependencies.


A bit off-topic, but for me it was Windows Vista and Office 2007. I have used DOS/Windows/Office for 20 years, but I couldn't get used to the changes. A friend suggested that I try ubuntu, and it has worked well for me.

Right next to the quote button there's another button called, "multi-quote".

[YaroMan86]

Oh, I thought of one thing I want to see GNOME do: Steer away from Mono.

The eerie intellectual property problems it could have aside, I feel that Linux doesn't really need anything resembling .net, least of all GNOME. feels too much like Microsoft's influence is extending where it truly doesn't belong. Fortunately I just install mononono and I won't have to worry about it.

[cardinals_fan]

Perhaps, but it should be a matter of choice. I like keeping icons for my frequently used applications right where I can see them - on the desktop. That way, it's double-click and I get what I need, when I need it. I know that there are others who don't work that way. The current system allows for both, and should continue to allow for both styles of working. Personally, the thought of having to use menus, of any description or depth, to get at my frequently used applications is abhorrent!
Of course. Removing icons altogether would be an absurd removal of choice.

[fballem]

Right next to the quote button there's another button called, "multi-quote".

Sorry about that, but I was responding as I was reading the individual posts. I'm still learning, so thanks for the multi-quote. I do hope that the individual responses are not considered bad manners. If so, then I have learned something new.

Many thanks,

[etnlIcarus]

I do hope that the individual responses are not considered bad manners. Sucessive posts by the same user generally are considered to be bad but it's not really a big deal.

[wildman4god]

Here is a crude diagram of the login screen I want.

[graabein]

Some features off the top of my head...

Faster load times
Crisper icons (update Gnome icons, don't use Tango as default)
Monochrome icons for the notification area
Remember application placement on exit (devilspie?)
Better save, load and print dialogs
Different wallpapers for each virtual desktop

[wildman4god]

Some features off the top of my head...

Faster load times
Crisper icons (update Gnome icons, don't use Tango as default)
Monochrome icons for the notification area
Remember application placement on exit (devilspie?)
Better save, load and print dialogs
Different wallpapers for each virtual desktop


+1 for different wallpapers for each vdesktop.

I don't know if this would fall under gnome or not, but how 'bout some graphical way to compile and install source code. (I just think it would be quiker and more convenant to compile via a program or right-click menu that to bust out terminal, espesially for your avarage user who doesn't even know what terminal is, let alone how to use it.)

[MaxIBoy]

The compile thing is easily added as a Nautilus script and placed up for download in a boastful forum thread... wait a minute, I think I've hit on something here...

[PartisanEntity]

I would like to see a feature to restore a file from trash back to its original location.

Different wallpapers for each workspace would be nice too.

[FuturePilot]

I would like to see a feature to restore a file from trash back to its original location.


As of 2.24 you can :)
I've waited a long time for that feature myself.

[Vince4Amy]

A better open/save dialogue. Something where I can view thumbnails on images when I am in an open/save dialogue. In some applications they have a preview to the right hand side. But I'd like the thumbnails to actually represent the files so I can see all of the images at once rather than having to click them individually.

[GeneralZod]

A better open/save dialogue. Something where I can view thumbnails on images when I am in an open/save dialogue. In some applications they have a preview to the right hand side. But I'd like the thumbnails to actually represent the files so I can see all of the images at once rather than having to click them individually.

I could've sworn I saw a screenshot of the GTK open/ save dialog doing precisely this a while back. Was I mistaken?

[PartisanEntity]

As of 2.24 you can :)
I've waited a long time for that feature myself.

Oh wow really? I didn't notice, let me have a look! :)

[wildman4god]

The compile thing is easily added as a Nautilus script and placed up for download in a boastful forum thread... wait a minute, I think I've hit on something here...

where can I obtain this script? Does it tell you what you need if all dependencies are not satisfied? or better yet download them automatically (with your permission)

Another feature I would like is to right-click a thumbnail of an image and set it as wallpaper (Linux Mint does this).

[MaxIBoy]

I just wrote one. See my thread.