> Lately, I've been thinking it would be very cool to have an applet on > the download page that could examine the users hardware, compare it to > values in a database and offer advise based on that.
An interesting idea! > Will I be able to > just reboot into the live-session? Well, if the user can't, then it is really a bug that should be fixed. Unless it is simply a RAM issue. If it is a RAM issue, it would be far nicer to have the Desktop CD recognise that and degrade gracefully to a low-memory session (not that it does, but I believe that WUBI is working on such a low-mem session). > Maybe I'll have to run > dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg in order to see gdm? Again, that sounds like a bug to me. > Do I need to use > proprietary drivers, and if so, are they included? It could be good to know in advance that the machine requires proprietary drivers. It would only be really important if the user really cared about such things, or if it could not be made to work with non-free drivers. If it can be made to work with non-free drivers, then this should just be a click in the Restricted Drivers applet. > The real work would probably be to maintain the database. There are a lot of improvements that I would like to see to the Hardware Database. I maintain a LaptopTesting page and would love to see it tied into the Hardware Database and aggregated by part, not laptop. That way the information could be collated against the actual parts and the actual laptop that you use could merely be a 'set' or 'collection' of the parts that you are reporting on. This could then easily be extended to desktops. This allows far more data to be collected and ensures that people get access to all the information on the part they are using (where to get proprietary drivers etc.) regardless of which make/model of computer they are using. It additionally means that, immediately after submitting to the database the parts that make up a new laptop, one could see voting, comments etc. from the hundreds who use the part in a different laptop. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BetterLaptopTesting You may also be interested in https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BetterHardwareDatabase?action=fullsearch&context=180&value=hardware+database&titlesearch=Titles Aaron -- ubuntu-desktop mailing list [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-desktop
