Dustin Kirkland schreef op 21-07-2017 17:26:
You're welcome to engage in discussion here, or in any one of the
following venues where we've cross posted this request, in the
interest of the broadest possible engagement with the Ubuntu community
at large:
The only things I would personally insist on would be VLC and
Clementine.
Of course Ubuntu is not Kubuntu.
Kubuntu/KDE has gone with "Dragon Player". I would insist that you
picked best-of-breed applications rather than stuff that more fits your
peculiar environment.
But currently as a dual Windows/Linux user the only normal desktop user
scenario preference I have for Linux is Clementine.
Apart from development/console work, which is easier in Linux, and gives
a sense of peace to the mind, for ordinary usage there is nothing in
Linux currently for me that makes me prefer Linux. Inkscape is available
on Windows, as is GIMP and LibreOffice.
Inkscape didn't work on my 16.04 Kubuntu install until I fixed a gvfs
related file. I couldn't open SVG files (hence my other message).
The "file" protocol was turned off for some reason.
Another thing that doesn't work in Linux is proper font rendering with
antialiasing for Java applications.
But most importantly: ensure that the best apps are available by
default.
Please don't pick something inferior just because it is your brand (just
like Dragon Player on KDE). Gwenview is fine on KDE, as is Okular.
Printing is difficult, with particularly scaling of documents
unavailable and margin settings not being remembered from one print to
the next, but this is a KDE issue.
Linux does not have a good single-window (no tabs) text editor. Xed
comes closest (from Mint) but is multi-tab. The problem with multi-tab
is that you cannot have separate sessions for separate tasks. It is all
in one window even if you want things to be separated.
A scratchpad like Notepad or Xed is essential in copy-pasting between
several applications and writing quick notes, or writing things for
submission in other programs (such as web browswers). This capability is
missing from Linux the way I see it.
Another big issue in Linux is the 2 separate copy-paste systems and the
fact that console applications (terminals) use ctrl-shift-c to copy when
the same keyboard shortcut opens a developer console in every web
browser.
The only viable solution for copy and pasting in terminals would be that
selecting text freezes the window and halts keyboard input until "enter"
is pressed to finalize the selection and the copy. Ctrl-C cannot be
used, Ctrl-shift-C is undoable, and nothing else exists (ctrl-insert is
not available on many keyboards).
Another thing that has to be solved is running administrator-privilege
applications in the desktop. Having to use "kdesu" or "gksudo" or
equivalent is NOT acceptable. It has to be an automatic thing based on
standard tools. We MUST do away with the corruption that results from
forgetting to use these tools. Programs must also be written to allow
elevation while running, but that's a different discussion.
Ie. it should be possible for any say text editor to execute a
background process with elevated privileges that does the saving for
you. Using the standard desktop elevation prompt. Also important would
be fine-grained user-messages that allow the user to know what
privileges are actually requested. I understand that Linux generally
does not use capabilities a whole lot and requests plain root access
most of the time but for security the undifferentiated sudo system is a
great risk. But anyway...
It's for the same reason that the Microsoft Windows system does not
work, in that it gives the user no information whatsoever on what the
application wants to do ahead of time. If the user makes the wrong
choice, the system is compromised, but could not know in advance what
was going to happen...
Microsoft buckles down on this by pushing this dialogue in peoples faces
MORE and with greater feel of severity to it, but this just causes
fatique and disinterest in the user who will try to disregard those
dialogs; you know what I mean.
The only solution is more information; not a more angry computer.
Linux could make great headway and lead the way out by actually
providing meaningful capability request information and giving programs
capabilities instead of full root access; and this would be the single
most capable way, effective way, and impacting way that the user would
feel safe.
Another something that needs to be solved is being able to unmount
devices when only a PATH (directory) in the mounted device is currently
still opened. DO NOT prevent unmounting when only a terminal is opened
somewhere! Multi-level sudos quickly hide whatever current working
directories may still be open and there are no tools to easily find out;
and programs opened from a certain directory often do not need that
directory; particularly if they are GUI apps!!!
You can delete something just fine when it is opened (the actual file is
not deleted until all handles are closed) but you cannot unmount
anything, while the former action is clearly more destructive.
There are lazy umounts but this is something of an anomaly to use.
Well anyway I guess this goes all too far for this question.
But this is just off the top of my head stuff Linux needs to solve in
order to be more successful.
1. A good, no-tabs notepad.
2. Ctrl-shift-c no longer used to copy text in terminals.
3. Ensure best-of-crop applications always work (e.g. VLC, Inkscape).
4. Allow editors and other such applications such as file managers to be
elevated in-place.
5. Try to introduce a capabilities-based elevation system in which the
user can be informed as to what capabilities have been requested.
6. Fix the java font issues.
7. Get rid of gksudo and kdesudo as separate applications.
8. Make sure printing dialogs can scale documents (while centering) and
that print settings are remembered from one invocation to the next
9. While you're at it, support more scanners out of the box, or ensure
that their configuration is automatically done correctly.
That's all I can say here. It is probably too much, but anyway.
Regards.
Oh and also try to ask users ;-).
Google Forms Survey:
- https://ubu.one/apps1804
HackerNews:
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14819508
Reddit:
-
https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubuntu/comments/6on93z/ubuntu_1804_lts_desktop_default_application_survey/
Slashdot:
-
https://slashdot.org/submission/7250965/ubuntu-1804-lts-desktop-default-application-survey
Cheers,
Dustin Kirkland
Ubuntu Core Developer
Ubuntu Product and Strategy
@dustinkirkland
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