[ubuntu-za] Getting the basics right - a reality bytes wishlist

[Simon Cross]

On Tue, Oct 14, 2008 at 4:32 PM, David Robert Lewis
<ethnopunk at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> 1. A better search engine. Let's face it, the current Ubuntu Hardy search
> engine sucks, and in a head-to-head comparison with Windows XP loses big
> time for its inability to do the most simple things, like distinguish
> between various categories of files, refine and edit searches, and yes,
> index ones harddrive.

Agreed that the GNOME search tool isn't great. It's not for lack of
trying though. Every release seems to have a new one which is better
than the previous ones in some ways and worse in other (Beagle,
Tracker, ....). I think it's mostly a matter of open source developers
not really using the desktop file search very much in their day to day
lives. It might benefit from some attention from Canonical or one of
the big players but the Ubuntu-ZA mailing list is probably not where
you want to go if you want something like this fixed -- unless someone
here decides to pick up the torch and do the necessary legwork to get
it some developer TLC. Personally I don't even know what users want --
I've found all the file search GUIs I've used horribly lacking
compared to find + grep + xargs.

> 2. Internet integration. Ubuntu is hardly what one could call
> net-integrated. Okay it has an interesting installer that claims to use the
> Internet, but this is par for the course on Linux. I have a dialup and have
> battled to get the most simple Internet connection working. I am not alone,
> and am left battling with archaic DNS entries, and therefore plus one to
> Windows.

Two things are important here:

1) on the internet of 2008 dial-up is not that useful -- it's just too slow.
2) software modem drivers require  a lot of work to implement and
fewer and fewer people care about implementing them everyday.

If you really need a modem, buy a decent hardware modem that is
supported under Linux (I have one I can give you if you like).

> 3. Spelling. Are you kidding me, do you expect me to believe that Sun
> couldn't offer the Ubuntu Community a better dictionary? The Open Office
> package needs a lot more localisation to fit into the Ubuntu ethos, and this
> means a South African English spelling dictionary!!!!

I doubt Sun care about providing a South Africa English spelling
dictionary. This is something that will improve as the number of South
African OSS users increases. At the moment most of the local
translation efforts are focused on translating software into SA
official languages which have hardly any software available in them at
all. In this light it's unsurprising that a South Africa English
dictionary isn't on anyone's high priority list.

There is one contributed to the Open Office wiki though:
http://ftp.services.openoffice.org/pub/OpenOffice.org/contrib/dictionaries/en_ZA.zip
(no idea how good it is).

> 4. End to Format Wars - MHT files do not run on Ubuntu. Period. Yes, there
> is a Firefox patch, but it doesn't exactly work 100% of the time, in most
> cases the hacks suggested by the community come unstuck on the tenacity of
> the opposition's willingness to compromise communication in order to achieve
> their nefarious goals. The forums are really bad way to fix format problems.
>
>  Ubuntu lives and dies by its ability to be interoperable and to digest the
> internet in any format it comes in, but I fear we are all giving the OS a
> rare appetite for spewing out Microsoft files that don't match Firefox,
> which surely isn't the way to go?

The fact that we're down to getting complaints about relatively
obscure archival formats that relatively few people use shows how much
progress the OSS world has made on this front. A few years ago the
complaints would have been about bugs in .doc support in Open Office.
The OSS world really has met priority software vendors well more than
half way on all the format issues and a little support for data: URLs
(which Microsoft have messed up again with only partial support in IE8
for 'security reasons') in return would be nice.

> 5. Better offline distribution. How many times have I got to say this - not
> everybody has broadband internet or even dialup. This means the distribution
> of the ubuntu universe sucks big time and is a huge disencentive to users
> wanting to convert from Windows. In fact, the ease of use with which the
> Microsoft installer gives to its users (who live in internet cafe's) is
> insane compared to Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a bum deal when it comes to this single
> hurdle and I can only say, offline community is the way to go - either share
> the universe or die alongside the Amiga and other Operating systems that
> have gone the way of the Dodo.

I agree that Linux is way less cool if you don't have at least
occassional access access to a decent internet connection to do
upgrades with. Unfortunately, almost everyone in the first world who
cares has broadband internet.  That said, I'm not exactly sure what
specifically you're complaing about here. If it's mostly upgrades
you're worried about, there are ways to make life a bit easier (but
that's probably a whole separate thread).

And it's worthwhile keeping in mind that Windows (and Mac and whatever
else) has it's own set of flaws and weaknesses. While this doesn't
mean we shouldn't care about fixing the ones in Ubuntu, remembering
does help one keep a sense of perspective. If all one cared about were
the flaws in ones current platform, we'd all be changing distros and
OSes every two months.

Schiavo
Simon