Ubuntu looks as though they have taken a page from Dell’s book. The Ubuntu team just launched a new feedback site called Brainstorm which closely resembles the Dell IdeaStorm site that was launched over a year ago. It provides a Digg-like voting interface to figure out what the community would really like to see come out of Ubuntu in the future.
Honestly I think it is an ingenious idea to turn to the community to see what they want out of their operating system. I have to say that the community really appears to be liking the new feedback system as well because there are well over a thousand individual votes for some of the submissions (you must be a registered user to vote, too). Aside from just voting you can also leave comments to give ideas or add to what the original submitter had said.
What’s the top 10 most requested Ubuntu features look like right now? Here they are:
- Fix suspend and hibernate
- Provide a simple graphical interface to manage any type of network connection
- Power management
- Start taking advantage of Upstart
- Clean up preferences and administration
- Unmount resolution
- Professional-looking bootloader
- Speed up Ubuntu-Gnome boot time
- Improve dual-screen function
- Brainstorm: Don’t start with most popular, and hide grades until requested
The last one on that list is actually not a recommendation for the operating system, but instead for the new website. When you first hit the Brainstorm site you’re shown the suggestions that currently have the most votes, and the users would like to see that change. Otherwise it’s likely the only the top 10 or 20 most voted on submissions will always be the ones to get the attention.
Hopefully this site can help the Ubuntu team pinpoint the areas of the operating system that still need to be worked on. I’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on the site and voting on some of the submissions.
Ubuntu Brainstorm [via Wired]
Thanks for the tip Mohan!
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Tags: Web Sites, Features, Ubuntu
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I think it’s a great idea, and I am glad that it’s being done. It’s a first and hopefully not the last, who better knows about what the users want than the users themselves.
Mine arent on the list:
1. Put powerful, friendly automated repair tools (especially for bootloader repairs) on the bootable disk - like Suse has.
2. More robust wireless support. It keeps getting better, but still isn’t as good as Apple or PC. Error reporting dialog to the user is nearly useless.
3. Stop setting kooky video mode with LiveCD bootloader - blackscreens many 8800 cards - been a known issue for last 2 releases gah.
Can you get something like VMware for Ubuntu?
My gripe is with compiz. I know my hardware is old, but compiz worked perfectly in mandriva. even after a hectic command line session compiz still doesnt work.
That would probably fall under better networking which is number 2 on the site. That’s one of my big complaints as well because I have troubles connecting to some routers running advanced security such as WPA2. In Windows I’m just prompted to enter in the security key no matter what security type the router is running, but in Ubuntu you normally have to know what security the router is using. That always irks me.
I’m guessing that they will make some improvements in the next release. I had quite a tough time trying to get it setup on my system since I needed the proprietary drivers, and I think that’s something else they need to make easier.