I've found Unity's new Intellihide mode extremely useful, and would like to know if it's planned to be set by default or, by the contrary, the panel will be shown unless you set it manually.
I'd like to scan a good amount of papers I have lying around, with the least possible hassle. I would like to convert them to images using Simple Scan, then convert them to text using OCR. Is there a good OCR app with a GUI that will give me good results at the push of a button?
Not sure if there is a specific, objective answer to this question but I get the same everything I want to buy a piece of hardware and try to check if it's Ubuntu / Linux compatible:
Required OS → Microsoft Windows 7 (32/64 bits), Microsoft Windows Vista (32/64 bits), Microsoft Windows XP (only 32 bits), Mac OS X 10.6.2 or higher, 10.5.6 or higher, 10.4.11 or higher
Thing is, the product usually does work flawlessly with Ubuntu. Why don't these people even mention that in the product specifications? Why do they always make it harder for the (admittedly small) Linux-using part of the population who want to buy their products?
It's not like including that information somewhere would cost them money, would it?
Unity is supposed to be able to do a desktop spread (similar to pressing Super+W, where you get a view of all windows in the current workspace) and a workspace spread (similar to Super+E, where you see all the workspaces).
Right now it's easy to perform a workspace spread because it's mapped to the workspace switcher, but desktop spread is supposed to become very relevant in Unity at some point, so how will the user access it? Will it be mapped to the workspace switcher instead of the workspace switcher? Or will Unity use an all-new effect halfway the two that exist now?
I would like to take a video I have and remove some parts of it, that is, produce a new video that is basically the same as the original but removing some parts.
Avidemux seems to let you do this easily: just open the video, select a start and end frame, and hit save. This doesn't seem to be the case with Pitivi, though: "save" doesn't save a video, but a project; to save the video I have to hit "render project", and then I'm seemingly forced to re-encode the video because Pitivi just won't save the video "as it was".
Is this indeed the way Pitivi works, or am I missing something here?
I have noticed that Shotwell has a pretty capable image viewer but EOG is still used for opening image files, which means Ubuntu's default install has two apps for the same purpose.
I wonder why Shotwell isn't set as the default image viewer and EOG is removed. Are there certain features that EOG has and Shotwell lacks, which are keeping it from being set as default?
The Synapse launcher was recently released, offering the following features:
- Search and open apps and items.
- Run any command.
- Directory search - allows opening of commonly used directories
- Gnome session - log out, shut down, restart
- Browse recent elements logged by Zeitgeist.
- Hybrid search - complete Zeitgeist results by searching for similar files
Will Unity's dash and search offer all these items?
Also, will Unity, using Places, be able to offer additional features such as this one, also from Synapse?
- Banshee - allows you to play/enqueue music files in Banshee
Since the Compiz version of Unity does not have a dash at the moment, I was wondering if the Unity team is planning to port the current version of the dash "as it is" (eight huge icons to open Firefox / categorized apps / Software Center), as seen here...
...or will rather introduce some changes here and there, and in this case, how extensive the planned changes are going to be, e.g. somehow merging the apps, places and people menus.
I want to buy a laptop at some point in the near future, but not knowing beforehand whether it works with Ubuntu makes the whole operation risky and tiresome. I would like to know if there is some kind of official hardware database where I can enter the name of the laptop I'm interested in and see if it's 100% compatible out of the box, or in case it isn't what is it exactly that doesn't work (ideally also if there is a way to fix it).
Does Canonical have a project along these lines?
Status menus seem to be intended, among other things, to streamline indications. Some of these indications are not confined to the old Notification Area: others can be found on their own windows and indicate running processes, such as Nautilus copying some files, Firefox performing downloads or Brasero burning a DVD.
I have seen a series of mockups showcasing mockups for a progress indicator:
I would like to know if there are any actual plans to create a real progress indicator to house this type of indications.
I read here that these will be some of the features of the Desktop version of Unity:
- A floating Unity Dash that can be moved to all edges of the screen.
- Floating, overlapping windows with their title bars and controls on them, not on the top panel.
- The home screen consolidated into a simple pop-down menu that extends down from the top left of the screen and allows you access to your programs and desktop search.
I'm not sure how closely these points represent the plans for Unity on the desktop. When it talks about a floating Dash, does it mean the Launcher? As far as I know the dash is fullscreen so, how could it be moved to the edges? Also, why move it if it closes as soon as you choose an item? If it means the Launcher, do you plan to allow moving it to all edges?
Isn't floating, overlapping windows with their title bars and controls on them what we always had? also, Desktop-Unity is supposed to keep using the global menu so, doesn't that contradict the specification?
Finally, supposing "the home screen" means the dash, do you plan to make it not-fullscreen?
When I look at them, their functionality seems to overlap so much that they could almost be merged:
- The MA is used to open Gwibber, but the MM is used to set the accounts and broadcast messages.
- The MA is used to open Empathy, but the MM is used to set the accounts and set a status (available, busy...).
All these could well be in different sections, either in the MA or the MM:
- Chat (set status, accounts).
- Mail (send mail, contacts).
- Broadcast (send message, accounts).
- Ubuntu One.
- About me.
So, why the decision to split them in two different indicators, thus taking extra space in the panel?
This is a small nuisance I've had in Ubuntu forever. When I set my computer to login automatically, Network Manager asks me for my keyring password every time it boots and it refuses to connect to the Internet until I enter it. Is there a reason for that?
Also, other network managers such as Connman don't have this problem, and I have noticed the latter also has an application indicator while NM-applet runs in the Notification Area. Are there plans to migrate to Connman, or to adapt NM-applet for Natty?
As far as I know, there are plans to port Unity from Mutter to Compiz due to some performance problems caused by the first.
If these problems with Mutter are fixed at some point in the future, and considering that stock Gnome uses Mutter, would you consider porting back to it? Would it still be technically possible?
Ubuntu has traditionally had some default folders. Most of them (e.g. Music, Videos) were there because they were intended to house a specific type of file. Desktop, however, was there because it was special in that its contents would be shown on the user's desktop.
This doesn't seem to be the case anymore, since Unity's desktop only shows the wallpaper. How is this going to be handled? Will the desktop folder be assigned a different purpose? Will it just be removed from default installs? Will its contents still have a special place? Also, can we expect Unity's desktop to show anything else besides the wallpaper in the future?
I've sent a few mails to the Ayatana mailing list regarding some UI suggestions for Unity, but I'm afraid I keep confusing the right terms for the UI element, so I would like to have some clarification.
Answer Index:
The Launchpad page for the desktop-oriented version of Unity lists the following features separating it from the netbook version:
- A floating Unity Dash that can be moved to all edges of the screen
- Floating, overlapping windows with their title bars and controls on them, not on the top panel
- The home screen consolidated into a simple pop-down menu that extends down from the top left of the screen and allows you access to your programs and desktop search
I have some trouble picturing these, are there available mockups somewhere that could help us get an idea?
I've read in another question that Canonical has already ported Unity to Compiz, and that this new version has much better performance on supported hardware. Since the work is done, is there an expected date for Natty testers to get it?
I've noticed some overlap between Unity's dash and Nautilus, due to folders being able to be opened and browsed straight from the dash. However if you want to perform any kind of operation on the files (except for opening them) you have to open Nautilus. I fear having two different tools for the same (basic) task may bring some confusion to the user. Has this been considered? What will be the desired interaction between the dash and the file browser, and what is each of them supposed to be used for in the long run?