Request For Comments: blueprint around Ideastorm idea
Hi! I have been drafting a blueprint around Dell's Ideastorm idea. Considering that the current means to get user wishes feedback is not really good (see discussion in the blueprint) and considering Ideastorm success for Dell, i was thinking of using this idea to assess the user wishes. Right now, when a user want to post a wish about ubuntu, where does he go? He goes to forums, where its posts is quickly lost in the mass. Or *if he know about it*, he goes to the bug report (bug! Not obvious!) to post a wish. But this wish report hardly represent the size of the wish. Is only one person interested by this wish, or thousands? or more? Consequently there is no real means to assess *quantitatively* and *effectively* the users wishes and needs. Thus the main guidelines of ubuntu development does not optimally match the users demand. Considering this, my blueprint try to propose a solution based on Ideastorm idea, and reusing Launchpad framework. Here it is : https://blueprints.launchpad.net/launchpad/+spec/better-community-wishes-assessment I would really appreciate any comments on this, and you are welcome to do some modifications you think appropriate. Especially I'd like to hear from Launchpad guys about the possible implementation of the spec. Thanks! Nicolas Deschildre -- Ubuntu-devel-discuss mailing list Ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel-discuss
update-db cron job: solving a long-standing issue
The slocate cron.daily job has long been an issue, making users ask why their computers were not responding or simply working hard without any explanation. This little 'bug' is giving a really bad impression to new users, making Ubuntu look 'Windows-like' (the worst for us), that is to say unstable and strange. Having a look to Launchpad bug tracker, you can see that at least 5 open bugs refer to this problem, some proposing patches to make the issue less annoying. Those are: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/slocate/+bug/134692 (with a committed patch, about using ionice to lessen the io usage of updatedb) https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/slocate/+bug/13671* (duplicate*, reporting ionice issues making previous patch almost unefficient) https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/slocate/+bug/133638 (about telling the user that the system is indexing files) https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cron/+bug/27918 (about laptop batteries issues) https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/slocate/+bug/41742 (about a laptop not wanting to suspend when updatedb has automatically started) And partly those, because bugs with slocate affect out-of-the-box users that don't really need it: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/slocate/+bug/113312 (about encrypted partition being indexed without notice from a newbie user) https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/slocate/+bug/74029 (about /mnt default indexation issues) This bug should really be rapidly considered and solves by choosing a clear policy for Ubuntu. If we really want to keep the locate command working out-of-the-box in Ubuntu, we should find out ways of making updatedb run : 1) with low io and CPU priority 2) only when the user is not using his computer and 3) when not on battery - (just like Tracker will be doing by default in Gutsy). Or we can consider using rlocate (http://rlocate.sourceforge.net/), which is a synchronized replacement for locate, keeping track of the filesystem updates when they are done. We can also think (and this is my opinion ;-) ) that the locate command is only used by advanced users that now how to install slocate in two minutes, and thus that we don't need to install it by default. Newbies don't use locate in a terminal, but Tracker in GNOME. And we should remember that users are likely to use new background processes with Tracker or Beagle, that may even be installed by default. So the less are running, the better the system will work. Replacements like find can be used when necessary (eg for occasional remote help), though they are less efficient. I'd like to get your comments about this point, in order to fix it in the next release, before new users consider that their Ubuntu system is doing jobs without their consent and in an irrational way. Thanks for reading... :-) Milan -- Ubuntu-devel-discuss mailing list Ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel-discuss
Re: update-db cron job: solving a long-standing issue
On 9/15/07, Milan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: We can also think (and this is my opinion ;-) ) that the locate command is only used by advanced users that now how to install slocate in two minutes, and thus that we don't need to install it by default. Newbies don't use locate in a terminal, but Tracker in GNOME. And we should remember that users are likely to use new background processes with Tracker or Beagle, that may even be installed by default. So the less are running, the better the system will work. Replacements like find can be used when necessary (eg for occasional remote help), though they are less efficient. Wouldn't it be possible to replace locate with tracker somehow? Or let locate use the tracker database? Wouter. -- Ubuntu-devel-discuss mailing list Ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel-discuss
Re: update-db cron job: solving a long-standing issue
On Sat, Sep 15, 2007 at 04:54:57PM +0200, Milan wrote: We can also think (and this is my opinion ;-) ) that the locate command is only used by advanced users that now how to install slocate in two minutes, and thus that we don't need to install it by default. I agree with this. Heck, I consider myself a pretty advanced user, and the number of times I've used locate in my life can be counted on one hand (with enough fingers to spare to pick my nose and do a bit of typing). I realise the benifits of it, but I've just never gotten used to it, and it's really not very easily discoverable. If one were to find mention of it in a magazine or on IRC or whatever, it /is/ only a quick apt-get away. IMO, nuke it. IME the utility is never really used, and the daily(?) updatedb run is annoying and confusing to users who haven't asked for it. -- Soren Hansen Ubuntu Server Team http://www.ubuntu.com/ signature.asc Description: Digital signature -- Ubuntu-devel-discuss mailing list Ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel-discuss
