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Well, I've been using Mandrake 8.2 for several months now, and I thought I'd
pass along a few thoughts and ideas for the next release...
1.) How about replacing bootsplash with a modified version of Aurora? Why?
Because Aurora is mostly iconic/graphical I think it has a tendency to look
more user friendly to Windows and Mac users that just aren't use to textbased
errors and such anymore. If Mandrake is shooting for the business desktop,
this would be really good. Ideally, maybe Aurora could be made to have better
error reporting, and of course, leave bootsplash in for those who dislike
Aurora as an option in MCC.
2.) What about a DVD in the PowerPack edition? Quite frankly, I (and I'm sure
others) have no need for everything included in the heftily priced ProSuite
edition, but I'd like to have the option of buying a boxed set that has a
DVD. This would also be good since PowerPack's nearest competitor - SuSE
Professional - also has a DVD.
3.) Rethink the "Importance" ratings included on packages during the
installation. I've noticed sometimes games and multimedia stuff have been
marked "Very Important" while some much more useful (for the business
desktop) stuff has received "Nice" or "Important" ratings instead.
4.) A more neutral color scheme in DrakeX would be nice too. While I think
DrakeX is better then YaST2, YaST2 (especially in SuSE 8.0) has a much more
pleasing look to it. People base a lot of thought on the way things look so
maybe moving to more standard greys, softer blues, and/or some greens might
be good. Perhaps reducing the installer resolution to 800x600 and making the
current task fill up all of the right section of the screen might be better
then the "quasi-windows" currently used (i.e. as in Lizard, YaST2, or
RedHat's installer which I can't think of the name of right now). Like I
said, I think DrakeX works better and is really easier to use, but some
cosmetic changes might be nice.
5.) What about a QT/KDE-based MCC? Since Mandrake has always been very
pro-KDE, and even was founded to bring KDE to RedHat, what about making
Mandrake Control Center QT-ized? It would be nice if it had the same look and
feel as the other apps most Mandrake users use (afterall KDE is used by many
more people then GNOME).
6.) Modified KPackage for optional package manager. KPackage includes the
stuff necessary to make it work with apt-get (i.e. for searching for
available packages, updating packages, etc.). What about modifying it to work
with URPMI too? It's a pretty slick little tool, and it would be nice to have
it work with Mandrake's package management system.
7.) Less confusing Time Zones. At least when installing from the US, selecting
a time zone can be a bit confusing IMO. For instance, rather then having the
names we normally use for time zones, the most obvious choice for "Central
Time" is picking the locality Chicago (even though I don't live there and
that is not a standard way of referring to this time zone). What about naming
the US time zones correctly? Maybe even ordering time zones based on their
differential from UTC?
8.) How about some better icons for the Mandrake utilities? I hear it time and
again, people just do not like blue and yellow icons. What about making icons
that fit in with the KDE standard HiColor icons or perhaps iKons? This would
look a lot nicer.
9.) How about including ALSA 0.9x in the next release, and making it the
default for the EMU10k1? Or if not default, at least make it an *option* for
those of us who want sound founts? Also, why not include a sound font
installation tool? I noticed YaST2 now has a thingy that will grab sound
fonts off the the Creative Labs SB Live! installation CD. This is a nice,
user friendly touch... Finally, on the sound front, how about setting up
TiMidity as a daemon (this can be done if TiMidity's compile switches are set
correctly) when Harddrake finds a card does not have MIDI synth support?
It'd be cool if out of the box virtually every sound card could do MIDI
synth...
10.) What about including the Mandrake documentation in docbook xml like
KHelpCenter uses (IIRC, I think Gnome Help Center may use it too) so one help
system would have all the documentation?
11.) For now, I have one more suggestion - how about a better box design? The
PowerPack edition looks alright, but the Standard edition looks *really*
plain a' la Microsoft Windows 3.x. Remember: looks sell, so a class box can
make a big difference. If you study Apple and Microsoft's box designs they
are usually very simple, but have an elegence to them based on their
simplicity but not blandness. For instance, imagine this:
The box has the Mandrake logo white washed in the background of the cover
(on both sides). On top of that in a shadded area, about 2/3 of the way down
is the words in a slightly wide-spaced italic san-serif font "Mandrake Linux"
and then in smaller letters below it aligned right, "PowerPack" or "Standard
Edition." Above the title could be a smaller version of the Mandrake logo
(not white washed) with beams of light coming out from behind it. Finally the
MandrakeSoft name in it's normal font could go on the top right side of the
front of the box.
On the back, you could have one large screenshot (maybe with a width about
2/3 of the box and a height of 1/3) of a nicely working Mandrake desktop
aligned right, with a few paragraphs talking about all the great stuff in
Mandrake Linux. About half way through the paragraphs the text would wrap
around the bottom of the image and go all the way across the width of the
box. Below that you could have the usual array of logos in a slightly shaded
bar (transparent, so you can still see the white washed Mandrake logo), and
then below that maybe a two or three column area with the current back of the
box text (i.e. listings of packages).
It's kind of hard to visualize this based on just my description, but I
think something like this would look good. I'd put it together if I thought
MDK was interested...
Anyway, please don't take these suggestions as my dislike for ANY feature in
Mandrake. I recommend Mandrake all the time and have made several Mandrake
"converts"... hey, my postive review of Mandrake was even quoted in the MDK
8.2 availablity press release. :-D In other words, I think Mandrake is the
best thing since sliced bread - I just thought I'd pass along a few ideas
that might make it even better, IMO.
Thanks,
Tim
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Timothy R. Butler [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Universal Networks http://www.uninet.info
Christian Portal and Search Tool: http://www.faithtree.com
Open Source Migration Guide: http://www.ofb.biz
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