UNEDefaultsApps

Summary

Review the UNE seeds for applications that we install by default and discuss which to remove/add/change.

Release Note

TODO

Rationale

We want to keep the default installation delivering a system which benefits most users and meets their expectations and needs. These expectations, as well as the applications themeselves, change over time. Furthermore, netbook usage is different from desktop one, hence other needs as default applications

Design

General Interface

UNE was, until lucid, delivering some different variation of netbook-launcher, a 3D interface using clutter. Now, DX experience team delivered "unity" with a lot of design and usability improvements. This interface will be the default on maverick

DX new indicators and Global Menu

In the continuity of previous redesign, a global menu (treated in a different spec), as well as new indicators will be part of maverick version of UNE.

Browser

This one is also detailed in another maverick spec, but using chromium by default on UNE will be the way to go. We already have a lot of users using it on a daily basis (seeing on FLOSS conference), it seems really reactive and well adapted to small screens. Of course, there are also some drawbacks, treated into the other spec.

light mail composer

We will still use evolution as default mail composer. We will try to see if the express version of evolution fit there (it's in the default evolution source now) or if some tweaks to the GUI will be needed.

Image experience

We will follow the desktop default image editing experience choice

Office tools

OOo has still non replacement, especially for presentation. The ARM team developed an integration with zoho online service, we will try to get those packages into the featured apps

Music/Video experience

We can have a try with banshee there, as rhythmbox doesn't really fit small screen. Furthermore, banshee has a dedicated netbook interface. We can give it a try and see if we either:

  • keep rhythmbox
  • have a go with banshee default interface with some ui tweaks for netbook
  • use banshee with its netbook interface.

Test/Demo Plan

N/A. Just verify that the changes above are in the life system.

Whiteboard from UDS discussion

= applications =

  * Email - should we use anjal?
  http://live.gnome.org/Evolution/Art
    -> date et time: evolution integration?
  * Web browser - time to consider chromium? (or Midori?)
    -> disk space for chromium ?
       - if it's ok -> switch now and decide on alpha3
    -> better web site compatibility
    -> integration with netbook issues:
        -> printing seems to be bad but fixable
        -> menubar integration with global menu bar
            [ACTION] mpt to communicate with Evan Martin et al. about what we're doing with menus and title bars
        -> system theme integration (close buttons, title bar, scrollbars)
        -> jdk works, openjdk in lucid does not
           this is the bug: http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=20087
           it sounds like openjdk have fixed the bug upstream
        -> reports of some bank web sites and others that don't work in chromium (which? - banks, canadian government tax sites)
        -> include "Ubuntu" in User-Agent string for Ubuntu Software Center apt.ubuntu.com compatibility
        -> extract ffmepg from chromium -> checking that it's legal (ffmepg free shoud solve that)
    -> saving space with remove firefox xulrunner? (is desktopcouch using it?)
    -> security model (discussed in another session)
  * Using shotwell for image import and management? (can be related to "Image Scenarios")
  * lightweive OOo? Trying to switch to abiword/gnumeric and try glide? (http://blogs.gnome.org/racarr/2010/04/20/introducing-glide-presentations-for-gnome/)3 (if we can install it right now, considering CD space)
    -> zoho integration in ARM (online)
    -> is webapp is the way to go?
    -> seems to have some compatibility issue with presentation
    -> no offline :/
 * Media playing capabilities
   * Can we go with a unified media player like moblin media player?
     -> Old moblin media player (hornsey) is dead upstream
     -> Meego on a netbook uses banshee w/ special frontend
   * what about xbmc? (flashy, but doesn't use gstreamer and doesn't have good
     integration)
   * moovida? (basically rebranded banshee these days)
   * Need Ubuntu One Music Store integration
   * Banshee
     -> Could hide totem
     -> One apps for video and sounds
     -> Disk space issue? (we already ship mono)
     
POR - EMAIL
 * See if we can tweak evo to make it fit better on a netbook
 * get evo express into universe
 * re-evaluate for a2
 * Get Chrome into [partner repository (if possible)
 * Chromium by default if enough space on the CD and reconsider for alpha3
 * No Zoho, but "featured app" one?
 * keep an eye on glide (what about Ease: http://live.gnome.org/Ease?)
    -> Summer of code student working on Ease (within GNOME)
    -> still really early too.
 * Consider meego media player for the netbook

= settings =

  * Adjusting selected applications to be sized correctly for netbook
  * Setting by default home encryption + login (no more autologin) on UNE
    -> too complicated for users
  * Launching a mute session (no sound by default when you are on the train)
    -> others

---------------
on encryption, feedback from kirkland:

1) we need to offer a key escrow service or something better than the popup that says "write down this passphrase"
we should offer to encrypt it and store it in Ubuntu One, or something
(i actually have a key escrow web implementation already)
2) long filenames
files in Linux are limited to 256 characters
encrypting filenames involves some padding that makes the lower filename longer than the decrypted filename
so filenames in ecryptfs are limited to something like 180 character
eclipse, and autocad, and some programs like that save files with a paragraph for a filename
we could probably lean on the ecryptfs upstream kernel guy to get that one fixed or we could ask one of our kernel guys to fix it for them and send it upstream

[om26er 2010-05-13]
Remove palimpsest(gnome-disk-utility). the interface is really really huge for a netbook and it does weird things as it dont fit the netbook screen. there dont seem to be any activity on the upstream bug report about the interface not fitting small screens for 8months.


CategorySpec

DesktopTeam/Specs/Maverick/UNEDefaultsApps (last edited 2010-05-18 13:41:56 by put92-5-82-243-237-71)