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I think this is better than SuperUser because it's focused on Ubuntu, allowing those not interested in Ubuntu to ignore this content entirely rather than spamming it. I think it's better than the proposal you link to for the same reason. Ubuntu forums is a mess, and StackEngine is an extremely effective and well-designed platform for creating a knowledge base. The forums have served us well but forum threads quickly become unwieldy and they do not age well. – David Siegel Jun 20 '10 at 17:40

It seems that it would be best to not have a branded Linux Q&A site. This leaves out Debian (upon which Ubuntu is based), Fedora, OpenSUSE and every other distro. There are certainly Ubuntu-specific questions, but in general, most questions are general Linux-desktop questions. It would be best to have a "Linux Desktop" Q&A site than one per-brand. – miguel.de.icaza Jun 20 '10 at 18:36

I believe that Ubuntu Forums has already proven that a site specifically tailored to answering questions for a single distribution is a sustainable and worthwhile endeavor. There are roughly 1.3 million threads and sixty thousand active users on that website. However, I personally feel that Stack Exchange would be a better medium than Ubuntu Forums for some users and situations, and that even if I or we ultimately end up being wrong, it's still worth giving a try and seeing where it goes. – Evan Jun 21 '10 at 8:27

show 10 more announcements

67 Example Questions (10 closed)

active newest votes

up vote 25 down vote

added by bratsche Jun 20 '10 at 18:14

Yes, definitely. You can use Rhymthbox or Banshee to sync music. – Owais Lone Jun 20 '10 at 18:22

You can manually manage music on your iPod, iPhone or even iPad using Rhythmbox, the music software that comes with Ubuntu, although it doesn't support traditional sync as you'd expect coming from iTunes. – David Siegel Jun 20 '10 at 18:24

up vote 23 down vote

added by bratsche Jun 20 '10 at 22:13

up vote 23 down vote

added by rlb.usa Jun 21 '10 at 7:33

up vote 21 down vote

added by nik Jun 20 '10 at 14:30

The window controls were moved to the left because Mark Shuttleworth thought this would better accommodate the window indicators being introduced in Ubuntu 10.10, and better accomodate the consolidation of fullscreen window titlebars and the top panel in Ubuntu Light/UNE. You can read an explanation of window indicators and the consolidated panel, along with wireframes, on Mark's blog: markshuttleworth.com/archives/333 – David Siegel Jun 20 '10 at 17:35

The problem with that is that there is a major change for no perceptible value (after all, the "indicators" are coming to 10.10). The first thing I did on my Ubuntu was to put them right "where they belong" (to the right), because my perception was "What's the point of MacOs-ing my Ubuntu ?" – paercebal Jul 11 '10 at 10:21

I can't believe I commented on that... This must be the proof we DO NEED a Ubuntu Users forum.. ^_^ – paercebal Jul 11 '10 at 10:22

Why are you guys answering example questions?!? You've got too much time! :) – mbrochh Jul 12 '10 at 8:45

up vote 21 down vote

added by bratsche Jun 20 '10 at 18:05

I'd say bootstrap with apt-get but manage everything you can through Ruby gems. – Michael Forrest Jun 21 '10 at 9:54

This is a great question that exposes one of the more fundamental impedance mismatches in free software. – Space Hobo Jun 21 '10 at 12:34

up vote 18 down vote

added by jianquin Jun 21 '10 at 16:18

	Too localized, methinks. – Nathan Osman Jun 21 '10 at 22:47
	What do you mean? People buy computers online these days, you know. ;) – bratsche Jun 22 '10 at 3:45

up vote 17 down vote

added by David Siegel Jun 20 '10 at 17:44

up vote 17 down vote

added by jianquin Jun 21 '10 at 16:20

Go to System > Adminstration > Login Screen and select automatically login user. – Owais Lone Jul 10 '10 at 21:17

up vote 14 down vote

added by Binoj Antony Jun 21 '10 at 8:28

	Yes. Up to date instructions on downloading an Ubuntu image and putting it on a USB disk, so it can be used as install media or as a live environment, can be found at: ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download – Evan Jun 21 '10 at 9:33
	This one is a favorite. Some more at superuser.com/questions/681/… – nik Jun 21 '10 at 17:43
	I think a better example would be "How can I...", but that seems like a pretty good on-topic example. – Daniel H Jun 28 '10 at 22:03

up vote 13 down vote

added by Binoj Antony, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Jul 11 '10 at 19:55

I think this could be worded better.. I'd rather see "How can I configure my computer to dual-boot between Ubuntu and Windows?" or something like that. Yes/no questions aren't very good example questions since they potentially just lead to more questions. – bratsche Jun 21 '10 at 16:23

@bratsche, reworded it to come close to your suggestion. – Binoj Antony Jun 22 '10 at 5:11

up vote 10 down vote

added by J. Pablo Fernández Jun 21 '10 at 15:03

up vote 9 down vote

added by Bob Hazard Jun 23 '10 at 4:29

Absolutely! This wiki page details many ways in which you can contribute: wiki.ubuntu.com/ContributeToUbuntu – Evan Jun 23 '10 at 7:11

Are you actually answering example questions here?? – mbrochh Jun 23 '10 at 11:40

up vote 7 down vote

added by Binoj Antony Jun 21 '10 at 8:30

You can either use WINE or buy a commercial app for running Windows programs like Crossover. – Owais Lone Jul 10 '10 at 21:18

up vote 7 down vote

added by radius, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Jul 11 '10 at 19:55

	Ubuntu is a Debian derivative. Ubuntu guys took Debians' code , modified it, added to it, removed from it and made Ubuntu. – Owais Lone Jul 10 '10 at 21:19
	Ubuntu is a specialized Debian you may say. – Owais Lone Jul 10 '10 at 21:19

up vote 7 down vote

added by Dima Jun 24 '10 at 14:55

	howtoforge.com/local_debian_ubuntu_mirror has a good explanation how to set up an apt-mirror for such purposes – txwikinger Jul 4 '10 at 0:22
	Once you update one,copy all files from /var/cache/apt/archives then paste them in the same folder on the second system and then update. It'll take half the bandwidth. – Owais Lone Jul 10 '10 at 21:22

up vote 6 down vote

added by David Siegel Jun 20 '10 at 18:12

Probably does not belong... could be subjective. – Nathan Osman Jun 21 '10 at 1:05

up vote 6 down vote

added by zaphod717 Jun 22 '10 at 17:21

Ubuntu Software Center should be your first choice. Ubuntu Tweak has a list of great apps. GetDeb.net also has quite nice list. – Owais Lone Jul 10 '10 at 21:23

up vote 6 down vote

added by Bob Hazard Jun 23 '10 at 4:33

You can use ppa-purge to undo whatever a ppa has done to you. webupd8.org/2009/12/… – Owais Lone Jul 10 '10 at 21:20

up vote 6 down vote

added by Wayne Werner Jun 23 '10 at 17:33

Install dontzap from software center – Owais Lone Jul 10 '10 at 21:21

up vote 5 down vote

added by googletorp Jun 20 '10 at 12:32

Did you mean "Ubuntu"? ;) From Wikipedia: "Linux...refers to the family of Unix-like computer operating systems that use the Linux kernel." Ubuntu is a member of that family of operating systems. – David Siegel Jun 20 '10 at 17:31

@David Siegel: these are example questions and shouldn't be answered. – googletorp Jun 20 '10 at 18:33

These types of questions would tend to indicate that the OP hasn't a clue what they're talking about - and therefore they don't belong on the site. – Nathan Osman Jun 21 '10 at 1:06

The question is how low the bar should go. All users have to start somewhere, so if new users aren't allowed here, where should they then go? – googletorp Jun 21 '10 at 5:59

George, are you suggesting that we should only allow questions from people who already know the answers? – David Siegel Jun 21 '10 at 9:35

show 2 more improvement suggestions

up vote 5 down vote

added by radius, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Jul 10 '10 at 1:38

Great question for those who installed Ubuntu without an inkling of the difference between GNU/Linux and Windows – Wayne Werner Jun 23 '10 at 17:31

up vote 5 down vote

added by Wayne Werner Jun 23 '10 at 17:36

up vote 4 down vote

added by nik Jun 20 '10 at 14:33

closed as off topic by Macha, zmanian, mmyers, Nikhil Garg, nicorellius Jul 1 '10 at 23:53

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

Ok, I am counting on this being off-topic. But, if anyone thinks any of this is on-topic, please say so in your comments here. – nik Jun 20 '10 at 14:34

Not only is this on-topic, it's an excellent question! We should come up with some innovative ways to market Ubuntu. One small but great strategy I've tried is to offer to install Ubuntu on old computers that my friends haven't used in a while. Many families have what they believe to be an obsolete PC tucked away in the basement. Offer to "update" the PC for them by installing Ubuntu, and while you're at it, conduct some user testing to see Ubuntu through fresh eyes! – David Siegel Jun 20 '10 at 17:27

I think this is a poor example, because there is unlikely to be a single right answer that will bubble up the votes to the top. The topic is fine, but I feel the structure of the question is unhelpful. – Space Hobo Jun 21 '10 at 12:33

@Space Is there something called "Exact" answer. Are marketing techniques always right? Unless you share data, stats, it becomes difficult to market/popularize anything. So having a stackexchange for Ubuntu can help people discuss such questions. We can have amazing ideas for marketing it. It is a Ubuntu specific question. – Manish Sinha Jul 10 '10 at 21:05

up vote 4 down vote

added by David Siegel Jun 20 '10 at 18:15

up vote 3 down vote

added by nik Jun 20 '10 at 14:32

up vote 3 down vote

added by googletorp Jun 21 '10 at 21:53

up vote 3 down vote

added by txwikinger Jul 3 '10 at 23:29

The answer is the Ubuntu brainstorm website: brainstorm.ubuntu.com – txwikinger Jul 3 '10 at 23:32

up vote 3 down vote

added by Mike Jul 9 '10 at 7:35

up vote 3 down vote

added by Mike Jul 9 '10 at 7:37

up vote 2 down vote

added by Gordon Gustafson, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Jul 10 '10 at 1:36

up vote 2 down vote

added by txwikinger Jul 3 '10 at 23:26

	The process is described at wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuDevelopers – txwikinger Jul 4 '10 at 0:21
	Good luck being accepted if you can't find the wiki haha – Bob Hazard Jul 9 '10 at 0:17

up vote 2 down vote

added by txwikinger Jul 3 '10 at 23:39

There are two Ubuntu versions specially targeted for netbooks. The UNE (Ubuntu Network Edition) using a specialized Gnome netbook as well as KNR (Kubuntu Netbook Remix) sporting a specialized KDE plasma desktop. Both desktops are particularly design for the smaller real estate of small screens, however since both are full Ubuntu versions, any software in the Ubuntu repositories can be installed and used. – txwikinger Jul 3 '10 at 23:42

up vote 2 down vote

added by Ben Gartner Jul 7 '10 at 18:15

	If you right click on a window's titlebar in Ubuntu you can see the keyboard shortcuts written next to each command. Press Alt-F7 and then use the arrow keys to move a window or Alt-F8 to resize it. Press enter when you are happy with your changes – Bob Hazard Jul 9 '10 at 0:04
	@Bob Hazard Thanks, I have actually tried this. For whatever reason, when I try to resize the window, it snaps back to wherever the mouse cursor is. Might be a bug related to running Ubuntu in a VM, not sure. – Ben Gartner Jul 9 '10 at 12:08

up vote 2 down vote

added by PLA Jul 10 '10 at 22:14

up vote 1 down vote

added by rlb.usa Jun 21 '10 at 7:32

up vote 1 down vote

added by Gordon Gustafson Jun 22 '10 at 20:10

up vote 1 down vote

added by txwikinger Jul 3 '10 at 23:27

Among other things, they help to coordinate the different grassroots groups and provide help and advice to them. They also help to facilitate communication between different Ubuntu communities as well as to Canonical. – txwikinger Jul 4 '10 at 0:20

up vote 1 down vote

added by Jorge Castro Jul 10 '10 at 20:00

up vote 1 down vote

added by Jorge Castro Jul 10 '10 at 20:01

up vote 0 down vote

added by bratsche Jun 20 '10 at 18:11

closed as off topic by Tadeusz A. Kadłubowski, Macha, Nathan Osman, jianquin, user4370 Jun 22 '10 at 3:43

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

For writing GUI apps for Ubuntu, I recommend writing Gtk+ applications using MonoDevelop. MonoDevelop is an Integrated Developing Environment (IDE), which means that it combines tools for writing source code, a WYSIWYG GUI editor, and support for many different languages. You can install MonoDevelop from the Ubuntu Software Center. Here's a screencast demonstrating how to create a simple GUI application: video.google.com/… QtCreator is an awesome option if you want to create Qt (KDE, Kubuntu) apps. – David Siegel Jun 20 '10 at 18:22

Belongs on StackOverflow. – Tadeusz A. Kadłubowski Jun 20 '10 at 18:30

I'm not so sure it does. My instinct is that once a decision is made to use Mono or PyGTK or whatever, then the user should head over to StackOverflow with further questions about that. But this strikes me as a real question someone might want to ask to be very Ubuntu-specific, and they want to know if there is a preferred/blessed development platform for Ubuntu. – bratsche Jun 20 '10 at 22:11

Without more specific information on the goals of the project, this is unlikely to generate useful answers. It's open-ended enough to devolve into personal favorites. A better question would be something like "I need a GUI app to be cross-platform between OSX and Ubuntu, don't care about windows. What <language> GUI library fits best here?" – Space Hobo Jun 21 '10 at 12:38

Sure, but these are just example questions here to show the type of questions we're expecting might appear on an Ubuntu part of the site. – bratsche Jun 21 '10 at 12:53