I have to say that after 2 years using the Snap Store , I’m about to switch all my clients to gnome-software for flatpak support and instant launch.
Does the " instant update" snap feature of the “gnome-software snap” really helped us during the 20.04 era ?
@vanvugt : No chance to have a real Ubuntu icon for the app drawer ?
It is our Ubuntu dock anyway …
Another suggestion: preinstall the incredibly useful Extension Manager app which, as also the above article states, “is necessary” given the immutable canonical decision to ship Firefox as a snap: GNOME extensions won’t no longer be installable through firefox!
This is done
That’s the case currently but the Desktop Team are aware of the problem as is Mozilla.
Launchpad: #1741074
Mozilla: #1661935
Hopefully the issue will be resolved in due course.
Good to know! However I still think this extension should be preinstalled in Ubuntu and maybe appear in GNOME settings. Ubuntu did similar decisions in the past, when the desktop team decided to preinstall DING, Dash to dock and Indicators. I don’t see why such an important feature of GNOME is still hidden behind a (not preinstalled) Firefox extension.
The NativeMessaging portal is hopefully fixed for 22.04. and no extension is necessary then. I think that adding extensions is not going to be made too obvious because any additional extension can cause non-obvious GNOME-Shell crashes and other bugs. All in all those are somewhat hacks, even if the dock, appindicators and DING are somewhat supported by Ubuntu. But advertising extensions can cause the bug trackers to be flooded.
I second this. Having an app for extensions preinstalled could give the impression that its something equivalent to the “get new” feature in Plasma or the Cinnamon spices function in Mint. Otherwise it would be important to include a warning message that extensions are not official Ubuntu packages and can cause serious instability.
Extensions are a key GNOME feature, and a powerful tool that should be more discoverable. The current path to enable extensions requires a third party addon to a third party browser. No other OS feature requires to be configured through a web browser in such difficult way. Even the tweaks app is easier to find and install. IMHO This app should be preinstalled out of the box, and if you are concerned about the “harmful” things a user could do, you shouldn’t ship snaps out of the box, because them too are not reviewed by canonical. Want to warn users? You can do it: tell them that extensions are not reviewed by canonical and should be used at your own risk.
not sure who spreads such myths, but every single snap that gets uploaded undergoes a deep automatic review process, at every upload/update (feel free to check the store-requests category on forum.snapcraft.io for all the ones that fail fulfilling the requirements and have to undergo manual reviews … )
once you install a snap it is only capable of accessing the resources of the system you as the admin allows through interface connections.
gnome extensions are actual code patches that monkey-patch the javascript code of your running shell on the fly, can replace functions of your desktop code, can hack the CSS of your theme and easily crash your whole desktop shell with the simplest typo …
there is quite a difference here 
Don’t snap the Software Center or any other core GNOME tools. It’s better to have snap, flatpak, debs available in the GNOME Software app. The way that GNOME Software handles software and system updates should be kept intact, IMO.
Create a prominent webpage on the official ubuntu.com website, aimed at average desktop users (gamers, artists, just your average user), showcasing features of Ubuntu Desktop. Currently, there is no visibility on the official website at all, or at least, it is hidden in a faraway place.
Remove Intel RST restriction from the ubiquity installer. There is no need for that check. No distribution (Arch, Fedora, PopOS, etc) restricts a user from installing for having Intel RST.
Installing 18.04 and upgrading to 21.10 is what most users are doing to bypass Intel RST.
Also, I tried modifying and removing Intel RST check from ubiquity in live ISO 22.04 while installing it on my RST machine, and it works perfectly fine. I’m writing this on my Ubuntu 22.04 on RST machine, without any BIOS changes.
Now that we have necessary pieces in place I think the Welcome Screen should be updated to include choices of Dock Location (as well as floating or extending from edge to edge), accent color, and light/dark theme. Others do this already like Ubuntu Mate, Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, Elementary OS, etc.
It’s not a restriction but information for the user and should be displayed only in cases where the configuration isn’t suitable for an installation. If you manage to install the older LTS on the same configuration then it probably means you are hitting a bug in the logic used to display that screen. Could you report it using
$ ubuntu-bug ubiquity
from that machine, maybe on the live session, with details on your drives and their configuration
Yes, I understand. But, considering I have a computer with several hard drives and one RST storage that’s dedicated to Windows. I do not want to use it for Ubuntu, and I have a dedicated SATA drive I want to use for Ubuntu.
Right now the installer is preventing me from installing Ubuntu on my non-RST SATA drive just because it detected RST on the computer.
The RST page needs to be improved. There should be a button for “Install Anyway”.
This RST page was added in 20.04 and has the major flaw I described above. Installer in all versions before 20.04 works just fine. The installer should warn but don’t block users from installing Ubuntu. I have to point out that no distribution does this, except Ubuntu. Even PopOS don’t do this.
There are many users who are trying to bypass this using some hacks, just to install Ubuntu on their non-RST SATA drive, including me. You can take a look at it here. Also, this is how users are currently bypassing this flaw.
I agree with this.
This is the first thing we see on ubuntu.com:
Where is the desktop? When a new user sees this, there’s a good chance they’ll wonder if they’re on the right page because it’s hidden in the download section. This just looks like you don’t care about your desktop users.
You need to show off the desktop, like maybe make the top section should be more of a slideshow showing off your products, including your desktop (and flavors). Everyone’s now wondering if you even care about your desktop customers.
I was wondering about that myself. There was a point where Desktop was highlighted on Ubuntu.com. But that was a long time ago. It would be nice to have it again for new users.
I know that, but my point is impression.
Does the user think “desktop” when they go to ubuntu.com?
Hey folks, just to let you know we are working on improving site navigation at the moment and refreshing a number of desktop pages to give them some extra love and improve visibility ready for 22.04. So do watch this space!
