Hello,
Here are some proposals for the next LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 :
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Abandon the idea of the snap for chromium and go back to the default deb package
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Remove the default preinstalled snaps (calculator etc…) and replace them with their deb package from the repositories.
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When a software exists both in deb package and snap package (for example VLC), if a beginner wants to install it from “Gnome Software”, it must offer/preview the deb package and not the snap. Many beginners complain on forums about the slowness of some software under Ubuntu and after expertise, it turns out that they installed it, without knowing it, by snap. It would be nice if the default choice were deb packages and not snaps.
Be careful I want to be clear: I’m not saying that snaps are useless, they are useful in certain situations (especially for software that is difficult to install, old obsolete software, dangerous software that you may need to be isolated…) but in normal times, it’s the “deb” package that should be recommended.
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If possible, drag and drop it directly on the desktop with the “gnome desktop” extension without going through the “Desktop” folder.
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The Gnome Tweak Tool (required) must be installed by default (except possibly in “minimal” installation).
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The “Amazon” icon must definitely be removed (not only with the minimum installer but also with the classic installer).
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The graphical theme of GDM (session manager) must be improved and propose a wallpaper or at least one color gradient (and not pink/violet or single grey)
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There is currently under 19.10 a graphic inconsistency on the desktop: the dock is a little transparent but the gnome bar has no transparency: it doesn’t go together, either you enable transparency at both (as under 18.04) or at none. I think the best thing is to do as in 18.04, i.e. transparency at both the gnome panel and the dock.
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It would be interesting to develop support for a guest session for Gnome so that in public places, Ubuntu can be used with sessions that empty at each closing. All you have to do is add a script linked to a special account.
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The “folder-color” package must be present in the repositories and it would be interesting to pre-install it (allows you to choose different colors for the folders)
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As for Linux Mint and Manjaro, add a small graphical utility to easily change the kernel (for example with the different kernels supported by an LTS, Mint 19 (based on 18.04) allows for example to choose between 4.15, 4.18 and 5.0 or at least between the original one and the last one supported (4.15 of 18.04 or 5.0 of 18.04.3).
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If you really want to move towards what are called “universal packages”, then you might as well go to Flatpak which is less worse than Snap in terms of performance.
(but I repeat: the best would still be the default deb packages).