i concur with you in that aspect. what i have a problem with is implementing the idea. i lack the programming knowledge at this point in time. after getting a gui would it be a good idea to run a script after this first login to allow for users to customize the catagories we mentioned? <div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Sep 27, 2009 at 10:59 PM, Conrad Knauer <<a href="mailto:atheoi@gmail.com">atheoi@gmail.com</a>> wrote: <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> (Only replying on ubuntu-devel-discuss + e-mail) <div class="im"> On Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 6:17 AM, Jonathan Aquilina <<a href="mailto:eagles051387@gmail.com">eagles051387@gmail.com</a>> wrote: > give the users at some point during the installation process options of what > office suite browser and mail client they would like installed. the list of > options will include the defaults of the respective desktops environments as > well as alternative options. > > if you could provide feed back as to if this is a good idea, and if so how > can i begin working on implementing it on lucid. </div>Short answer: this is a bad idea. Longer answer: the whole point of an Ubuntu install is to keep it as simple as possible with sane defaults; next people will say 'but why not have choices for web browsers then?' and others will want media player options and others will want game choice options and etc etc etc. You are trying to please everybody (e.g. note <a href="http://www.lifeoptimizer.org/2007/11/28/avoiding-failure-7-tips-not-to-try-to-please-everybody/" target="_blank">http://www.lifeoptimizer.org/2007/11/28/avoiding-failure-7-tips-not-to-try-to-please-everybody/</a>) but in the process the install will become much more of a chore, especially for people (I suspect a significant majority) who would just pick the defaults anyway. Constructive criticism: a much better idea would be for users to choose to run this *after* an install; much like the current "software center" (formerly "software store") in Karmic except narrowed down to just a few categories (e.g. "office suite browser and mail client" as you suggested and maybe a few others, as I mentioned) which would be of most interest to people (I would recommend limiting the categories, otherwise you're just duplicating what's already available in "Add/Remove..."). Be sure to make it very informative (text + screenshots would be nice) so that users who don't know much about the alternatives understand the differences. Sincerely, Conrad Knauer </blockquote></div> -- Jonathan Aquilina