[ubuntu-za] Skype, Ubuntu, Weekend

[David Robert Lewis]

Good weekend Ubunteros,

Just a few issues today:

1. Skype, Me too, haven't managed to get my mic up and running. Tried
alsamixer and toggling with tab and m but no go, the mic is still off,
do I have to remove pulse audio or turn it off? How do I do this?

2. Proxy setting. Funny bug this one - I have proxy service at Openweb,
which is great for browsing, and I can set the Network proxy but, what
happend to the verification box, surely not all proxy's are free?

W: Failed to fetch
http://ppa.launchpad.net/fta/ubuntu/pool/main/n/nss/libnss3-0d_3.12.2~rc1-0ubuntu2~fta1~hardy_amd64.deb
  407 Proxy Authentication Required

There is no box for setting verification details in the system, seems
the design team left it out.

3. Implementing bug control on this list: Since, Ubuntu is us, how do we
go about the fixing Network Proxy app, and keeping track of the
community modifications, for example, the Pulse Audio problem?

4. Wiki (as above) I don't see much up at the Wiki. Would be nice to
have a local Bugs list, things that Bug us in ZA, as opposed to the rest
of the World. Then we could actually implement the ZA-Buntu proposal in
a meaningful way.

5. Underlying Metaphor of Ubuntu: to reiterate on a theme on which I
emailed morgan, the quibbles I have with Ubuntu from a design point of
view is that it's way too terminal-focused (a problem with most Linux
distro's) the trick is to see if we can map the SUI (Semantic User
Interface) to the GUI (Graphical User Interface), in a meaningful way so
that children (and women) will be able to relate. 

Think of it as a Brain-Mind-Body dilemma, we not always focused on the
Brain, sometimes the Body takes over, sometimes the Mind plays tricks,
this is why the GUI is necessary, but a GUI that merely repeats the SUI
is not evolution. What we want is a GUI on its own terms, that can stand
up to other GUI's, for example the OSX which is one of the worlds great
GUI's precisely because the SUI is under control.

As for Windows - surely a case of locking down the SUI too hard and not
letting the user take control, so a compromise????

Goodluck, have a great weekend with Ubuntu

David.