OpenSUSE Wishlist

From openSUSE

This is a wishlist for the openSUSE project and related resources, There are other wishlists for the Linux distribution it produces.

openSUSE License

openSUSE 10.3 no longer restricts users freedoms to distribute the software. See http://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/Linux/openSUSE/distribution/10.3/repo/oss/EULA.txt

openSUSE 10.2 was released under a more restrictive license which does restrict freedom to distribute as detailed below.

openSUSE 10.2 Restrictive License

I would like to see openSUSE distributed under the GPL and users prompted to accept the GPL license.

The current Novell license agreement which users are forced to accept before installing the software does not even uphold the four freedoms under which much of open source software is licensed. The four freedoms being: the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study and change the software. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

The full-text of the Novell license agreement shipping with openSUSE is available here: http://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/Linux/openSUSE/distribution/10.2/repo/oss/LICENSE.TXT

I would like to draw your attention to this particular paragraph: The Software is a collective work of Novell. You may make and use unlimited copies of the Software for Your distribution and use within Your Organization. You may make and distribute unlimited copies of the Software outside Your organization provided that: 1) You receive no consideration; and, 2) you do not bundle or combine the Software with another offering (e.g., software, hardware, or service).

At the very least this is restricting the freedom to distribute.

For openSUSE to be OPEN it must be released under a OSI approved license. This is not an OSI approved license. Please change and make SUSE open!

Power Management

• Power Management to provide Suspend to RAM or Suspend to Disk - That works*

openSUSE Website

New Features

• Web forum http://forum.opensuse.org

Its been in request since project start & still not there !

Novell.com has forums and newsgroups. You can also use the Wiki Discussions!
Update 4/3/08: openSUSE's official forums will launch in Spring 2008.

Wiki

* A process to create openSUSE wikis in other languages, with Interwiki linking. http://fr.opensuse.org & http://de.opensuse.org or http://www.opensuse.fr & http://www.opensuse.de [NOTE: This is on the roadmap scheduled for October] Other wikis are now active. --Herding 16:04, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

• The wiki is in major need of a major overhaul. There are many articles uncategorized, others in the wrong places, others need to be deleted. I would like to see an effort in cleaning up the wiki.

Attractive professional website

• New main page design - its a mess for a project as big as opensuse .
• openSuSE website in a more representative attractive style for both novice and advanced SuSE Linux users. A more professional solid but playful style to reflect the quality of the distributions and the community.

The website to really attract people to start using SuSE Linux or continue to do so, not just to inform.

• openSuSE website should create a page listing all the packages availible for SuSE and openSuSE. This page should be built to similar pages of other GNU/Linux project. A good example would be http://packages.ubuntu.com. This page categorizes all the packages, including 3rd party packages availibe for ubuntu. This would be great to have also in openSuSE (which for my taste is far better from ubuntu or debian, but lackes the easy finding of RPM's).

We have this - but it is not organized very well, and it doesn't cosist 3rd party packages: http://www.novell.com/products/linuxpackages/suselinux/index_all.html. Maybe we should start a list here in the wiki.

• How about using a reduced version of http://en.opensuse.org/User_Documentation_Full_Index as a new front page & adding & changing a few bits where necessary ?

• My wish is for this great Wiki to stay as it is. This kind of a website is perfect for an open project like openSuSE.

• I think that this great Wiki is showing its limitations here. For the project size like OpenSUSE a real content management system is needed. Something like http://plone.org. Such system would solve all the problems with navigation, indexing, searching, versioning etc.

opensuse related artwork

I have found : http://en.opensuse.org/Buttons%2C_Icons%2C_Themes_%26_Wallpapers - but how about a community art section on opensuse for people who want to upload wallpapers , create icons , themes etc. ?

What about Creative Commons ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_commons

Enhanced Usability

• This web site looks like it will become a very valuable resource, but currently it is hard to find useful information.
• Locations of repositories and the available package versions should be more prominently displayed.
• The search feature is nearly useless; the results page is difficult to interpret and it doesn't usually find good results. I end up using Google which I shouldn't have to do.
• There should be graphics or big text explaining where the visitor actually is. The site look & -design do not encourage users/visitors to browse and/or participate .How about a different green on the left & a light grey background to make the site overall less strenuous to look at ? The site is not keeping up with the polished look of the distribution itself .
• Links on opensuse.org to highly useful sites like linuxlinks.com ,yolinux.com ,linuxquestions.org or - dare i mention - distrowatch.org ?
• I feel I have been looking everywhere on the site, but still I haven't found the changes between the latest release and the previous ones. Whit a moer "selling" start page it would be much easier to get people use SUSE.
• I wish there was, (or s/I wish there was/How about/) a way to specify ALL/any flavors of [open]SUSE software packages on the software.opensuse.org/search page rather than being limited to ALL distribution flavors or only specific distribution flavors. The ALL option is fine, except I'd prefer a finer-tuned option for ALL, such as ALL/Any of the SUSE related distro flavors or ALL/Any of the other distro related flavors. Please keep, (and I do like) the ALL option (meaning ANY *and* ALL distros and flavors) but please allow some finer tuning/selection for what ALL could/should include (at least for the SUSE related flavors!) That would be grand!

External projects

The idea being a list of external projects which are generally interesting / of importance to openSuSE but do not fit into wishlists. For example things other operating systems are doing or research papers that have been published .

openSUSE Extras etc.

Fedora (Extras), Mandriva (contrib), Ubuntu (Universe) and many other distros have it. So I'd like to have these extra-packages created by users for openSUSE, too. "main" is too fat so let's put some of these into this new extra-repo... --Cotrinox 16:03, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

Video Tutorials

The ubuntu wiki has a facility called Ubuntu Videos Why cant we have that same facility here for openSUSE .It would be of great help for amateurs and Non-techies.

See http://en.opensuse.org/Videos.

http://forum.opensuse.org

openSUSE Guide

There is an external project created by linux fans called Ubuntudguide.org Ubuntu Guide The wiki has lot of tips and howtos .lets have the same kind of facility for openSUSE.

Gentoo / Debian release model

• I would like to update to the next opensuse release through the internet.
• That way DVD / CD installs are only for initial installation after which you can keep your system up to date with Zenworks
• I believe this development moment fits better with Suse's current open development model

openSUSE Mailinglists

• A stricter policy on the openSUSE mailinglist to bounce HTML and forbid topposting, so readability improves
• Usenet port for the mailing lists
• There should be a RSS feed for the mailing list.

Otherwise one gets flooded with all the messages on the list. A RSS feed would be very convenient and would overcome the problem of a full mailbox,Also options should be provided whether one wants to add Rss url to My Yahoo! or Google Personalised page.

• An integrated search for the mailing list archive would be nice.

Multimedia Support

The most important thing every one would wish to have in next version of Suse is better multimedia support

Wireless networking

I have looked at the hardware compatibility list for wireless networking cards, and see that some might work with SUSE, but only after some major fussing--installing this, downloading that, compiling something else. I would like to use SUSE on a wireless home network, but I can't afford to buy one network card after another until I find one that works. I am not a terribly skilled computer guy. I just want to use my computer.

Here is what I think the Open SUSE project should do. Find at least one specific brand and model of wireless network card. Make SUSE works with it out of the box. If the card is detected at installation, then install the proper software automatically so it works. THEN...put into the documentation, or print on the box (for the boxed set), that Open SUSE works out of the box with the brand xxx, model yyy, wireless network card.

If you could find just one network card that will work, and tell people about it, some of those people might go out an buy it. Then, possibly, other vendors would come to Open SUSE and ask to have their cards supported, and possibly give the necessary specification.

If Open SUSE could make one specific network card work, then they might be able to include, in the 90 days of support, help with wireless networking PROVIDED that the customer has that specific card. Currently, I believe, help with wireless is NOT included with the installation support. (I have tried to make SUSE 10.1 work with two wireless network cards on two computers, and failed.)

Power Management to provide Suspend to RAM or Suspend to Disk - That works

For those users who have tried an given up on the ability for the New Power Management Module to Suspend either to Disk or RAM and actually have either work correctly - Great. For the vast majority of us it does not and being told to go away and try different graphic switches does not help solve the issue. Either the application works or it doesn't - not maybe if you try this. There is a standard to ACPI and it starts with the Kernel and end with the Graphics card. Do not attempt to write a bug report - you will be ignored and the issue 'closed wontfix and asked to read http://en.opensuse.org/Category:Power_Management. If you have the ability to own an IBP PC - Great it will probably work for you.

If you have not tested either suspend to RAM or Suspend to Disk in 10.2 please try this feature - Just select Logout and choose "Suspend". I am not just talking to laptop users - we all need to save power and our Monitors and HDD from premature aging, in fact any moving part.

IF it does not work for you could you please edit this and add either your PC Model or Motherboard specs - Please ensure before listing that your specs state your system is ACPI complaint V2 OR more simply than that, if it works under M$ Windows and doesn't under open Suse 10.2 - please list internetconnection).

Supported Architecture; Platform

I went to the download area at software.opensuse.org looking for my platform: IBM z-Series also designated s390x. Except for SPARC, I found everything else, 32 Bit PC, 64 bit PC, PowerPC which includes Mac, IBM e and p series. I don't know if this is an oversight, but please, if possible, include the z series mainframe platform.

Xorg video driver versions

I would like to see OpenSUSE provide newer versions of the some of the Xorg drivers. In particular, the free ati/radeon driver that ships with 10.3 (Xorg 7.2 or 7.3) does not have many of the features of this driver that are essential for the use of secondary monitors in a dynamic way on laptops. The ati driver that ships with 10.3 was compiled for 7.2.0, but the module version is 6.6.193. It would be nice if a newer version of the Xorg ati/radeon module were provided, at least 6.7.19x or higher.

OpenSuse Brainstorm Page

make a NEW Wishlist system: http://brainstorm.opensuse.org/

for example: http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/

You mean like http://idea.opensuse.org/ which we have for 6 months already? -Msmeissn 12:25, 1 March 2008 (UTC)