Ask HN: What do you want to see in Ubuntu 17.10?

- HEADLINE: Faster Dash

- DESCRIPTION: I still use Ubuntu Unity because of the superior UX of app indicators, which GNOME refused to merge many years ago and still sucks to this day for it. However, one thing I miss a lot from GNOME is the far snappier application search/launcher.

The Unity Dash has some pretty poor ergonomics overall compared to GNOME's "Activities", but that is not what I'm concerned about right now. All I want is for the process of (1) pressing Super (or the "Windows key"); (2) searching for an application; and (3) launching the application I searched for to go at least as fast as it does in GNOME 3. Right now I use the crash-prone Synapse[0] instead of the Dash.

You might be wondering: "But isn't it really just as fast?" First of all, no, sometimes the Dash itself opens really slowly for no apparent reason; and second, strictly speaking, it's not the speed of opening an application that is problematic; it's the slow feedback loop of getting search results as you type. This feedback is instantaneous in Synapse, near-instantaneous in GNOME Shell, and comparatively slow as heck in Unity Dash. Disabling the extra features in the Dash helps a bit.

It's also very annoying that it doesn't automatically highlight the first search result (as it does in GNOME), which makes it ambiguous as to what will happen when you press Enter.

And it is awful that in order to select any search result after the first, I either have to: (1) keep typing to narrow the search down further; or (2) move my hand all the way over to the arrow keys, or worse, the mouse.

Pressing TAB doesn't cycle through the search results, it cycles through: (1) the "Applications" UI header; (2) the first result of the "Files & Folders" section (instead of the header -- why the inconsistency?); (3) the "Filter results" button.

I know Unity 8 is the priority these days; even if the Unity 7 Dash can't be fixed, I sure hope Unity 8 doesn't make the same silly UX mistakes.

- ROLE/AFFILIATION: Software developer

[0]: https://launchpad.net/synapse-project

- HEADLINE: GUI Everything (real control panel GUI)

- DESCRIPTION: command line is good to give commands sequences, like "do this and do that and also more", and it works only if you already know the commands. Command line is really bad to configure stuff, which is the act of telling the computer how to do stuff. It is also the worst thing ever when it comes to exploring and finding commands and configurations. Some people argue that the cli is faster but the saved time is not always worth the brain power or the pleasure to get stuff done "slower" but intuitively with a GUI. Also the time spent to learn a certain command rarely matches the time saved using it. It is much more difficult to screw stuff up using a GUI, because you can go back with a simple click, while a command to go back rarely matches the one that put you forward toward something you didn't want.

A general rule for good software is "don't hide functionality". If you are putting a lot of important stuff behind a command line, you are hiding stuff, even if you can ask for a command list.

Since Ubuntu, for what I understand, wants to be an OS for a wider audience, I hope you will consider doing putting a lot of effort in improving the UI and UX of the OS, and a good, complete GUI are a great way to start.

My hopes are that if a user searches "how to do X in ubuntu", he won't get just a list of commands, but also a step by step guide. Just like it happens on windows.

ROLE: software developer, former UX/UI designer