gnome-backgrounds should be installed by default

[mati]

Binary package hint: gnome-backgrounds

Users coming from different systems (like Windows) are used to the fact that they can choose from a set of a stunning wallpapers, which are presented in the desktop properties. It is really one of the first things they do, because having a beautiful background can greatly increase productivity and make using the computer enjoyable.

Since upstream solved the problem (see: http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/2.24/#rnusers.backgrounds ), it would be nice to include their solution by default. I know it would increase the size of the cd by 9.5mb, but it would be *well* worth the cost.

[Michael Rooney (mrooney)]

I agree that this would be very nice although you are right, size is a concern. I think it might be nice to have a smaller package with 4 or so in them, perhaps the best (as decided by a vote), such as either top 4 or the top one in each general color scheme, to get a good mix.

I am not sure if a package itself is the correct place for a bug about having it included by default; let me check into that. I'll confirm it for now and we can change the package if necessary.

[mati (mati-wroc)]

Michael, I don't think choosing 4 wallpapers would solve the issue, as Ubuntu is used by a great variety of users on every continent.

The quality of our default wallpaper is often questioned in the reviews and by the end users. Having ability to change that in 3 clicks would be a very strong argument against that complaint and would make a good note in the release notes.

And since gconf isn't shipped with static translations and use gettext at runtime, all the necessary cd space have just been given :)

[Michael Rooney (mrooney)]

As I understand from nhandler this belongs in ubuntu-meta.

[Siegfried Gevatter (rainct)]

I agree that having more wallpapers by default would be great. When I tried KDE4 one of the first impressions I had was "wow, those wallpapers are nice", with Ubuntu I can't say the same (it's not that the default one is ugly, but it is the only one available and gives a rather poor experience).

[cicoandcico (cicoandcico)]

it's among the first things I install on any fresh ubuntu install. people love backgrounds.

[deactivated-- (deactivated--)]

Obviously, including more than one default background is a great idea.

[Travis Watkins (amaranth)]

Not sure if this would qualify as a paper cut since we would have to figure out how to squeeze it on to the CD. I'll let someone else decide though.

[mati (mati-wroc)]

Travis, a few MB would be freed by #385850 (Ship fewer screensavers by default).

As Daniele Napolitano said there:
"I prefer more HD backgrounds that screensavers, less and less used (screensaver concept is born with CRT display for real technical reasons)."

Less screensavers, more wallpapers :)

[Rodney Orpheus (rodneyorpheus)]

Totally agree with mati, less screensavers, more wallpaper. Not many people use screensavers these days, but pretty much everyone has a desktop :-)

[Luca A. Rossi (larossi)]

I agree with mati too.
With a lot of LCDs, screensavers are less used nowadays.

[Przemek K. (azrael)]

Alternatively, we could add a "more wallpapers" button to the Appearance applet which would download more wallpapers or install gnome-backgrounds and other packages.

[mati (mati-wroc)]

I don't believe this would be the right solution, as users expect Ubuntu to come with all necessary things installed (browser, office suite and so on). I think nice wallpapers are that kind of essential stuff that all people are used to and want nowadays (especially that many people are former Windows users).

[Luca A. Rossi (larossi)]

In my opinion, GNOME's official wallpapers aren't very beautiful.
We could start a contest to find the best wallpapers for Ubuntu!

[Vish (vish)]

Thank you for bringing this bug to our attention. I'm afraid this bug can't be addressed as part of this project.

This report calls for adding a new package to the default , Hence not a papercut.

A paper cut is a minor usability annoyance that an average user would encounter on his/her first day of using a new installation of Ubuntu 9.10.

For further info about papercuts criteria , pls read > https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PaperCut

Don't worry though, This bug has been marked as "invalid" ONLY in the papercuts project.

[Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)]

Since Ubuntu 9.10 (ten months after this bug was reported), each version of Ubuntu has included a selection of background pictures from a community contest. You can install the winning pictures from any past Ubuntu version. <https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubuntu-wallpapers/13.04.0daily13.03.20-0ubuntu1#source-binaries>

So if this bug report had been "Not enough variety in default background pictures", I could now mark it as Fixed. Since it is instead "gnome-backgrounds should be installed by default", I shall mark it as Won't Fix. Fourteen backgrounds are installed by default. If you wish, you can install gnome-backgrounds as well.