On my Macbook Pro, I noticed videos played though Totem had a blue hue to them. This seems to be a bug in gstreamer and how it works with the ATI fglrx drivers. It has been fixed upstream, but has not made it in Ubuntu yet. Here quick workaround, till a patch is released.

1. Make sure gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg is installed

sudo apt-get install gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg

2. Run gstreamer-properties

macbuntu:~$ gstreamer-properties

3. Change the video output plugin to custom
4. Change the video output pipeline to:

ffmpegcolorspace ! video/x-raw-yuv,format=(fourcc)YV12 ! xvimagesink

The Ubuntu Forums has added user rank graphics for Ubuntu Members. If you are an Ubuntu Member would like a user rank graphic added to your profile, please add your forum username to the home page/description part of your Launchpad account and send e-mail to mike.basinger@ubuntu.com with your Launchpad URL.

We also have added user ranks for Ubuntu Developers and Ubuntu Marketing Team. If any other team would like a user rank graphic, please let me know.

Congratulations to the Ubuntu Forums who reached the most active users ever on the forums.
Most users ever online was 9,500, 14 Hours Ago at May 5, 2007 at 10:45 AM.

The next Ubuntu Forum Council will be held on May 18th 2007 at 20:00 UTC. It will be a full agenda, so we would love to have the community attend and provide us feedback.

Ubuntu Forums Council Agenda

• 3rd Party Installation Scripts (Vorian): Announcement Revisiting this discussion from previous meeting.
• Revisit Forum Policy on Name Changes (Mike Basinger): The title says it all .
• Username change policy (Ryan Troy): Establish a policy for multiple accounts, username changes and disabling accounts.
• Staff Demoting Procedure (Ryan Troy): We should establish a policy for demoting a staff member, while I hope this doesnt happen we should have a clear procedure in place in case it does.
• Staff Term Limits (Ryan Troy): My thoughts which are very open to discussion.. Set a term limit for staff of 1 year, this is a renewable term if they wish to reapply. Alot of times staff get bored, burnt out or life gets busy, this is a easy way to step out of being a staff member.
• Staff Selecting Procedure (Ryan Troy): Create a process for selecting staff members. Going back to what Mike Basinger mentioned of trying a open application process might be a good idea. Currently we leave alot of room for people to elect friends. If we opted for this method we would need to establish some guidelines and requirements.
• Concerns Expressed By Automatix Team (Mike Basinger): Discussion between Automatix Team and Ubuntu Forums staff to help resolve recent miscommunications.

[This is a third party package that can not be supported by the Ubuntu Developers or Canonical]

I have built a .deb package using Feisty dependences for Realplayer 10 with pbuilder.

1. Download the Realplayer .deb.package
2. Install with gdebi or
   sudo dpkg -i realplay_10.0.8-0ubuntu3~feisty3rdparty_i386.deb

Full sources can be found at http://mikesplanet.net/feisty/realplay/

Contact me if you have any problems with this package, do not file a bug report on http://www.launchpad.net.

Many people are having problems installing Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) on machine with ATI X**** series video cards. This is caused by this bug that unfortunately could not fixed before the release of Ubuntu 7.04.

This quick guide will get Feisty installed and X.org 7.2 up and running.

1. Boot using PC (Intel x86) alternate install CD for Ubuntu or Kubuntu.
2. Start text mode installer and install Ubuntu/Kubuntu.
3. Finish Install and reboot.
4. Update package list and upgrade any packages needed.
   sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
5. Install fglrx closed source driver for ATI video cards.
   sudo apt-get install xorg-driver-fglrx
6. Update loaded modules.
   sudo depmod -a
7. Configure /etc/X11/xorg.conf
   sudo aticonfig --initial
sudo aticonfig --overlay-type=Xv
8. Reboot

Ubuntu 7.04 should now boot into GDM/KDM.

Links:
Bug Report: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg-server/+bug/89853
Forum Thread: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=414194

This is a rough draft of an idea I have had for a while now, and would like some community feedback.

RFC: Central Forums Login

One problem I see with forums in the Ubuntu is most areas of the community have their own separate forum with a separate login account. Each Ubuntu variant (official and unofficial), each language, and many LoCo run their own forum. This means members of our community have to create accounts on multiple forums. The Ubuntu Forums could be a leader in this area by providing a central login for multiple forums.

The administrators of these “branch” forums would have control over their forum section. They can get as much or as little help from the Ubuntu Forums staff as they want. There would be certain rules that would have to apply to all areas of the forums.

1. All users of the forums must abide by the Ubuntu Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct is a guiding principle of our community, as should be enforced on all forums. Administrators should consider adopting the Forums Code of Conduct also, which is in the spirit of the Ubuntu Code of Conduct, just adapted for a forums environment.
2. While administrators of the “branch” would not report to the Forum Council, but they should be encouraged to seek guidance from the council if needed. Also grievances by users and administrators should be discuss at forums council meetings when needed.

This would not be forced any any group wishing to continue run their own forums. It is only meant as a way to improve the community.

Suggested New Forums Layout

http://ubuntuforums.org – Front page with login area, announcements, and links to forums area.

Ubuntu and Variants – Official
http://ubuntu.ubuntuforums.org – Current tech support areas of Ubuntu Forums.
http://kubuntu.ubuntuforums.org – Tech support area for Kubuntu, or link to existing Kubuntu Forum.
http://edubuntu.ubuntuforums.org – Tech support area for Edubuntu, or link to existing Edubuntu Forum.
http://xubuntu.ubuntuforums.org – Tech support area for Xubuntu, or link to existing Xubuntu Forum.
http://gnu???.ubuntuforums.org – Tech support area the new complete open source variant of Ubuntu.

Ubuntu and Variants – Unofficial
Ubuntu Studios
Gnusense
Ubuntu CE
etc…

Third Party Tech Support
http://thirdparty.ubuntuforums.org – An area for third party projects related to Ubuntu. Moderated by Ubuntu Forums staff, but certain area could be administrated by projects leaders if they choose.

LoCo and International Forums
http://loco.ubuntuforums.org and http://international.ubuntuforums.org – This forum area would contain the Forums for the LoCo Team and forums for non-English language based forums. Moderation would be control by the head of this project.

The Pub
http://thepub.ubuntuforums.org – An area for the community discussion that is not directly related to Ubuntu. A place to relax and chat, where a lighter touch to moderation would be applied. All user must still abide to the Ubuntu Code of Conduct. Current areas from the Ubuntu Forums moved here would be:
Community Cafe
Community Market
The Backyard
Other OS Discussion

Yesterday there was an oppsie with linux-image (linux-image-2.6.20-14-generic 2.6.20-14.23 ) that caused many computers not to boot after dist-upgrading. The Ubuntu Kernel devs had a fix released within 18 hours, that is now working its way to all the update servers. Let see Microsoft response and fix a bug so quickly.

I have seen various posts in the forums and Launchpad how horrible it was that this happened. I would like to remind people about using a development version of Ubuntu.

1. It is still BETA: While Feisty is very stable software, it is still beta software. This means could fail to boot, destroy your data, and kick your cat at any time. Helping test development versions of Ubuntu is a great way to help the community, but be sure not to do this on a production machine.

2. Ubuntu Developers are Humans: Ubuntu tagline is “Linux for Human Beings”. Ubuntu developers are also human, meaning mistake mistakes will happen. When it does happen, don’t yell and don’t threaten to leave Ubuntu, give the developers the information they need to fix the problem.

One suggestion I have if someone wants to help test a development version of Ubuntu. Always keep older version of the kernel that is stable on the machine. This will allow a computer to boot and download updates.

Mark Shuttleworth released the name for the Ubuntu 7.10 release, the Gutsy Gibbon.

According to TheFreeDictionary.com:

guts·y (gts)
adj. guts·i·er, guts·i·est Slang
1. Marked by courage or daring; plucky.
2. Robust and uninhibited; lusty: “the gutsy . . . intensity of her musical involvement” Judith Crist.

gib·bon (gbn)
n.
Any of several small arboreal apes of the genus Hylobates of southeast Asia and the East Indies, having a slender body, long arms, and no tail.

In marketing speak, The Gutsy Gibbon will have long reaching effects and will explore daring new technologies.
[Note to self: never join marketing team]

I do look forward to see Composite-by-Default become a reality in Gutsy. Also, the new Ubuntu version that will be completely open source and free of binary drivers is also exciting.