Skip to main content
  1. Blog
  2. Article

Canonical
on 15 February 2010

One Hundred Paper Cuts for Lucid, Round 10


Time flies like an arrow! This week marks the final round of paper cuts for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS “Lucid Lynx.” We’ve done an outstanding job so far but we still have work ahead of us. Here are some paper cuts that need attention this round:

“Create Document” Templates difficult to use
Right-clicking on the Desktop and choosing “Create Document” still shows a menu with only “No templates installed” and “Empty File.” Let’s at least put some OpenOffice Document templates in there.
Shutdown/restart dialogs make it unclear whether people should wait
Users often mistakenly believe they have to wait through the 60-second countdown on Shut Down and Restart dialogs.
Opening a deleted ‘recent document’ results in a new file.
Deleted files shouldn’t be displayed in the Recent Documents menu.
Default setting for remembering password should be remember until logout
“When accessing a windows file share (or other network resource) that requires a password, the radiobutton defaults to “Forget password immediately”. While this is understandable for security reasons, it is a usability “paper cut” because one will typically be confronted with the same password prompt again in very short order (without even closing the nautilus window). Just yesterday this got a smirk out of a Windows user looking over my shoulder that I had to enter the password “again.” This has also been an annoyance for me for quite a few years.”
Context menu for an USB pendrive shows “Unmount”, “Eject” and “Safely Remove Drive”
Which one do I choose?!
OpenOffice menus still have icons which should be removed
‘nough said.
In the file operation dialog, the file count and the size count change in opposite direction.
File count decreases while copy size increases, causing users to go cross-eyed.
In Help, Table of Contents switches from left to right when user selects topic
Eww.
Unfriendly message upon typing incorrect password (Policykit-GNOME)
AUTHENTICATION FAILURE” is a severe message to confront users with, especially users who sometimes make mistakes when typing into password fields. When a user makes a mistake while typing his password, we should be understanding, supportive, and encouraging rather than alarming, accusatory, or even perfunctory.

Related posts


Johann Wolf
27 April 2026

Why Web Engineering is great

Ubuntu Article

Like many software engineers, one of my first software development experiences started with creating my own web page. Since that time 20+ years ago, a lot has changed in the web landscape. Having worked a lot in web since then, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on what I think makes web great! ...


Samir Kamerkar
22 April 2026

From Jammy to Resolute: how Ubuntu’s toolchains have evolved

Ubuntu Article

We cover new toolchain versions, devpacks and workflows that improve the developer experience. The evolution of Ubuntu’s toolchains story goes beyond just providing up-to-date GCC, LLVM, and Python. It is also about opinionated openJDK variants, task-focused devpacks, FIPS compliant toolchains, and snaps, like the new .NET snap and Snapcr ...


Canonical
20 April 2026

Canonical expands Ubuntu support to next-generation MediaTek Genio 520 and 720 platforms

edge computing Article

Canonical is pleased to announce the early access launch of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS for MediaTek’s Genio IoT platforms. Building on the companies’ strategic partnership, this release introduces optimized Ubuntu images for the brand-new Genio 520 and 720, while continuing to provide robust support for the Genio 350, 510, 700, and 1200.  The colla ...