Ubuntu Printer test page

[Paul Sladen-2]

Hello people,

Ubuntu currently ships a printer test page, which looks something
like this:

  http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickj365/4125843224/

and hundreds of thousands (millions...) of these get printed each year
by people setting up their printer because the default action offered
to the user to to print a test page after adding the printer.

Virtually all of these sheets are only usable as scrap-paper
afterwards and a lot probably go straight in the bin.  It's also
currently not that attractive.

Question is, could we do something more *useful* with these instead,
that would allow them to have a meaningful secondary purpose.
I thought of:

  * A4 advert "I run X/K/Ubuntu"
  * My Foobar 2700 duplex printer works with Ubuntu, does yours?
  * An envelope or magic-folding return-form:
      http://www.letterfu.com/index.php [*]
  * Some other zero-cut origami design (animal of the latest release?)

And perhaps you could think of a few more.  My hope would be that the
output could have some longevity, perhaps spark some more interest in
Ubuntu.

This is a bit like the installer in some ways, originally that was
just a progress bar and now it's an interactive slideshow introducing
many of the features and look of Ubuntu.

        -Paul

[*] This was done by a Friend a few years back, and I still find it
ingenious, it uses diagonal folds that self-interlock and are sealed
together by sticking down the stamp.



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[Paul Mellors-2]

On 01/18/2011 09:56 AM, Paul Sladen wrote:

> Hello people,
>
> Ubuntu currently ships a printer test page, which looks something
> like this:
>
>    http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickj365/4125843224/
>
> and hundreds of thousands (millions...) of these get printed each year
> by people setting up their printer because the default action offered
> to the user to to print a test page after adding the printer.
>
> Virtually all of these sheets are only usable as scrap-paper
> afterwards and a lot probably go straight in the bin.  It's also
> currently not that attractive.
>
> Question is, could we do something more *useful* with these instead,
> that would allow them to have a meaningful secondary purpose.
> I thought of:
>
>    * A4 advert "I run X/K/Ubuntu"
>    * My Foobar 2700 duplex printer works with Ubuntu, does yours?
>    * An envelope or magic-folding return-form:
>        http://www.letterfu.com/index.php [*]
>    * Some other zero-cut origami design (animal of the latest release?)
>
> And perhaps you could think of a few more.  My hope would be that the
> output could have some longevity, perhaps spark some more interest in
> Ubuntu.
>
> This is a bit like the installer in some ways, originally that was
> just a progress bar and now it's an interactive slideshow introducing
> many of the features and look of Ubuntu.
>
> -Paul
>
> [*] This was done by a Friend a few years back, and I still find it
> ingenious, it uses diagonal folds that self-interlock and are sealed
> together by sticking down the stamp.
>
>
>

What about some picture that children can colour in?

MooDoo


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[Jon Farmer-3]

On 18 January 2011 09:56, Paul Sladen <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hello people,
>
> Ubuntu currently ships a printer test page, which looks something
> like this:
>
>  http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickj365/4125843224/
>
> and hundreds of thousands (millions...) of these get printed each year
> by people setting up their printer because the default action offered
> to the user to to print a test page after adding the printer.
>
> Virtually all of these sheets are only usable as scrap-paper
> afterwards and a lot probably go straight in the bin.  It's also
> currently not that attractive.
>
> Question is, could we do something more *useful* with these instead,
> that would allow them to have a meaningful secondary purpose.
> I thought of:
>

I use mine to make notes with


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[Barry Drake-4]

On Tue, 2011-01-18 at 09:56 +0000, Paul Sladen wrote:
> Hello people,
>
> Ubuntu currently ships a printer test page, which looks something
> like this:

The waste of such an enormous amount of ink has always been a concern of
mine.  I agree completely with your suggestion.  It needs to have black
and three colours - incorporated into the Ubuntu logo maybe? But other
than that and page corner markers, just a few words in black would
suffice.  "If you are reading this ....  "

Regards, Barry.

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[Tyler J. Wagner]

On Tue, 2011-01-18 at 10:20 +0000, Barry Drake wrote:
> The waste of such an enormous amount of ink has always been a concern of
> mine.  I agree completely with your suggestion.  It needs to have black
> and three colours - incorporated into the Ubuntu logo maybe? But other
> than that and page corner markers, just a few words in black would
> suffice.  "If you are reading this ....  "

I actually use the test page for its intended purpose: testing my
printer. I keep the last one after installing new toner, and
occasionally print if it appears we're running low. It's pretty clear
when it's time to order more, regardless of what the printer's warnings
think.

I do like the idea of a page kids can colour in. :)

Regards,
Tyler

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[Alan Pope-2]

Hi Paul,

I love this idea!

On 18 January 2011 09:56, Paul Sladen <[hidden email]> wrote:
>  * A4 advert "I run X/K/Ubuntu"
>  * My Foobar 2700 duplex printer works with Ubuntu, does yours?
>  * An envelope or magic-folding return-form:
>      http://www.letterfu.com/index.php [*]
>  * Some other zero-cut origami design (animal of the latest release?)
>

Here's my suggestions :)

* Stereograms
* Sudoku puzzles
* Crosswords
* Word searches
* Short stories
* Where's Sladen? (like "Where's Wally" but without the trademark
issues) pictures
* Board game & Counters
* Keyboard shortcut list for Ubuntu
(https://help.ubuntu.com/community/KeyboardShortcuts)
* Ubuntu Weekly News front page
* A photo of a kitten
* A recipe
* The Ubuntu Code of Conduct :)

Cheers,
Al.

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[James Thomas -2]

Even perhaps a random choice of any of the below? 

On 18 January 2011 10:28, Alan Pope <[hidden email]> wrote:

Hi Paul,

I love this idea!

On 18 January 2011 09:56, Paul Sladen <[hidden email]> wrote:
>  * A4 advert "I run X/K/Ubuntu"
>  * My Foobar 2700 duplex printer works with Ubuntu, does yours?
>  * An envelope or magic-folding return-form:
>      http://www.letterfu.com/index.php [*]
>  * Some other zero-cut origami design (animal of the latest release?)
>

Here's my suggestions :)

* Stereograms
* Sudoku puzzles
* Crosswords
* Word searches
* Short stories
* Where's Sladen? (like "Where's Wally" but without the trademark
issues) pictures
* Board game & Counters
* Keyboard shortcut list for Ubuntu
(https://help.ubuntu.com/community/KeyboardShortcuts)
* Ubuntu Weekly News front page
* A photo of a kitten
* A recipe
* The Ubuntu Code of Conduct :)

Cheers,
Al.

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[Alan Pope-2]

On 18 January 2011 10:28, Alan Pope <[hidden email]> wrote:
> Here's my suggestions :)
>

and more..

* A calendar showing public holidays / your own calendar extracted
from Evolution / the LoCo calendar of events in your country
* Your loco team website home page
* To-Do list
* Musical staves
* Dot to dots
* A "How to contribute to Ubuntu" guide
* A "How to file a bug" guide (for if the output isn't perfect)
* An advert (the front page of) the Ubuntu Music Store
* A diagram showing your network topology
* A diagnostic printout of your machine (machine make/model what video
card you have, type of network device etc) useful for reference later

Cheers,
Al.

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[Jon Spriggs-3]

I really like the idea of having an "How to contribute to Ubuntu" guide or perhaps a document on "What is Ubuntu", however, it should also be configurable to an absolute minimum page (three colours, black and corner marks) for office deployment or experts.

Perhaps when it says "Would you like to print a test page", have a pair of radio buttons showing "Normal" and "Expert" test pages, defaulting to "Normal" (which has the "How to contribute/What is Ubuntu" document as it's source), but have a system policy option to change it to Expert via an option somewhere in /etc?
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On 18 January 2011 10:48, Alan Pope <[hidden email]> wrote:

On 18 January 2011 10:28, Alan Pope <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Here's my suggestions :)
>

and more..

* A calendar showing public holidays / your own calendar extracted
from Evolution / the LoCo calendar of events in your country
* Your loco team website home page
* To-Do list
* Musical staves
* Dot to dots
* A "How to contribute to Ubuntu" guide
* A "How to file a bug" guide (for if the output isn't perfect)
* An advert (the front page of) the Ubuntu Music Store
* A diagram showing your network topology
* A diagnostic printout of your machine (machine make/model what video
card you have, type of network device etc) useful for reference later

Cheers,
Al.

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[Dave Morley-3]

On Tue, 2011-01-18 at 11:20 +0000, Jon Spriggs wrote:

> I really like the idea of having an "How to contribute to Ubuntu"
> guide or perhaps a document on "What is Ubuntu", however, it should
> also be configurable to an absolute minimum page (three colours, black
> and corner marks) for office deployment or experts.
>
> Perhaps when it says "Would you like to print a test page", have a
> pair of radio buttons showing "Normal" and "Expert" test pages,
> defaulting to "Normal" (which has the "How to contribute/What is
> Ubuntu" document as it's source), but have a system policy option to
> change it to Expert via an option somewhere in /etc?
> --
> Jon "The Nice Guy" Spriggs
>
>
> On 18 January 2011 10:48, Alan Pope <[hidden email]> wrote:
>         On 18 January 2011 10:28, Alan Pope <[hidden email]> wrote:
>        
>         > Here's my suggestions :)
>         >
>        
>         and more..
>        
>         * A calendar showing public holidays / your own calendar
>         extracted
>         from Evolution / the LoCo calendar of events in your country
>         * Your loco team website home page
>         * To-Do list
>         * Musical staves
>         * Dot to dots
>         * A "How to contribute to Ubuntu" guide
>         * A "How to file a bug" guide (for if the output isn't
>         perfect)
>         * An advert (the front page of) the Ubuntu Music Store
>         * A diagram showing your network topology
>         * A diagnostic printout of your machine (machine make/model
>         what video
>         card you have, type of network device etc) useful for
>         reference later
>        
>        
>         Cheers,
>         Al.
>        
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>        
>

A list of all the gnome/kde/applications Easter eggs for your

entertainment and viewing pleasure?
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[Neil Greenwood-2]

On 18 January 2011 14:23, Dave Morley <[hidden email]> wrote:
> A list of all the gnome/kde/applications Easter eggs for your
> entertainment and viewing pleasure?
>

Won't that use up most of a ream of paper? :-)

Neil.

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[Jacob Mansfield-2]

what about some garlic to deter the help vampires -
http://slash7.com/2006/12/22/vampires/
Jacob Mansfield
Programmer




On 18 January 2011 15:19, Neil Greenwood <[hidden email]> wrote:

> On 18 January 2011 14:23, Dave Morley <[hidden email]> wrote:
>> A list of all the gnome/kde/applications Easter eggs for your
>> entertainment and viewing pleasure?
>>
>
> Won't that use up most of a ream of paper? :-)
>
> Neil.
>
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[Barry Titterton-2]

On Tue, 2011-01-18 at 10:28 +0000, Alan Pope wrote:

> * A photo of a kitten
>
> Cheers,
> Al.
>

Please say that you were joking!

Barry


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[Jacob Mansfield-2]

On 18/01/11 20:49, Barry Titterton wrote:
> On Tue, 2011-01-18 at 10:28 +0000, Alan Pope wrote:
>> * A photo of a kitten
> Please say that you were joking!
Well be careful, it could be dangerous
now how in the name of tux are we going to get that onto a sheet of paper?
print the source code in a 0.1pt font?
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[Paul Tansom]

** Jon Spriggs <[hidden email]> [2011-01-18 11:22]:

> I really like the idea of having an "How to contribute to Ubuntu" guide or
> perhaps a document on "What is Ubuntu", however, it should also be
> configurable to an absolute minimum page (three colours, black and corner
> marks) for office deployment or experts.
>
> Perhaps when it says "Would you like to print a test page", have a pair of
> radio buttons showing "Normal" and "Expert" test pages, defaulting to
> "Normal" (which has the "How to contribute/What is Ubuntu" document as it's
> source), but have a system policy option to change it to Expert via an
> option somewhere in /etc?

** end quote [Jon Spriggs]

I'm a bit slow in replying to this thread, but what about putting a section in
for a suitably global and well respected charity? Perhaps there could be vote
(if it isn't too much work) on which charity should be supported for each
release. So, for example, along with a bit about how to get involved with
Ubuntu there could be a piece on Unicef, Oxfam, Amazonwatch or etc. An A4 or US
Letter page should have plenty of space for both, and there's no need for it to
take huge amounts of ink.

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[Paul Sladen-2]

On Tue, 18 Jan 2011, Paul Sladen wrote:
> Ubuntu currently ships a printer test page,
>   http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickj365/4125843224/
> Virtually all of these sheets are only usable as scrap-paper
> Question is, could we do something more *useful* with these

This would perhaps do as a starting point?

  http://www.vagos.es/showthread.php?t=1227212 
 
        -Paul


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[Gordon Burgess-Parker-2]

On 18/01/11 09:56, Paul Sladen wrote:

> Hello people,
>
> Ubuntu currently ships a printer test page, which looks something
> like this:
>
>    http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickj365/4125843224/
>
> and hundreds of thousands (millions...) of these get printed each year
> by people setting up their printer because the default action offered
> to the user to to print a test page after adding the printer.

The default action says YES or NO. It's quite easy to click on the NO
button if you don't want to print a test page...

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[Paul Sladen-2]

On Mon, 7 Mar 2011, Gordon Burgess-Parker wrote:
> On 18/01/11 09:56, Paul Sladen wrote:
> > Ubuntu currently ships a printer test page, which looks something
> >    http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickj365/4125843224/
> > and hundreds of thousands (millions...) of these get printed each year
> The default action says YES or NO. It's quite easy to click on the NO
> button if you don't want to print a test page...

Indeed... but the question is;  can we do something more useful than
just generate scrape paper?  ie. Give a long-term benefit to something
that is presently throw-away.

        -Paul


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[Matthew Wild-2]

On 7 March 2011 17:04, Paul Sladen <[hidden email]> wrote:

> On Mon, 7 Mar 2011, Gordon Burgess-Parker wrote:
>> On 18/01/11 09:56, Paul Sladen wrote:
>> > Ubuntu currently ships a printer test page, which looks something
>> >    http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickj365/4125843224/
>> > and hundreds of thousands (millions...) of these get printed each year
>> The default action says YES or NO. It's quite easy to click on the NO
>> button if you don't want to print a test page...
>
> Indeed... but the question is;  can we do something more useful than
> just generate scrape paper?  ie. Give a long-term benefit to something
> that is presently throw-away.
>

I think all mine were quickly recycled into aeroplanes... courtesy of
http://paperairplanes.co.uk/

Matthew

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