From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Nikita Karetnikov Subject: Some thoughts on installers Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 12:40:23 +0400 Message-ID: <87eh8nyh6w.fsf@karetnikov.org> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/signed; boundary="=-=-="; micalg=pgp-sha1; protocol="application/pgp-signature" Return-path: Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::10]:53944) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1VLql7-0008Nn-W7 for guix-devel@gnu.org; Tue, 17 Sep 2013 04:35:50 -0400 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1VLql6-0007o3-Sq for guix-devel@gnu.org; Tue, 17 Sep 2013 04:35:45 -0400 Received: from [2a01:7e00::f03c:91ff:fedf:181] (port=50848 helo=cooksoni.karetnikov.org) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1VLql6-0007nv-MD for guix-devel@gnu.org; Tue, 17 Sep 2013 04:35:44 -0400 List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: guix-devel-bounces+gcggd-guix-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Sender: guix-devel-bounces+gcggd-guix-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org To: guix-devel@gnu.org --=-=-= Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I know it=E2=80=99s too early to talk about these issues. But I=E2=80=99m = afraid that I=E2=80=99ll forget about them, and we=E2=80=99ll make the same mistakes as= everyone else. I haven=E2=80=99t seen an installer that isn=E2=80=99t organized in a step-= by-step fashion. A user is forced to press the =E2=80=9CNext=E2=80=9D button every= 5 minutes or so. It=E2=80=99s impossible to do anything else because that will increase= the installation time. So the user has to sit in front of the computer for 40 minutes and wait for the button to become active. I assume that installers are written in such a way because it=E2=80=99s eas= ier for developers. Let=E2=80=99s not repeat this mistake when we write our ow= n. Instead, I propose to get the needed information beforehand (on the first screen). Then it=E2=80=99d be only necessary to press =E2=80=9CInsta= ll.=E2=80=9D A user could check the progress bar and be free to do something else. Finally, I also suggest to reduce the number of questions. There are installers that allow to choose between a basic mode and an advanced mode. But even in the basic mode a user has to deal with partitioning. I assume that doesn=E2=80=99t look basic to many people. --=-=-= Content-Type: application/pgp-signature -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.10 (GNU/Linux) iQIcBAEBAgAGBQJSOBV6AAoJEM+IQzI9IQ38734P/0khhAE1W8UCHpXxWM91ppQo 01mg72rAGebYOC9Th+qNgtDax233Tx+EZdExLQb+JjB7XkXMCFO0UQk8RqlqfbzG sA7niYACLCu3d0RWjdj24z2WwOdXG1G5bULDwOHehaBPsWo6157EpeuH4Ap4zb3+ ZM5nhVr8F4/P+vITN6J0pCdo88RuFKMwZa23NGpMuOCvXdr/1E6ENIYOIho62gIK Xa4YKjTsnumtGQ0KrWjQMsSdqoL7m2EPR2+FQPIS0TBp9EO+R3iUKBJ8NTIFPX83 Kt/i0hX09IbU15xS/BbLWk46j+u3eyf6iaB6wHGVVhnwx9cbzrV7p4u9m/syr4NV t2Qpjxq13mduGspKO4BV90OcvJkrrjd8Noh8UE0AdQOeot60QPxwdEeukrgXcaQA GgiUL90koQ23E4nHHGnXcbQ37eFA/tiSx9if/kgPe+vP/ZjXiTZ9IdCB/rGvX3ER vUfjE8QqiBccR6XKaBxOvckb6ZNo8bHhLQbiSO7ML3P7zncQ+E0pUxrFssaEn0GK D8daV/jF6gcafWz2wN5B+Nx8D6TpE2jDKtjSRJjnFyvclZfyXjgOVOGz9Syh/cLa 6Z2AvAE+lywXPrUjs61GRP+AK3FOakkvhquqjAJuf0gZ1JS8QI89VBTaVRZNmQUw X7AdlcR4kRAZ83CuzIeJ =5Z46 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --=-=-=--