On 2012/05/04 16:04 (GMT+0100) Colin Guthrie composed:
'Twas brillig, and Felix Miata at 04/05/12 15:19 did gyre and gimble:
Mageia's installer has the same problem that bothers me in Mandriva. The type install screen with KDE vs Gnome vs custom has no intermediate step prior to the start of selected packages installation. Does this bother no one else?
While a moot point for mga2 as others have said, I'd prefer not to have an extra confirmation here. "Extra Clicks" are things UI people try to reduce and for good reason. You don't want people being "click happy" and ignore anything that is said to them (i.e. the privilege escalation dialogue in Windows Vista).
No doubt it is good to avoid unnecessary clicking, which implies unnecessary decisions to be presented. The problem is deciding on what is necessary or desirable....
I do accept that more clarity is maybe needed so if you pick one of the predefined sets (Gnome or KDE) perhaps the button should say "Start Installation" rather than "Next"? When you select "Custom" it should instead read "Customise". That requires no extra clicks or confirmations but should increase clarity to a level you'll be happy with.
Of all the thread responses I've seen to this point, IMO the above probably answers my OP the best, and is a good place from which to extend discussion.
For one thing, there is no apparent option to not have a "workstation desktop profile", one that at least initially does not include X. Even after clicking on each of the three images, it's not apparent to me what "next" implies, certainly not immediately begin downloading and installing rpms without any mention that all preparatory steps have reached completion if "custom" has not been selected. Note here that the pointer at left is still on "partitioning". Maybe there should be some other "preparation" step to reach in that list before the pointer moves to "installation". Right now, and as it has been for quite some time, without first opening "help", the logic just seems broken, missing step(s).
Maybe just a few more words above, and altering the button language according to the highlighted selection would be sufficient:
Gnome or KDE -> begin installing packages Custom -> customize packages selection
2-There are no formatting options offered for /. Since I virtually always install to a multiboot system, I require maximum cross-installation compatibility. I can't have inode sizes, UUIDs and volume labels changed willy nilly without having to go back and reconfigure every other installation to conform to needless changes made by a new installation. Format step really ought to offer selectable format options so that an existing UUID, LABEL and/or Inode size could be preserved and yet the / target really be empty.
This seems a very different point to the topic/subject of your mail. I suggest you wait until mga2 is out and then submit your wish bugs.
Point 2 was mostly for context. I've not yet investigated whether anything similar has ever been filed in Mandriva or Mageia bug trackers.
-- "The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation) Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks! Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/
