Bug#174352: dialog box system doesn't explain itself well enough

[Zefram <zefram@fysh.org>]

Package: install
Version: woody

In dbootstrap, when making a selection from a menu, this help text is
displayed:

	<Up>/<Down> between elements   |  <Enter> selects

This text gives no indication of how to back out of the menu dialogue.
In fact, just using the keys indicated by the help text gives the
impression that there's no way to select the "<OK>" or "<Cancel>"
buttons at the bottom of the screen (arrow keys don't go to them).

I'm aware, having eventually discovered it, that <tab> moves focus from
the menu to the buttons.  But shouldn't this be mentioned in the help
text along with the other available keys?  Or perhaps there should be a
key, perhaps <esc>, that does the same thing as the "<Cancel>" button,
in the same way that <enter> does the same thing as the "<OK>" button.

Maybe most of you have cultural expectations that <tab> would behave as
it does.  I actually don't have the familiarity with dialog boxes that
most computer users these days have; I'm a diehard CLI user, and although
I do use X I'm only using it for xterms 99% of the time.  Probably 90%
of the remaining 1% of the time I'm only using ghostview, xdvi, or the
most basic part of XV; none of these present dialog boxes in normal use.
Offhand, the only X program I can think of that I ever use in such a
way that I see dialog boxes is the GIMP, and I don't use that much.

Btw, I was very pleased at how gracefully and usefully the install
process handled ^C.

-zefram