Asking the priority question; was Re: Bug#221186: keymap problem fixed
On Mon, 2003-11-17 at 21:24, Denis Barbier wrote:
> On Mon, Nov 17, 2003 at 10:30:16AM +0000, Alastair McKinstry wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > The dvorak keymap bug is now fixed in daily builds.
> >
> > It is possible to work around it in two ways:
> > (1) Set DEBCONF_PRIORITY=medium on the boot line, to get the
> > keyboard question asked.
> >
> > (2) use bootkbd=us
> > Not the change in syntax.
> >
> > I am downgrading this bug to normal, but leaving it open until
> > the documentation is checked to note the change in syntax.
>
> Err, having to enter boot line parameters in order to have a
> decent keyboard does not seem to be an option to me. (Even if
> it works in this particular case since the keyboard layout is
> qwerty)
The bug is fixed; the workaround is for the _beta build_ only.
> The keyboard question must be asked, or at least user must be
> told that his locale setting assumes some default values
> (which are printed at that point), and he has to lower debconf
> priority in order to change it. But I really do not understand
> why you insist on not displaying this question, which makes
> installation much more painful, as already told by bugreports.
My point is that the real solution is to ask the priority question
immediately after the language question. This way users know that there
are questions that they are not being asked, and can go back (via
goback, at any question stage) to main-menu and change priority, and ask
those questions.
I would recommend asking the question, rather than just mentioning
debconf priority on the opening text, because users have a habit of not
noticing such things unless they are asked to make a choice. The default
priority would still be "high".
The alternative to asking the question is fielding bug reports every
time we make a default choice: e.g. setting up a default mirror in
choose-mirror, using the CDROM debs if they are present, using DHCP
(when present) rather than asking for an IP, etc. as users are not aware
that they have alternatives.
It is a balancing act; beginners do get confused by the keyboard
question, not knowing which one they should choose. People do evaluate
installers based on how many questions they get asked.
I recommend we insert the question now; if we get bug reports in beta2
reporting it as an issue, I will change the kbd-chooser priority.
I'm sending this mail to debian-boot, and particularly to Joey Hess, as
I do not want to change the menu question order without agreement.
Does anyone object to such a change?
> Denis
>
Regards,
Alastair
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