Re: About the "Improving Debian Installer Usability" GSoC proposal
On Fri, Mar 23, 2007 at 02:15:51AM -0500, Santiago Ruano Rincón wrote:
> I'm proposing an idea for the GSoC about Improving the Debian Installer
> Usability[1]. I know the d-i is very good technically, but it must be
> more usable (talking about human factors).
It's been established that you could install Debian using a drinking bird
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_bird). Why do you claim that d-i
is not "usable"? Frankly, I think that claim is grossly insulting to the
fine work of the debian-installer team, who pay a good deal of attention to
questions of usability.
Or is "human factors" a euphemism for "make it appealing to idiots at the
expense of functionality for the informed", which is what "usability"
usually means in corporate-speak?
Obviously, I'm not a fan of open-ended "usability" makeovers. But perhaps
you have some specific reasons for thinking that improvement is needed, that
would make sense once you've shared them?
> The goal of the idea is to perform an usability analysis (through user
> test and/or any other tools) and propose changes with patches. Maybe,
> very specific objectives could only be established within the process.
Do you really think that 'user testing' fits under the Google Summer of
/Code/ aegis? (Just asking, I certainly have no vested interest in whether
Google approves such projects, it just seems strange to me that this would
qualify).
--
Steve Langasek Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS
Debian Developer to set it on, and I can move the world.
vorlon@debian.org http://www.debian.org/
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