On Wed, Jul 16, 2008 at 01:35:45AM +0200, Frans Pop wrote:
> Main thing still is that it's great to have a graphical shell and that it
> would be a real plus if we can get it ready in time for Lenny. At the
> same time, it should IMO be solid enough to be included.
>
> First and most importantly: I've not seen any crashes or weird glitches.
Sounds like a good answer to the previous remark. :)
> Integration into the installer has some problems I think. I really likes
> the "tabs" idea in your previous test image especially because that also
> offered a scrollable syslog screen _with_ correct display in foreign
> scripts. It also makes the shell available in parallel to the
> installation process instead of temporarily replacing it.
Both are complementary: cdebconf-terminal is meant to be the graphical
version of the debconf-disconnect trick for both the "Execute a shell"
and rescue mode shell options.
Tabs for parallel shells and syslog are graphical versions of the
"Linux VT", accessible with Alt+F{2,3,4}.
> However, I do see that this implementation is simpler and there were
> issues with the tabs, so post-Lenny for that is fine.
The tabs should, IMHO, come with a wider redesign of the current
interface. Debian is going to be installed on more and more wide TFT
screens and g-i should support them in a better way that it currently
does. I would still like to see "Yes" and "No" buttons instead of radio
buttons for single boolean questions. And I have other changes on my
list… :)
Getting cdebconf-terminal ready for Lenny will allow us to offer users
of languages only supported by the graphical installer at least one way
to access a shell. And this sounds like a really desirable goal. :)
> It would still be nice if an extra menu item could be added "View system
> log" that shows a tail of 500 lines or so.
This can easily be added to di-utils-shell or rootskel-gtk. It also
depends if we decide to include cdebconf-terminal in the initrd or leave
it as an extra udeb.
> What I really don't like from a usability PoV is the requirement to
> type 'exit' to leave the shell and the IMO unnecessary "two-step exit"
> (first 'exit' and then 'Continue').
Rationale behind it is that sometimes one mistype a Ctrl+D, and going
back to the menu directly typing random letters sounded like a bad idea.
> Is it technically not possible to just quit the plug-in after typing exit?
It is possible.
> Why is the Continue button needed? Could an active <Go back> button be
> shown instead of the Continue that (after a warning) just kills the
> plug-in if it is clicked (the mouse is still active after all)?
I need to think of a proper way to display a warning, but it sounds like
a better idea.
> I fail to see the point in the "End of shell process." message, even if
> the two-step exit is technically unavoidable. If you do want to keep some
> message, then I'd suggest a simple "Click Continue to proceed." which is
> much more helpful.
One can reach the "Continue" button using the keyboard, that's why I
avoided such message. The various situations where such a shell could
have been called also made me pounder about something like "proceed".
But maybe it should just be avoided.
> Most important issue: position of "Execute a shell" in the menu is
> incorrect after anna (before partman instead of after finish-install).
> […]
I did no changes to the actual code for "Execute a shell" or rescue mode
options except that removing the tests which removed these options when
DEBIAN_FRONTEND was "gtk". So if di-utils-shell position is wrong when
rescue-mode is put on the initrd, normal builds once the patch will have
been applied will not be affected.
> Other issues/suggestions:
> - home and end keys don't work while editing a line
I need to figure out why.
> - scrollback is only 100 lines while it's 200 on VT2/3; would be good to
> be consistent there
Easily fixed.
> - if possible repeat the "type 'exit' to close the shell and return to the
> installer" info somewhere on the screen while the plug-in is running;
> looks like there's little room for this though
I can make this message configurable through a variable, as the "View
system log" option you were asking previously will not need "exit" but
"Ctrl-C". More strings, angrier Christian…
> - why is the position of the "End of shell process" different for regular
> shell and rescue shell (for the first it is indented by 7 or 8 chars)
I have noticed it, but haven't been able to understand why. :(
> - Chinese looks reasonable: fairly sharp but some characters are much
> brighter than others (varying from very dark grey to white); guess
> antialiasing would be needed?
I see that VteTerminal API has a VTE_ANTI_ALIAS_FORCE_ENABLE option, but
it does not sound like a good idea to use it. Davide, is there any
special things that we should know about Chinese in DejaVu-Mono?
> > > +Template: rescue/initrd-shell/title
> > > +_Description: Interactive shell in the installer environment
> > > +
>
> This is not a new string! It's already used in the regular rescue mode.
> IMO this duplication should be avoided.
I'll see how it could be done.
Cheers,
--
Jérémy Bobbio
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