On Thu, Aug 19, 1999 at 03:54:46PM -0500, Manoj Srivastava wrote: > >>"Michael" == Michael Stone <mstone@debian.org> writes: > > For someone who knows how all of that works, it's no big deal. But > > that knowledgable person will look for and find the partitioning > > option under the advanced menu. Regardless of the default, the > > advanced user can get what he wants. But the beginner is better > > served by easily getting his system to the point where he can run > > basic apps and feel like he's accomplished something. (Getting stuck > > at the partitioning menu does *not* inspire confidence.) I've > > watched people installing linux, I've watched them get confused. > > This can really be a problem for a first-time or casual user. > > A better system would be to ask the questions anyway, and > provide the defaults. But the questions themselves are confusing, if the user has to sit and consider them. IME, users assume that if there's a question there, it's there for a reason; i.e., if they don't put the right thing into the box their system isn't going to work. They worry about it. (Really!) > Novice users would be encouraged to stick with the defaults, If we encourage them to just hit enter, and tell them that the questions aren't really important, what have we gained? > but would learn that something called partitioning exists. That's a subject for a "so you want to know more" guide, not an install routine. We're _installing_ not _teaching_ in the _install_ routine. And as I said before, it's not enough to say that partitioning exists: you need to say how partitions are accessed, etc. Do you really want a tutorial on the logic behind the unix vfs in the install program? [snip] > why it is recommended it be a separate aprtition, Still don't agree with that one... :) [snip] > Education of novice users should be a part of our efforts. Why? What purpose does it serve for someone who wants a word processor to know about partitioning? Not everyone has a need or a desire to be a unix guru, and such should not be an expectation or a requirement for running debian. [snip] > Not all of us are so lucky. I think that removing options > because the novice user is too much of a novice to use them is being > patronizing. People can learn, and a gentle introduction to > partitioning via the recommended partitions and questions is better > than an all or nothing scheme. [snip] > I thikn it boils down to a philosophical difference. I am > leery of system sthat assume that the users are too busy/dumb/naive > to appreciate choices, and proceeds to make choices for them. The > user learns nothing in the process. What about an "easy/quick/generic" option, a "customized" option, and an "expert" option? What I'm trying to address isn't so much the person who isn't yet a unix expert as the person who has *no desire* to *ever* be a unix expert. I understand what you're saying, but my intent isn't to be patronizing; I'm not assuming that people can't learn, but I think that you're making an assumption that everyone wants to learn everything. > Frankly, I still cringe at the thought of fscking a 22GB > partition. Or trying to make a tape backup of one. With any luck we'll have a journalling filesystem before 22G hard disks become common on entry-level systems (and probably before any changes to our install process actually get implemented. :) Try to keep in mind the kind of audience I'm targeting--tape backups are not an issue. Mike Stone
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