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Re: NF Compromise - Alternatives Nagging + planned removal date warning



On Wednesday, November 20, 2002, at 02:44 AM, sean finney wrote:

well, how about this.  the first time they install debconf/dpkg/apt,
one of the configuration options could be

"do you want to be informed of free alternatives to chosen packages?"

Well, the first (only!) time they will install apt/dpkg on a system is during the dbootstrap in debian-installer. I'd object very strongly if such a question were asked by d-i. Debconf is doable, but it'd have to be a priority low default no question --- in which case, most people wouldn't see it. And those that would see it probably already know how to look. In general, I don't see preferences as an excuse for bad user interface. (I hate those "don't show this dialog next time" checkboxes, but that's a rant for another thread.)

However, an approach that is *much* better user interface comes to mind: Give dselect/aptitude/etc. a key binding to show alternatives (this is even more general!) and even display a small note at the bottom of the description:

	$PACKAGE does blah, blah, blah with yada, yada, yada. It is useful
	if you like foo, bar, and, baz.
	.
	$PACKAGE blah, blah, blah. Lorem ipsum dorum. Etc.
	.
	.
	$OTHERPACKAGE1, $OTHERPACKAGE2, and $OTHERPACKAGE3 provide
	similar functionality. For more information, type $KEYBINDING.

Typing $KEYBINDING would bring up a screen with just $PACKAGE and $OTHERPACKAGE1..$OTHERPACKAGEn listed. In dselect, I'd imagine it'd look sort of like the dependency screen.

I hope you'll agree that is much better user interface.



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