Hi; Patrick, I am with you! On Sat, 2009-10-10 at 09:52 -0430, Patrick O'Callaghan wrote: > On Sat, 2009-10-10 at 14:34 +0100, Timothy Murphy wrote: > > Joshua C. wrote: > > > > > The installation process guides you through some basic points (like > > > grub, partitioning, basic packages). > > > > While I am at it, I think the partitioning options are badly put, too. > > The first option should be to use the current partitions, in my view. > > The second should be to set up partitions as one wants. > > I kind of agree. I must have installed every Fedora system since FC1 and > every single time I get to this question (or the equivalent in earlier > versions) I have doubts about how to proceed. I almost always want to > keep my existing partition scheme and just install (not update) the new > Fedora version on /, preserving /home untouched, but the dialogue > doesn't make it easy to understand how to do this. It would reduce > installation anxiety considerably if Anaconda told me the exact > consequences of each option before asking me to confirm, but for some > reason every time I get to this point I find myself wondering "what does > this *really* mean?". > > Maybe I'm just paranoid. > Even for experienced users, some of the Anaconda choices are full of FUD. Keeping in mind, that most people don't re-partition very often, or install grub very often or burn DVD's very often or rename their machines very often, or input the addresses of their repos very often etc. etc., asking them to choose a process when their machines have been taken over by the installation process and it is too late to double check, is confusing at the best of times and infuriating when things are going wrong. I really feel sorry for someone installing for the first time who is brand new to Linux or Fedora. There should be explanation Buttons through out Ananconda, not written for the experienced, but for the newbie particularly somebody coming over from M$ Windows. Much of that text already exists in documentation of "Installation Notes" and "Release Notes". The problem is that those documents are unavailable when a user needs them the most. > > I suspect that most people who have installed Fedora before > > know that it is best to avoid the crazy system suggested by Anaconda. > > In the past, I have inadvertently got into one of the non-custom options and had to back out and re-start the installation. (Actually I didn't have to re-start, but I didn't know that at the time.) > Strictly speaking it *is* impossible to install Fedora without at least > part of Gnome. Installing both and choosing one or the other is not > difficult. Installing from a KDE-focussed download isn't hard either and > is usually what I do. > There's nothing vestigial about it. Fedora is upfront about being a > Gnome distro which also supports KDE. For example the upcoming DeviceKit > stuff mentions Gnome components in the same breath as the kernel. This > is common in Fedora docs. I gripe about it from time to time but I doubt > anything can be done about it at present. The current state of free > desktop architectures doesn't seem to allow neutrality. > I keep a TomBoy note ongoing in which I add a list of all of the dickey little things I have to do before and while installing the latest Fedora version. I print it out as hard copy just before each time I install. (Just in case.) Unfortunately, that list is getting longer and longer. To me Anaconda should or could be Fedora's main sales page. When I think of the time and frustration of installing a M$ Windows OS, Fedora's installation should be reduced to a couple of Button pushes as a comparison. On first start after installation, gpk-application should be thrust front and centre in order to pick your applications. I have a bash script that runs yum with a list of about 20 applications I want with each Fedora version. It took me a couple of weeks on Fedora 11 to discover that "Ad/remove Software" i.e.gpk-application, could quickly get me everything I wanted. -- Regards Bill Fedora 11, Gnome 2.26.3 Evo.2.26.3, Emacs 23.1.1 -- fedora-list mailing list fedora-list@xxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe: https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-list Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Communicate/MailingListGuidelines
