On Feb 24, 2015 11:40 AM, "jd1008" <jd1008(a)gmail.com> wrote:
On 02/23/2015 04:23 PM, Ian Pilcher wrote:
>
> On 02/23/2015 01:13 PM, jd1008 wrote:
>>
>> I think it does make sense, because users would like to custom
>> partition the drive(s) and live with that partitioning scheme for
>> many years. So, all such options should be made available.
>> A responder to this thread mentioned that there should be an
>> "expert" mode in Anaconda where the user accepts all the
>> consequences of her/his choice(s).
>
>
> What is the benefit of having anaconda worry about *creating* these
> partitioning schemes (for lack of a better term)?
Provide flexibilty for users who would want schemes other than anaconda's
defaults and very limited partitioning options.
Seems to me anacaonda is heading the way of a closed tool that assumes
one hat fits all.
And we used to think that commercially purchased
software was limited and restrictive!Strange how the open source
is heading into the same direction.
>
> Wouldn't it be better to ask people to use the regular tools in a live
> media environment for anything other than a very basic scheme and save
> anaconda dev time for ensuring that it is able to *use* as many pre-
> existing schemes as possible as reliably as possible?
>
So, you want to tell people: first partition your drive with some other
tools before you use anaconda to install Fedora, and then?
Newbies might not even know that Anaconda might still decide to
take it's own default and clobber whatever the user did as far as
pre-partitioning. In fact the very first option displayed by anaconda
is to use anaconda's default partitioning scheme. Even if anaconda
will warn the user of what it will clobber, many newbies will not
necessarily understand the consequences.
Myself, I always know how to tell anaconda I will manually partition
the drive, without resorting to external tools.
But I cannot assume that ALL other people have the know-how to
manually partition their drives.
--
Usually newbies don't need to custom partition their drives. Usually when
newbies do pre-partition their drives, it is because they have some
misconception that it was necessary, as in they thought "I want to also
install Fedora on this computer, so I will create one partition to install
Fedora on" - not knowing that one partition for an installation of any
Linux distribution falls somewhere between "terrible idea" and "not
supported ", and always has. Maybe they're getting ideas like that from
non-specific mailing list rants, or maybe it's just routine, forgivable
ignorance.
For most all new user partitioning issues I've encountered, I've offered
the same advice: Stop doing that, make unallocated space, use the
installer to do your partitioning, partition automatically if you are
confused. Following this advice has resulted in a functional Fedora
installation and happy user *every time* - with *one* exception: users who
had, in the past, for reasons of personal preference or ignorance, created
four primary partitions on an MBR drive. Since this thread has gone on a
while, I'll close the loop: the only situation where I have seen
anaconda's partitioning fail a "newbie" user is the caused by the very
feature that the original poster is requesting.
So, what, concretely, is your complaint? Please share what circumstances
you envision a new user encountering that would merit your antagonism, so
that it can be addresses in either documentation or code.
--Pete