Anaconda wishlist

[Jiri Eischmann]

Michael Catanzaro píše v So 09. 05. 2015 v 11:19 -0500:
> Hi,
> 
> I put together a desired installation experience wishlist. Let's
> discuss and consider forwarding this to the Anaconda developers as a
> request.
> 
> * Remove the timezone selection spoke. This spoke is redundant with
> gnome-initial-setup.
> * Remove or simplify the network configuration spoke. In the live
> installer, this spoke allows setting only the system hostname, but it
> follows different rules for setting the hostname than GNOME/systemd.
> The spoke should either follow hostnamed's rules for pretty hostnames
> (i.e. allows capital letters, spaces, etc. without any complaint), or
> the spoke should be removed. If we keep it, it should allow the user
> to set a "computer name" (avoiding technical terminology like
> "hostname") and should not include the phrase "network 
> configuration."
> * Remove root password configuration. It's confusing how this is
> different from the user's admin account password. Advanced users can
> set a root password after installation if desired.
> * Remove user account creation. This is redundant with gnome-initial
> -setup.
> * Remove hub and spokes: simply go straight to keyboard layout
> selection after language selection, then from there to disk layout,
> optionally from there to the hostname panel, and then to the
> installation progress panel. This last panel will need a bit of a
> redesign, since it will be pretty empty otherwise.
> 
> Clearly this is mostly a list of things to remove, rather than things
> to add. The goal is to make installation as simple and easy as
> possible.
> 
> Changes to gnome-initial-setup: Skip language and keyboard layout
> selection in user creation mode. These panels cannot reasonably be
> removed from Anaconda, so we should use them only in existing user
> mode (when a new user account is created after installation). They're
> redundant in user creation mode.
> 
> This proposal leaves the disk layout spoke untouched, which is the
> most confusing portion of the installation experience, but it's more
> than enough changes for one release already.
> 
> Thoughts?

I suppose this expects that Anaconda is flexible enough to provide
different versions for different products/spins of Fedora because only
Workstation uses gnome-initial-setup.
I know that this possibility has been discussed, but I'm not sure how
far it is.

My two wishes for the installer:

* new layout for the "Installation in Progress" screen. There is a
huge empty place in the middle which is there to add extra spokes, but
it's been three years since the new Anaconda was introduced and we
don't have any extra spokes. But the layout of this screen has been
terrible for the whole time. Maybe it's time to admit that people just
don't want to create new spokes and add them to Anaconda and change
the screen. The empty space may be used for some better banners
showing the users what Fedora has to offer. Ubuntu is doing much
better at this.

* the installer or some post-installation process should download and
install missing packages for full localization because right now users
don't get fully localized Fedora and there is no obvious way to
achieve it.

OT: it'd be great to be able to choose your language even before
booting as Ubuntu has it. It leaves much better impression if the live
system is already translated. It has happened to me several times that
people turned down Fedora in favor of Ubuntu because the audience they
wanted to give USB sticks/DVDs required translated system and Fedora
is not translated running from live media (unless you undergo quite
cumbersome process of setting it manually).

Jiri