Ubuntu 10.10's installer looks rather nice

[Jeff Spaleta]

On Tue, Oct 12, 2010 at 9:18 AM, Evan Dandrea <ev at ubuntu.com> wrote:
> I'm not challenging your point that the Fedora installer offers more complex
> options.  I just wanted to clarify our approach, as our users are not screwed
> in these circumstances, we just clearly separate their use cases to different
> CDs.


We struggle a lot with how to position multiple image targets
effectively to appease both our existing vocal contributorbase and
simutenously provide something that appeals to the
yet-to-be-initiated.  The default Fedora desktop livecd is meant to be
the installer image for the "go with the defaults." novice user  It's
not clear to me that we need the traditional installer experience (ie
non-live) that hides more than it already does. I'm not really sure
we've identified a usage case for such a thing that shouldn't already
be a target for the live image installer.

One question for you. Do you have a process by which people coming to
your web properties can attempt to self-select which install image
they want before downloading one? Do you chart a course to guide users
to make a decision on whether to download the alternative image before
first attempting to use the streamlined live image? Or do users tend
to reach for the alternative image only after they bump up against
customization constraints in the live installer you provide?

-jef