Improving the Fedora boot experience

[Máirín Duffy]

On 03/13/2013 12:26 AM, Ralf Corsepius wrote:
>> -  (Nobody explicitly stated this, but) Displaying information geared
>> towards power users by default is intimidating / confusing to
>> less-knowledgeable users."
> I'd call this to be an urban legend. A boot menu is self-explanatory,
> even to new-comers.
> 
> It may baffle them when they see it for the first time, but will very
> soon get used to it.

No, a boot menu is not self-explanatory, and no, this is not an 'urban
legend.' How do you even come up with associating the term 'urban
legend' to statement saying that a complex screen is confusing to casual
computer users? That's like calling Fitts' Law an 'old wives' tale!'

I have taught multiple classes of teenage and pre-teen students using
Fedora Live USB keys. This necessarily involves having to guide them
through using syslinux (which is very similar in appearance to grub) to
boot their system, I can say from actual experience that:

1) The boot menu was not self-explanatory, and the students had a lot of
questions about what stuff on the screen meant.

2) After the students got used to it, it really annoyed them because it
delayed their bootup and they had to hit enter to get through it.

3) Occasionally they would see the screen, panic, forget the correct
menu entry to select (the first one) and would have to ask for help even
a few weeks into the program.

I do hope they were able to continue to use the keys after the classes
were over and they were allowed to take them home, but if they got
confused I don't even know if asking their parents would have helped.

If the general principle of 'specialized technical crap confuses people
who don't understand it' is a mystical urban legend to you, you might
want to try teaching a class to less-experienced computer users or
watching usability test videos. Or maybe try volunteering at a community
technical helpdesk. Your opinion will change pretty quickly.

~m