[Fedora-livecd-list] RFC- proposal for livecd filesystem layout changes
Douglas McClendon
dmc.fedora at filteredperception.org
Fri Sep 21 19:08:11 UTC 2007
Colin Walters wrote:
> On 9/20/07, Douglas McClendon <dmc.fedora at filteredperception.org> wrote:
>> Another benefit is making the iso directory structure look nicer and
>> more intuitively understandable for someone looking at it under windows.
>>
>> [...]
>>
>> This also
>> would make the usb/iso directory structure look cleaner and more
>> intuitively understandable to less linux-guru users when they look at
>> the directory structure under windows (or anywhere)
>
> I'm not qualified to comment on whether filesystem path cleanups are
> useful for other reasons, but I think the Windows thing is not an
> interesting benefit. We don't (or shouldn't) require non-developers
> to interact with the directory structure, and developers will have to
> understand things anyways.
This didn't have anything to do with _requiring_ non-developers to
interact with the directory structure. It merely addresses the fact
that they _might_ look at the directory structure by popping the livecd
into the cdrom under windows. In that scenario, I advocate the following-
1) It should look aesthetically pleasing and intuitively understandable,
and not like a bunch of technical gobbledygook. Naturally this should
only be done if it is easy to do and has no downsides. I think the
patches I submitted (after polishing and testing) fall into that category.
2) It should have a windows autorun that launches a copy of the release
notes, or some other dedicated "how to use and what to expect from this
fedora livecd". These release notes should live on the iso, such that
they are accessible to the autorun, and also accessible to the user in
an intuitive and non-threatening fashion.
3) If possible the livecd directory structure should have other
beneficial things visible to a user looking at it under windows. I
admit, we probably don't have the space on the livecd to match the
ubuntu choice of offering the win32 installers for firefox, thunderbird
and others. But if fedora starts shipping a LiveDVD, I think we should
ship those, along with cygwin, qemu, and perhaps everything that is on
opencd-
http://www.theopencd.org/
Again, I don't mind shelving these opinions and revisiting them for F9,
or F10, etc... But I absolutely _do_ think the directory structure
matters and _will_ be viewed by non-developer users, whether this is
intentional, needed, desirable, or not. And given that, I think it
should look as non-threatening and intuitively understandable as
reasonably possible.
$0.02...
-dmc
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