Possible new release criterion: installation boot menu

[Adam Williamson]

On Fri, 2010-07-16 at 14:16 -0400, James Laska wrote:

> > Alpha: when booting a traditional installer image, the boot sequence
> > should be such that the system boots into the installer (after a
> > reasonable timeout for any optional user input, if appropriate) without
> > the need for any user input.
> > 
> > Beta: the graphical boot menu must appear as intended.
> > 
> > What does everyone think would be best here? One of the above, or some
> > other option? Thanks!
> 
> Just to add some visual exhibits ... see the attachments to compare
> rawhide and Fedora 13 boot dialogs.
> 
> I was going to suggest the criteria around the timout, but you've
> already suggested that above.  I think that's a nice touch.
> 
> Is there a large technical challenge that requires splitting the boot
> criteria in two?  I'm not opposed to it, but I'm not sure if it's an
> artificial division, or if there are really cases that demand the split.
> If we can require that the boot media be setup correctly at the Alpha, 

I was just trying to cover the possibilities. For me, the appearance of
a graphical menu is really a polish issue and doesn't fit well with
Alpha, it seems more suited to Beta or Final. But the practical element
is whether the boot-to-the-installer process actually works, no matter
what you see in the meantime. For me the loss of the other options on
the menu isn't really critical until beta, but the install process
should at least start if you just boot and wait at Alpha stage.

It may be too much effort to draw this distinction, though, in which
case we may as well go with #1.

> Another thought, I recall there was some debate about adding release
> criteria for the artwork.  Would it make sense to rephrase the second
> point to something more specific to Fedora artwork? [1]

For me that's *definitely* a final release polish issue. I don't think
we can really say we want to delay the Alpha or even Beta release simply
for an old wallpaper on the bootloader menu, can we?
-- 
Adam Williamson
Fedora QA Community Monkey
IRC: adamw | Fedora Talk: adamwill AT fedoraproject DOT org
http://www.happyassassin.net