why not a partition assignment mode? (Re: community etiquette (Re: Rename anaconda to cryptoconda?))

[Chris Murphy]

On Dec 5, 2012, at 10:44 PM, Adam Williamson <awilliam at redhat.com> wrote:

> On Wed, 2012-12-05 at 22:00 -0700, Chris Murphy wrote:
>> On Dec 4, 2012, at 5:58 PM, Adam Williamson <awilliam at redhat.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> I don't know why you'd expect a 'partition assignment only' mode to
>>> exist, given that there wasn't one in F17 and there was no indication of
>>> one in any of the design documents for newui.
>> 
>> Maybe it's expected because 95% of the world's desktop/server OS's
>> have this option. 
> 
> Erm. Really? Are you sure we're not talking at cross-purposes here? I'm
> not sure I recall seeing any installer other than Mandriva's which
> offers a special version of its partitioning interface where you cannot
> create or remove partitions, only select mount points for existing
> partitions. That is what the OP is describing.

It is a crudely different interface, but the concept is identical to what I'm talking about. Windows and OS X present properly formatted volumes as install destinations for the user to choose from. No repartitioning or reformatting is required. And this means an overwhelming majority of basic and advanced user requirements. And done in one screen.


> 
>> And maybe it's expected because it actually works with a very simple
>> and discoverable UI for both basic and advanced user needs.
>> 
>> Let's rephrase the question, open to the whole list: why is a point
>> and shoot install to a volume (or partition) such a bad idea that it
>> isn't even an option in anaconda?
> 
> I'm not sure that question makes any sense in context.

The context is that other installers do have such capability, and front and center, this one doesn't. So why not?

Reuse of existing partitions/volumes is possible, but limited, and totally buried:

click 1 and click 2= get to Manual Partitioning. Click 3= reveal your partitions. Click 4= choose the partition you want to reuse. Click 5= choose a mount point. Click 6= reveal custom options. Click 7= check reformat which is not actually custom or an option, it's a requirement by anaconda.

Why am I required to reformat? It prevents me from using file system options set at format time.

The basic user who simply wants to reuse a partition or volume needs to go through 7 really non-discoverable clicks, and the expert can't even do what he wants unless he learns kickstart. Both requirements solved by point and shoot to a valid partition/volume, presented and selected in a single window.

>> Why is the first thing we do choosing a device, rather than a
>> partition or a volume?
> 
> Because people find it very valuable to be able to leave certain disks
> out of the installation and be entirely sure they will not be touched by
> the install process…


By choosing a partition they are giving permission, nothing else has permission to be modified. It's the very same concept as with a disk, with a finer granularity.


Chris Murphy