boot.fedoraproject.org

[Paul W. Frields]

On Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 06:02:01PM -0500, Máirín Duffy wrote:
> On Wed, 2010-02-10 at 17:42 -0500, Paul W. Frields wrote:
> > On Thu, Feb 04, 2010 at 06:59:21PM -0500, Máirín Duffy wrote:
> > > On Thu, 2010-02-04 at 16:17 +0100, Adam Pribyl wrote:
> > > > Well I've read the FAQ twice, but it is not obvious to me what this is. Do 
> > > > I understand correctly this is CD that downloads at the beginning the menu 
> > > > from net and then starts the usuall network install of selected system? Or 
> > > > does the menu entries start the pxeboot that loads an installation 
> > > > system from network as usuall pxe system boot? (Also it is not very 
> > > > obvious what to do with bfo.usb image..)
> > > 
> > > Yep I think that's about what it does. Okay.
> > > 
> > > So let's think about this for a sec:
> > > 
> > > - When we have users pick what arch / other flavor of Fedora they want
> > > from the website, it makes them have to sift through more choices but
> > > there's supporting material right there.
> > 
> > Just to make sure I understand what you wrote here... Do you mean
> > that, a user is sifting throught those choices on the "more choices"
> > page in get.fp.o, and therefore it's natural that a choice for the
> > boot.fp.o images be there too?  I'm not questioning that, just want to
> > make sure I understand what you wrote.
> > 
> 
> No, what I'm trying to say is that boot.fpo has choices of Fedoras to
> install, and www.fpo has choices of Fedoras to install. We're
> duplicating the functionality of www.fpo in the actual boot image.

OK, I see -- thanks for clarifying for me.

> So here's where it gets weird:
> 
> - I go to get.fpo and there's all these different Fedoras to download.
> Wow, how do I make a decision?
> 
> - I decide to go with boot.fpo, for whatever reason. It asks me to
> decide which Fedora to install from all these choices....
> 
> - So many choices, I'm overwhelmed. 

Is there any difference in this problem if the boot.fpo choice only
exists on get-fedora-all, or whatever takes over that function in the
redone pages that are underway?  Maybe... iff. get-fedora-all is
somewhere that experienced, technical people end up.

> I don't think boot.fpo is going to be a good option for regular users.
> They're going to want more support to help them decide what choice to
> make than I think boot.fpo can give them. I think (please correct me if
> I'm wrong) is a great tool for experienced, technical folks who do a lot
> of installs and want one versatile image they can use to install
> whatever kind of Fedora they need to install.

I agree.  A regular user could end up baffled.

> However, I think the users we're trying to reach out to and support with
> get.fpo are those folks who only have one computer to worry about - not
> the type of folks to install an entire lab of machines or the kind of
> folks who need a versatile swiss-army-knife boot image.

The overall get-fedora page is still meant to provide a clear choice
for a single download, with some space reserved for people who are
experienced and curious.

The href for the extra "other choices" links (get-fedora-all? I don't
know if we're using that page name in the future, we might be) might
be a place where boot.fpo fits.  Or it might not.  But I agree with
you.

> Therefore, I don't think the boot.fpo image necessarily belongs on
> get.fpo. Within the framework of the recent design mockups, it could go
> under the 'formats' tab, but those haven't been implemented yet. I worry
> in that case though, too, that its usage is specialized enough that it
> might cause confusion for folks who know enough to know the arch of
> their system but don't necessarily have any use for boot.fpo.
> 
> But I may be misassessing the situation.
> 
> > > - If the users download the boot.fpo image and use that, we're shifting
> > > that choice from the website to the boot.fpo image's menus. If I wanted
> > > to install the x86 version of Fedora 12, how would i do that from here?
> > 
> > After you boot the boot.fp.o ISO image, you can choose architecture
> > and release from the menu under the "Install" option.
> 
> That's what I suspected. It's like get.fpo > more options inside the
> boot image.

Right.  Is there any URL through which we can successfully let people
know this option is available, without mucking up the people for whom
get.fp.o itself is intended?

-- 
Paul W. Frields                                http://paul.frields.org/
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