Comments on: Towards a “human” Ubuntu (Karmic Koala) release note

By: stapel

stapel — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:48:45 +0000

I also thought the encrypted home folder could have been better explained in the installer. I think it is a very important feature of Ubuntu (compared to Mac and MS) especially on a laptop. It was almost as if the installer assumed that the user is familiar with this and that no explanation is needed.

By: stapel

stapel — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:45:01 +0000

@Alex, I agree with you about the timezone and partitioning. There were just some gibberish underneath the progress bar that I thought was unnecessary.

The problem is not only in the installer though, I just noticed it again when I went through the install process. Another good example was when I was trying to create the usb live image to install on my netbook. The usb-creator quit with an error about not being able to determine the mount point. After a bit of googling I found that I first had to format the usb flash to FAT32? Why could usb-creator not have asked me if I want to keep any of the data, and if not, do it for me? Normal users do not want to google around for stuff like this and just get annoyed and walk away.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a big fan of Ubuntu, but we need to make it less geeky to attract a bigger crowd.

By: ccm

ccm — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 06:02:13 +0000

@Wouter: Thank you for the hint. Indeed I did not know the document. I reviewed it and think it is a nice start for new users but not a release note focussing on changes. So the style is rather “human” but the content not exactly what I meant. I updated my post, thank you.

@ethana2: I agree, the “refinements” page comes quite close to it. Thank you for the hint.

@Alex: You are right, it is not about an operating system and that is exactly why I am interested in release notes focussing on daily work impact.

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:19:08 +0000

Bear in mind that the “average user” does not install operating systems in the first place. When the “average user” needs to install Windows, he/she gets a techie to do it.

@stapel: What “technical references” are you talking about? Partitioning? That’s absolutely essential. Every other OS installer I know of has partitioning functionality, and it’s there for a reason. Not everyone is ready to nuke Windows. Time zone? Having the correct time is important, too. Username/password? That’s also important; Windows and Mac OS X do that, too. I suppose the average person installing Ubuntu has no need for the stuff behind the “Advanced” button on the final screen before the install starts (I don’t think I’ve ever used it), but is that really a problem? Some people need that functionality, and the user isn’t forced to see the options.

By: stapel

stapel — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:52:43 +0000

I agree wholeheartedly with @wouter and @ethana2. Ubuntu should be Linux for human beings first and secondly for techies. When I ran through the new installer for Karmic the other night it struck how many technical references there are still left in the installer itself that probably means nothing to the average user and should be removed in my opinion.

By: ethana2

ethana2 — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:27:56 +0000

http://www.apple.com/macosx/refinements/

When in doubt, look how Apple does it.

By: Wouter

Wouter — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:26:43 +0000

Have you seen http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/904features/ ? This is pretty much what you describe, and should be featured much more prominently. It could be the release page with a link to the more technical overview.