[ug-posug] Re: [ug-bosug] Some thoughts after attending the Javaone event's Day one

[Shovik Banerjee]

Abhishesk got it spot on...the installer makes the first impression and it
isnt very impressive.Most new users will have to go through the installation
process a number of time before they get it right.Im with you on this...I
wouldnt mind helping out with a new installer..Lets see how it goes!


Shovik Banerjee
CA NIT Warangal.


On 5/11/07, Abhishek <abhishek.nagaraj at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hey,
>
> I was wondering if i could work on summer project to redo the solaris
> installer. I have no experience in anything of this kind, but i have a
> couple of months, and was wondering if i could start from scratch and at
> least give it a shot. I've some experience in design and UI, so that might
> help, i guess.
>
>  I installed solaris for the umpteenth time yesterday(the express edition
> from the Temple of the Sun DVD), and I agree totally with whoever says that
> the Solaris installer is not really up to the mark. It is far from it. Here
> are a few things that i felt particularly can be improved :(and remember!)
>
>    1. The disk config. utility does not look very good.(where we choose
>    disk space and where to install) It is also confusing for some people, and a
>    friend of mine accidentally overwrote his previous data once. The disk names
>    show up in incomprehensible Solaris specific code (c0d1...) IIRC, the Ubuntu
>    install manages to even show the labels that disks have, esp for somebody
>    who is installing on top of Windows.
>    2. The actual install percentage indicator is very very basic.
>    Ubuntu have done a great job in this regard and lots of scope for
>    improvement lies here.(with Windows like "new features" slide show and all)
>    3. The networking config is very hard to understand for normal
>    users. Don't know why Solaris includes this as a part of config. Ubuntu
>    skips this part and leaves to net config to once we start, and in Windows
>    everything is done automatically. Solaris asks for hajaar IP
>    addresses etc.
>
> Another thing i noticed is that all other distros have moved on to
> creating the installer in a pure GUI mode. The Solaris installer is only
> pseudo-GUI with the window system, but the mouse still does not work(as in,
> it is there, but all major work is done via the keyboard), for some reason
> F2 is needed to go forward at each step etc. Don't know what is the reason
> for this.
>
> Tell me what you guys feel about this, and provide pointers as to reading
> material if I am to do this project. I will also be needed a mentor!
>
> Cheers,
> Abhishek
> (Sun CA, COEP, Pune.)
>
> On 5/11/07, Ananth Shrinivas <Ananth.Shrinivas at sun.com> wrote:
> >
> > Hey Sriram,
> >
> > Good Post! Concur with most of your points. Couldn't resist replying
> > inline though :-)
> >
> > > There is this general feeling world wide that Solaris is not as usable
> > > as Linux is. People regular point out that the installer is bad, that
> > > the POSIX extensions are not easily available, that the standard
> > > Solaris 10 desktop looks dull compared to the fancy desktops we see on
> > > Suse, Mandriva, Ubuntu and the like.
> >
> > The silver lining is that many, if not all people *acknowledge* that
> > usability and installer are problems areas. That, if nothing, is atleast
> > a refreshingly different response than "ZFS is a rampant layering
> > violation. Screw ZFS" ;-)
> >
> > > At the CommunityOne, Ian Murdock spoke about plans within Sun to make
> > > Solaris more Linux-like. He was of the opinion that Solaris 10 is not
> > > there yet. Sadly, he made no mention of Belenix, Schillix or Martux.
> > > He only spoke of Solaris Express Community Release and of Nexenta as
> > > distributions besides the standard Solaris 10.
> > >
> > > I felt that Belenix deserved a mention because it puts up a reasonably
> > > good KDE and XFCE desktop.
> >
> > Hmm.. He probably hasn't tried it yet. It also means we need to more
> > aggressively 'market' BeleniX !
> >
> > > With Belenix, we have a great distribution on our hands. It is based
> > > on the most recent code bases. Because there isn't any corporate
> > >
> > > .....
> > >
> > > Our very own Anil Gulecha has gone ahead and got Belenix booting off a
> > > USB device. This proves that Belenix can be worked with.
> > >
> > > ......
> > >
> > > community forums that other technologists worldwide have. All that we
> > > need to do is to get started with what ever small steps that we can
> > > think of.
> > >
> > > I think we're second to none, and can blaze a great trail. It's not
> > > often in one's life time that one gets to be a part of history. Or to
> > > make history that others can be part of.
> >
> > + 1.0 * (10 ^ 100)
> >
> > Ananth
> > _______________________________________________
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> > ug-posug at opensolaris.org
> > http://opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/ug-posug
> >
>
>
>
> --
> visit blog : crossstyx.blogspot.com
> visit site : bcqc.org
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