[Mageia-dev] What do you think about create a Mageia Welcome Center?

Thu Sep 30 23:56:00 CEST 2010

atilla ontas a écrit :
+> 2010/9/30 Robert Xu<robxu9 at gmail.com>:
+>    
+>> On Sep 30, 2010, at 5:23, Michael Scherer<misc at zarb.org>  wrote:
+>>
+>>      
+>>> Le mercredi 29 septembre 2010 à 20:53 -0400, Ireneusz Gierlach a écrit :
+>>>        
+>>>> I just hope there won't be a survey when you first install, because if
+>>>> you have no internet it doesn't let you do anything. You have to like go
+>>>> to console and do not cool stuff. I guess as long as it is not invasive
+>>>> it will be fine.
+>>>>          
+>>> Then we need to fix it so it cope with no internet access, not disable
+>>> it.
+>>>        
+>> Maybe the first time connected to the internet the survey should appear?
+>>
+>> -- later, Robert Xu
+>>      
+> Why we' re talking about a survey? Do we need this? We are not a
+> company and think about customer happiness. I thought this thread is
+> about a informational and/or assistance application for newbies.
+>
+> If we' re talking about a Welcome Center, we should decide if it is
+> only an informative html page or an assistance to configure basic
+> things or both.
+> ____
+>    
+Don't forget that (under Mandriva) there already is a routine to 
+configure the system when one installs or upgrades.  I see it every 6 
+months, with a new version of Mandriva.
+However, it is not very user-friendly for a novice, and doesn't have 
+very complete help for advanced users.
+My initial reaction to this idea was that the existing functions would 
+be improved by a welcome centre.
+But the more I think about it, I'm reminded of the "Bob" routine and the 
+"What do you want to do today" slogan of Microsoft.  Neither lasted very 
+long.
+The last think we want to do is "dumb down" Mageia.  That will turn off 
+a lot more people than it will attract, in my view.
+What will help is a more complete help system on install, much like 
+Ubuntu already has.  Mandriva has many assets, this is just one of the 
+weaker points.
+The way Mandriva works now, all the applications listed in the suggested 
+"welcome centre" can be readily installed (at least an equivalent by 
+default in most cases), and the default menu system lists every gui 
+application installed.
+Maybe a guided tour is a good idea, but with the large variety of 
+applications available and the various desktops, it is a lot more 
+complicated than the one-size-fits-all environnement of Microsoft.
+
+An idea just came to mind -- instead of a "welcome centre",
+having an option to show the descriptions with the name of each item in 
+a menu page.
+Currently the description (or comment) only appears on hovering over the 
+item name, which is fine for those already familiar with their Mageia 
+installation.
+However being able to see all the descriptions at once in the menu page 
+would be really useful for novices.
+And it wouldn't be "dumbing down" Mageia.
+As well as being very easy to implement, as the descriptions are 
+normally already there and localised.  (That is part of the XDG menu 
+specs, the norm used by Mandriva, and many other distros.)
+Just an idea ...
+
+- André (andre999)
+