"DebConf is best known as an annual gathering of Debian developers. But the Debian project likes the name so much that it uses it - give or take a capital 'C' - for the system used to configure Debian packages. Just as the conference is central to the social aspects of Debian, so the program is central to the package management system that is one of Debian's main technical advantages. Debconf gives users as fine a degree of control during configuration as they choose."
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Member since:2006-01-01
It tells something of your powers of concentration that you can't remember the help offered to you in the previous screen.
But you're missing my point: debconf works for you even if you cannot figure out the correct answers. Debconf has in-built default answers that you can accept by hitting Enter. If you always accept the default answers, you'll miss many customization options but debconf still tries to make everything all right for you.
You've just got to love debconf for that, don't you agree?
Member since:2005-07-06
> It tells something of your powers of concentration that you
> can't remember the help offered to you in the previous screen.
Just like it's perfect to have the emergency instructions on the helicopter door that gets ejected, right?
You are completely missing the point. Usually I don't need any instructions at all, but I don't know whether I need any or not until I see the fricking question. Now debconf forces me to read (and memorize) whole screens of text just because I might need it. Instead it should provide help on demand, don't you agree?
> But you're missing my point: debconf works for you even if
> you cannot figure out the correct answers.
No, you are missing the point: it's NOT that I can't figure out the correct answers or that I don't want to answer questions. I want to answer any questions that might make the system better, but I don't want to read and memorize tons of help screens that I don't need. However, I do want to read help screens if/when I need them. (I hope you get it now, because I don't think I can describe this obvious fact any simpler.)
Don't you think a good solution, and much better than the current one, would be to have a Help button on each screen, and when/if you need help regarding some question you press the help button? (E.g., like the kernel menuconfig does it, although in the case of debconf there should probably only be one help per screen instead of one per field like in menuconfig.)
Also, don't you think it would be a good thing to add optional support for debconf asking for the question level every time it starts configuring a package? (Of course it should not ask for the level if there are no questions above a user-specified level. The default answer on the question level selection should also be user-specified so that it would usually be enough to just press enter/next/continue.)
Member since:
2005-07-06
> If debconf seems too difficult for your intellectual capacity,
> just set the priority to "critical" and debconf shouldn't
> ask you too many questions. And if it still asks something,
> just keep hitting Enter until the questions go away.
Huh? (You must be the guy who decided how debconf should provide help, because it seems quite unrealistic that there would be two people so dumb.)
Let's consider some emergency instructions on a helicopter. The instructions have 10 steps and the first is "1. Press the red button to eject the door."
Now the conversation goes:
Me: It's stupid to have those instructions on the inside of the door since the door gets ejected.
You: It's always better to have them on the inside of the door rather than on the outside of it. Besides, you could always land, pick up the ejected door and start over.
(JohnMG: You can use a door with hinges so that when it's "ejected" you can still read the instructions by sticking your head out the doorway.)
Me: Obviously it would be better to put the instructions on the inside next to the door so you wouldn't have to memorize them before starting to execute them.
You: If it's too difficult for your intellectual capacity, just ignore the instructions. Problem solved.