Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 19:06:34 +0300 (EET DST) From: Narvi <narvi@haldjas.folklore.ee> To: Sean Kelly <kelly@fsl.noaa.gov> Cc: jkh@time.cdrom.com, hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Don't hit.. Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.3.91.960611190323.19082A-100000@haldjas.folklore.ee> In-Reply-To: <199606111539.PAA10507@gatekeeper.fsl.noaa.gov>
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On Tue, 11 Jun 1996, Sean Kelly wrote: > > Here's a really warped and twisted idea I just got.. You know how > > most commercial software installers take advantage of the "dead time" > > during system installation to give the user lots of handy tips on > > the kinds of things they might encounter or how to send off a warranty > > registration card, etc and so forth? Well. Erm.. > > Deja vu! > > I did the exact same thing for our advanced hydrometeorological > display system. It takes a long time to initialize, so I whipped up > some Tcl/Tk code to show the NOAA and FSL logos, a progress indicator, > and randomly chosen handy tips. It was a way to let forecasters know > about features they might not've realized existed. > > EVERYONE HATED IT! :-( > > The main reason was that after the third crash and restart, the last > thing a forecaster wanted was a perky, helpful, and annoying set of > tips scrolling by---especially when he's trying to get a tornado > warning out to the public. > > Of course, FreeBSD's situation is different, and a set of tips might > actually help out in some cases. But consider all the possible > mindsets a user might be in during an install ... ``Damn, I > misconfigured the port address! Damn, I didn't leave enough space for > /usr/games! Damn, it panicked! Damn, these tips are annoying!'' Another oppourturnity for FreeBSD to do something right - add an option to a visible-enough place saying "disable tips". Anyways, people who have done it several times are likely to switch over to custom install just to try out if they will manage better with it. Sander > > -- > Sean Kelly > NOAA Forecast Systems Laboratory kelly@fsl.noaa.gov > Boulder Colorado USA http://www-sdd.fsl.noaa.gov/~kelly/ >
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