Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:51:52 -0800 From: Devin Teske <devin.teske@fisglobal.com> To: "'Chad Perrin'" <perrin@apotheon.com>, <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Cc: Dave Robison <daver@vicor.com> Subject: RE: FreeBSD 9 Message-ID: <050101ccd705$51e08a20$f5a19e60$@fisglobal.com> In-Reply-To: <20120119231446.GA27565@hemlock.hydra> References: <BLU160-W54C133B8003EF140C41EF7AE860@phx.gbl> <loom.20120119T094302-811@post.gmane.org> <4EFDA3B50040906E@> <20120119164234.GB21488@hemlock.hydra> <04db01ccd6df$a6ebe3f0$f4c3abd0$@fisglobal.com> <20120119200106.GB88862@orange.esperance-linux.co.uk> <04ff01ccd6fa$ca9a4e20$5fceea60$@fisglobal.com> <20120119231446.GA27565@hemlock.hydra>
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> -----Original Message----- > From: owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org [mailto:owner-freebsd- > questions@freebsd.org] On Behalf Of Chad Perrin > Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2012 3:15 PM > To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org > Subject: Re: FreeBSD 9 > > On Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 02:36:29PM -0800, Devin Teske wrote: > > > From: Frank Shute > > > > > > The new installer will get better with time. > > > > The new installer is buggy, and the above maxim is something I'd > > rather not have to deal with when downloading RELEASE software. > > I do not dispute that the new installer is "buggy", nor do I agree that it is "buggy". It surely has numerous usability problems. a. SHIFT+TAB is interpreted as "ESC" causing a dialog to be dismissed with no easy way to return to said dialog b. TAB does not move the cursor to the next field in a multi-field dialog such as IPv4 manual configuration (usability issue arises when you press TAB, nothing happens, you next try ENTER and are surprised null fields are accepted/not-validated and you're then whisked off to the next screen; again, no easy way to return to said dialog despite the fact that clearly bad-values were given for netmask/etc.) c. stderr is sent to the same console as stdout, making it impossible to read errors as they get printed and then subsequently wiped from screen by the next dialog (this ties into the above... the bad values provided cause errors which can't be seen; you only see them fly by for a micro-second and can't use Scroll-lock to view them as dialog wiped the buffer). d. Almost no user-provided values are taint-checked. A hostname for example does not need to conform to any of the given RFCs that dictate the format of a multi-label FQHN. e. bsdinstall provides no easy way of discovering which arguments it supports (other than looking in /usr/libexec/bsdinstall -- which if you don't know this, you're in the dark). That is to say that it has no "-h", no "--help", no "list", and no exploration mode. This usability issue is fueling threads that propose we remove any/all post-installation procedures from bsdinstall and move them to a new utility called "bsdconfig" which provides a master-list of all sub-modules that can be invoked (as this closer matches how "config" utilities are utilized versus "install" utilities). It really is a serious usability issue that "bsdinstall" without arguments does not have an execution path that can lead to re-obtaining the network configuration dialog (which you've presumably bombed-out-of due to one of the previously-mentioned usability issues). -- Devin _____________ The information contained in this message is proprietary and/or confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, please: (i) delete the message and all copies; (ii) do not disclose, distribute or use the message in any manner; and (iii) notify the sender immediately. In addition, please be aware that any message addressed to our domain is subject to archiving and review by persons other than the intended recipient. Thank you.
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