More warning about installation

[Matt Adams]

A simple, yet apparently harmful bug.

The Ubuntu installers do not give enough information to what exactly what it is going to do, as "Partitioning" to most people has no meaning. ex. "Use Entire Disk" could confuse the user into thinking that it will use the CD-R, DVD-RW, USB Disk, etc.

This bug has to do with the PEBKAC, installer, and the understanding of the process.

Reference
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=583705

[Bryan Quigley (bryanquigley)]

I can confirm this bug exists.

Perhaps a few simple solutions are in order:
For "Guided - Use Entire Disk", provide a link or pop-up showing what files will be deleted
Also instead of listing the partitions by IDE1 master (hda), etc. Do it by what OS is installed or better yet what the DISK LABEL is. Aka Windows, etc.

For "Guided - Resize disk" Change language like in above. So it reads like: "Shrink WINDOWS partition by 50%, Install Ubuntu on freed space."

Also, I have heard of situations where only "Guided - Use Entire Disk" comes up because the partitioning scheme is to complicated. In those situations, put a warning saying just that.

In all cases let the user easily see the files that will be deleted.
It is important to note that all of the other questions to this point in the install are relatively easy (just click next for me). Partitioning needs to separate itself from the just click next mentality. This might mean don't preselect any unsafe answer.

[Robert Stoffers (robertstoffers)]

Hi,

Maybe a blueprint would be a better idea for your suggestion instead of a bug report. See:

https://launchpad.net/specs

Cheers!

[W. Prins (wprins)]

I would say this bug is becoming critical. There are repeated threads on the forums and elsewhere about new users deleting their XP partitions by mistake.

See for example:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=606698
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/17346

[W. Prins (wprins)]

See this thread, which contains another 2 new end-users who had somehow accidentally wiped their xp partitions.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=644332

We really must be exceedingly clear whenever any operation that will cause data loss is undertaken by the installer.

[»John« (john.denton)]

I believe I have yet another installer-related problem that better be fixed before Hardy release in order to preserve user friendly reputation of ?ubuntu: Before the installation actually starts, the wizard displays summary of all the settings and there's an "Advanced" button opening another window where any unexperienced user can easily disable boot loader installation, which makes the freshly installed OS completely inaccessible. I figured that this at least shortcoming is present in all GUI front-ends of standard ?ubuntu installer (I can confirm the same experience in ubuntu, kubuntu and xubuntu).

The solution is quite simple:
Either this option can be completely removed from installer's GUI since I can't imagine it being of any use to anyone other than highly experienced Linux gurus (who probably use something like Gentoo anyway) or it MUST be provided with some kind of warning to keep anyone who's not sure what he's doing to stay away (possibly combined with explanation of what is the "boot loader" for).
I also suggest that the text box serving as an input for identifier of the location where boot loader will be installed should be changed to drop-down menu with automatically detected locations, or maybe it could even become a part of deciding where OS will be installed.

In general I would certainly make the installer more verbose, especially when any of available options could be dangerous to unexperienced users - for example clearly explain what does it mean "use the entire disk".

Peace out and keep up the excellent work.

[Brian Murray (brian-murray)]

Reviewing this bug report and its comments it seems that multiple people are concerned about this. Subsequently, I am confirming this bug report. For future reference you can manage the status of bug reports by clicking on the current status in the yellow line and then choosing a new status in the drop down box. You can learn more about bug statuses at http://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Status .

[Evan (ev)]

This is most certainly fixed in Natty, possibly in earlier versions as well.

Please reference the installer design specification for the details of what will be displayed given your disk's layout:
https://docs.google.com/a/evalicious.com/View?id=dfkkjjcj_101gnkrpg5v#4_5_1_Automatic_partitioning_o_8475526086986065

[Evan (ev)]

Whoops, that URL should be http://docs.google.com/View?id=dfkkjjcj_101gnkrpg5v#4_5_1_Automatic_partitioning_o_8475526086986065