Binary package hint: ubuntu-desktop
On the Edgy Eft CD, the installer in step 5 will not allow one to continue unless the user formats a partiition which Ubuntu is to be installed.
While this might make sense from a technological standpoint, most Novice users might think to themselves that he or she would want to reinstall the OS without reformating the drive in certain circumstances. This would allow the user to essentially role back a change yet start from scratch. This is particularly relavent to the user who has recently switched from Windows to Ubuntu. They would expect that if they reinstall, most basic modules and setting would be set back to what was from the original CD, but their own files would be instact.
Couple that with the fact that the installer does not encourage or require you to create a /home partition which would work better in this situation. While the solution to reformat the root partition and leave the home partition intact does make more sense, most users do not practice good filesystem management (keeping all personal settings and files in the home partition) anyway.
To make sure that I have my reader understanding the problem I am referring to I will give my example. I installed some of the off repo packages for Compriz. One of these packages required me to install the NVidia beta driver which, it turns out, is incompatible with my video adapter. As this is a computer that I rely on a daily basis I do not have time to research how to completely remove the the NVidia beta driver.
Basically I need this system up and working (if only limping) so that I can work. Originally coming from a Windows world, my first thought is to reinstall via a fresh copy of Edgy. But as the installer insists on formatting, I cannot proceed as I have valuable files on the computer.
I think that this is design flaw that needs to be rectified. If it absolutely necessary to format, then it is absolutely imperitive that the installer (partitioner) forces one to create a /home directory.
For the time being, it is absolutely necessary to format from the point of view of supportability; we cannot support a mutant system that started out as something else and then had Ubuntu's files just dropped over the top of it without cleaning out what was there before. Perhaps in the future we'll figure out a way to have ubiquity wipe out everything but /home.
Sadly, creating a /home partition can't be the default either, because that means you have to dump the decision of what relative partition sizes to use onto the user, and considering that our partition resizing tools really aren't smooth enough to be foisted on ordinary users who make a mistake in this decision I do not believe that this is appropriate.