Ubuntu
usb-creator package

  1. Bug #506586
  2. Comment #0

Comment 0 for bug 506586

Revision history for this message
komputes (komputes) wrote : Feature request: redesign usb-creator to use abstracted device names instead of device paths by default

Binary package hint: usb-creator

This is a request to move back to the behavior available before Karmic of using an abstracted device instead of listing /dev/sd[a-z][1-9] devices alongside /dev/sd[a-z]. For the majority of users on the Ubuntu Desktop, this should be simplified as they/we are the largest use case.

There are two use-cases for which this change was introduced in Karmic:
1) .img files for Ubuntu Mobile requires the images to be written directly to the device, and not a partition.
2) Some USB disks come formatted as a single vfat filesystem without a partition table.

The first is a corner case and this needs to be discussed with the Design and Mobile Team.
The second is less important, as the drive can be wiped and a partition table can be created when (re-)formatting the disk (See Bug #296160 for more details).

Steps to reproduce:
1) Open usb-creator in Jaunty and create a usb startup disk.
2) Open usb-creator in Karmic and create a usb startup disk.
3) Compare usability, intuitiveness and ease of use.
Result: Jaunty (previous release - Ubuntu 9.04) wins hands down.
Expected: With development, software should strive to become easier and simpler. This is not true of this change which was made for a the Mobile team and not for a large number of desktop users.

Conclusion:
The reason that the title ends with BY DEFAULT is because there is (all be it, minority) a use case for writing directly to a device. For this one use case we need to have an "Advanced mode" which switches from Abstracted Devices to Device Paths (Device/Partitions). What we should NOT do is alienate all desktop users because of a needed change. The Design and Mobile Team have a talk concerning the redesign of usb-creator. This bug was created in hope to move back to a simple intuitive device abstraction by default.

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
Date: Tue Jan 12 17:27:11 2010
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
NonfreeKernelModules: wl
Package: usb-creator (not installed)
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-17.54-generic
SourcePackage: usb-creator
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-17-generic i686