Public SourceMage Discussion List

[Eric Sandall <eric AT sandall.us>]

On Tue, 5 Aug 2008 08:35:10 -0400
flux <flux AT sourcemage.org> wrote:

> I don't want to start a flame-war, but I do want to get a general
> consensus. A lot of people have voiced that they don't like the way
> the installer presents the "todo" information, that it is actually
> confusing and hard to find the text the installer is currently
> outputting versus what was already on the screen from before (since
> we don't clear the screen first). I'm not opposed to modifying the
> behavior to clear the screen, but it made me think. First of all, I
> know some users just plain don't like having the screen cleared after
> they run commands (unless they are explicitly executing clear
> themselves). However, more important I think, it might make it easier
> for newer users to follow what they are doing, since they can see the
> commands they just did if the screen doesn't clear, and hence get a
> sense for the flow of the whole process. However, if the screen isn't
> cleared, it's definitely harder to pick out what's current compared
> to what's old, and they could get lost in the text.
> 
> What's the consensus from all of you on this? Please don't just answer
> "clear +1" or "no-clear +1" or whatever. I would like some real
> constructive feedback :-D.

no-clear +1. ;)

I hate it when the screen clears text away that I might want to refer
to later (e.g. what partition did I just set LABEL=root?). If I want it
cleared, *I'll* clear it.

For those whom want only the pertinent text for their current task,
maybe use screen with a window for each task? Then it's CTRL+A,n to go
to the next task and CTRL+A,p to go to the prior task, and all info for
each task is right there.

-sandalle

-- 
Eric Sandall                     |  Source Mage GNU/Linux Developer
eric AT sandall.us PGP: 0xA8EFDD61  |  http://www.sourcemage.org/
http://eric.sandall.us/          |  http://counter.li.org/  #196285

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