Frank:
>> If the installer asked, then users could easily turn it on and get a
>> user experience more similar to what they find when using GNOME on
>> other distros. While OpenSolaris does tend to cater the configuration
>> more towards server users, but it is also good to support desktop users
>> reasonably. Such a change to the installer would be a good step
>> forward, I think.
> The focus of the installer is to ask the minimal set of questions needed
> to get a user up and running. Asking a user new to OpenSolaris if they
> want "face browser" enabled isn't reasonable because they don't know
> what it is. If they do enable it they might later decide they would like
> it disabled. They shouldn't have to go to the command line to do that.
>
> It also has an impact on security that they are likely unaware of.
>
> It is reasonable to provide a system preferences GUI to cover face
> browser and other GDM settings.
Yes, I agree. Unfortunately GDM does not have a GUI preferences tool,
but that should hopefully be addressed when GNOME 2.30 integrates. The
code is mostly done.
I also agree that the installer should be kept simple, and asking
obscure questions about a "Face Browser" would likely be confusing to
many new users.
However, many new OpenSolaris desktop users would also be more familiar
with the way things work on other popular desktop platforms. All other
popular desktop systems from Windows, MacOS, to other GNU/Linux distros
that ship with GNOME or KDE all have a login experience that is more
like a face browser. So, I also think that the current behavior of
setting the default OpenSolaris configuration to "server secure ready"
does act as a barrier to new users, and is probably confusing.
I think this is the age-old problem that OpenSolaris would benefit from
better supporting different user profiles. The average server user
wants a different setup than your average desktop user. While asking
the user a question about whether they want the "Face Browser" enabled
would be confusing, I think the installer would benefit from having a
screen where the user picks what type of use-profile they want to use:
* Server (Secure By Default) - machines where desktop usage is
limited like in environments where the server console is
occasionally used to interact with the server.
* Sun Ray Desktop (Secure By Default) - machines which will
primarily use the desktop in a Sun Ray environment.
* Desktop Use (Not Secure By Default) - the home desktop or
laptop user.
The "Desktop Use" profile could enable things like the "Face Browser",
VT switching, and other things that might break Secure By Default, but
provide a user experience that is appropriate for their use case. The
"Sun Ray Desktop" profile could be used to configure the desktop so it
makes the best sense when used with Sun Ray. It could, for example,
ensure that the applets visible by default make the most sense for Sun
Ray users. The "Server" setting would be the current defaults.
The documentation could explain, in detail, the differences between
the settings, so that if a user wants to further customize they can do
so. This new screen would just provide some common-case profiles that
could be used as templates for further modification, if desired.
Perhaps it would be useful to add hooks so that end users, or distros
that are based on OpenSolaris, can easily modify profiles or add new
ones.
Such a screen in the installer could highlight how much Sun takes
security seriously, and could include some information about what
the "Secure By Default" policy is and how this differentiates Sun from
the competitors. This could be explained in the context of helping
the user understand which choice to pick. It would be a benefit to
use the installer to better market this important differentiator.
This is just a rough suggestion, but I do think there would be value
in making it possible to use the installer to set up systems that are
more geared towards the desktop use case. I understand that Sun has
more of a focus on servers, but I don't think the amount of work
involved to enhance the installer in this way would be great, and it
would help to ensure that OpenSolaris remains competitive in the
desktop market (e.g. Sun Ray, Toshiba laptops pre-installed with
OpenSolaris, etc.).
Brian
