Public bug reported:
Binary package hint: update-manager
The use of package descriptions (instead of package names) in the Update
Manager package listings represents a significant and needless reduction
in usability.
There is no scenario in which a description of a package to be upgraded
works better than the package name itself, followed by the description
on the SECOND line, in smaller text.
As a seasoned programmer who has been creating GUIs since 1993, I'd like
to offer the following reasons why using a longer description not only
represents a reduction in usability but also reduces Package Manager's
effectiveness as a security and management tool:
1) The headers are no longer bolded, which makes the heading more
difficult to distinguish from the second line;
2) Longer list items require the eye move from left to right (or right
to left in some languages), which makes it far more difficult for the
eye to scan vertically;
3) NOBODY uses these package descriptions, making them even less
recognisable than the (admittedly opaque) package names;
3a) Even if their use were to become common practice, the use of opaque,
longer descriptions instead of opaque-but-terse package names is STILL
not an improvement;
4) Developers don't make any effort to write succinct, useful
descriptions (can you guess which package is the 'transaction based
package management service'? I didn't think so);
5) Package names, although difficult for non-technical users to
decipher, follow long-established naming conventions, and can
immediately be parsed by advanced and intermediate users - the very
people to whom this information is useful;
6) Package names are shorter (short is Good in lists);
7) There is no explanation or description that can be made in this
limited space (save perhaps for a link to a wikipedia page) that could
conceivably be of any use whatsoever to beginner users. Packages and
their importance to the system are never going to more than vaguely
understood by beginners. Reducing the usability of an important security
tool for advanced and intermediate users is therefore a misguided and
ultimately unrewarding step.
7a) The descriptions themselves are just more verbose version of the
package name (e.g. 'tools for generating an initramfs' for 'initramfs-
tools') - they add NO NEW information;
To sum up: This change in the displayed values in Package Manager's
listings adds nothing to usability for beginner users (to whom the
listing is meaningless in any case) and make it more difficult to use
for everyone else.
Lest someone suggest this is unimportant: THIS IS A SERIOUS BUG. People
judge whether and when to update their systems based on this listing. It
MUST be as clear, succinct and useful as possible.
Expert knowledge of the system and its components is a prerequisite for
using this tool, no matter how dumbed down the interface gets.
Presenting the wrong information in the listing only makes it harder for
those of us who depend on this functionality to do our jobs.
** Affects: update-manager (Ubuntu)
Importance: Undecided
Status: New
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Update Manager Listing should NOT use descriptions
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/655998
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