Is the top bootloader entry for previous generations the current one?

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4 participants
  • Ludovic Courtès
  • Tobias Geerinckx-Rice
  • pelzflorian (Florian Pelz)
  • swedebugia
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unassigned
Submitted by
pelzflorian (Florian Pelz)
Severity
normal
P
P
pelzflorian (Florian Pelz) wrote on 6 May 2019 18:35
(address . bug-guix@gnu.org)
20190506163539.6xykcq55wec2gon7@pelzflorian.localdomain
GRUB’s boot menu displays a menuentry for booting the current
generation and a submenu with entries for previous generations.
However, it is not clear if the generation at the top of the submenu
is the current generation or if it is one generation before.

I would prefer to resolve this by displaying the current generation’s
generation number and date outside the submenu as is done for the
previous generations in the submenu.

Regards,
Florian
T
T
Tobias Geerinckx-Rice wrote on 6 May 2019 20:52
(name . pelzflorian (Florian Pelz))(address . pelzflorian@pelzflorian.de)(address . 35604@debbugs.gnu.org)
874l67h0v9.fsf@nckx
Florian,

pelzflorian (Florian Pelz) wrote:
Toggle quote (6 lines)
> GRUB’s boot menu displays a menuentry for booting the current
> generation and a submenu with entries for previous generations.
> However, it is not clear if the generation at the top of the
> submenu
> is the current generation or if it is one generation before.

The current generation is by definition not a previous one and
shouldn't appear in the ‘previous’ list, but I see how it could be
confusing. Especially once possible language barriers and
translations are added to the mix.

Toggle quote (6 lines)
> I would prefer to resolve this by displaying the current
> generation’s
> generation number and date outside the submenu as is done for
> the
> previous generations in the submenu.

It makes for an uglier boot menu, which sounds silly, but I've
noticed that the more numbers and symbols are on a screen, the
more likely ‘non-geeks’ are to ignore the whole thing as something
not meant for them to understand. Especially a black one :-) I
see it as part of GNU's values to counter that attitude.

How about changing ‘previous generations’ to ‘all generations’,
and have it include the current generation at the top (now with #
and date, maybe ‘(current)’ appended)?

That way we can keep the default nice and friendly and skimmable
in ~5s, and the overview is actually a complete overview.

Kind regards,

T G-R
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T
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Tobias Geerinckx-Rice wrote on 6 May 2019 20:59
(address . 35604@debbugs.gnu.org)
871s1bh0ij.fsf@nckx
Tobias Geerinckx-Rice wrote:
Toggle quote (10 lines)
> How about changing ‘previous generations’ to ‘all generations’,
> and
> have it include the current generation at the top (now with #
> and
> date, maybe ‘(current)’ appended)?
>
> That way we can keep the default nice and friendly and skimmable
> in
> ~5s, and the overview is actually a complete overview.

I'd like to give this patch a try, by the way, if it's considered
acceptable. Good excuse to dive into Guix's grub code a tiny bit.

Kind regards,

T G-R
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pelzflorian (Florian Pelz) wrote on 6 May 2019 21:32
(name . Tobias Geerinckx-Rice)(address . me@tobias.gr)(address . 35604@debbugs.gnu.org)
20190506193211.ibrov7tvha3763zz@pelzflorian.localdomain
On Mon, May 06, 2019 at 08:52:26PM +0200, Tobias Geerinckx-Rice wrote:
Toggle quote (8 lines)
> How about changing ‘previous generations’ to ‘all generations’, and have it
> include the current generation at the top (now with # and date, maybe
> ‘(current)’ appended)?
>
> That way we can keep the default nice and friendly and skimmable in ~5s, and
> the overview is actually a complete overview.
>

I agree. Your suggestion is better.

Regards,
Florian
L
L
Ludovic Courtès wrote on 7 May 2019 11:53
(name . Tobias Geerinckx-Rice)(address . me@tobias.gr)
87a7fy8uba.fsf@gnu.org
Hello,

Tobias Geerinckx-Rice <me@tobias.gr> skribis:

Toggle quote (4 lines)
> How about changing ‘previous generations’ to ‘all generations’, and
> have it include the current generation at the top (now with # and
> date, maybe ‘(current)’ appended)?

Yes, I’m fine either way (I found that “previous generations” was clear
enough, but apparently it isn’t all that clear).

Thanks,
Ludo’.
S
S
swedebugia wrote on 7 May 2019 18:58
(address . 35604@debbugs.gnu.org)
4467891f-1d74-8cfd-61ca-53b3d2d1ddbf@riseup.net
On 2019-05-06 20:52, Tobias Geerinckx-Rice wrote:
...

Toggle quote (7 lines)
> How about changing ‘previous generations’ to ‘all generations’, and have
> it include the current generation at the top (now with # and date, maybe
> ‘(current)’ appended)?
>
> That way we can keep the default nice and friendly and skimmable in ~5s,
> and the overview is actually a complete overview.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

--
Cheers
Swedebugia
?