Technical improvements

[dgdavid]

Context

Going through the example included in SLES (see #115)

Problems

• The user is created immediately

  So, if the user goes back and forth changing his/her mind, Firstboot will create multiple users in the installed system. Or, even worst, if the user just change the chosen password the system does not complain but, at the time of login, the first password is the correct one. The same apply if Firstboot is aborted and executed again. See Technical improvements #118 (comment)

  Show / hide outdated video

  ---

  creating_users_during_firstboot.mp4

• Some clients do not allow going back

  In the tested example, the license client disables the Back button, which makes not possible going back to change the language and/or keyboard after arriving to this step.

  

  Is it expected? Can a Firstboot client overrides what is set in the defaults section of the workflow?

• Some clients do not show a warning before aborting (e.g., registration client)

  

• Steps navigation must be sequential (not only during the execution of yast2-firsboot, but during the installation too)

  This could be annoying since the user has to go through all previous steps if, for example, decides to change the keyboard layout just before clicking on the Finish button.

  As far as I see it, it is strongly related to the next point, the absence of settings summary (wight the interactive section headers)

• Not summary at the end

  

  Instead, the finish message is shown but the user might want to see/review the chosen options before continuing (although the changes were already done)

Suggested solution / Ideas

• Do not perform actions instantaneously to the installed system. Instead, postpone them to the end of the firstboot execution, after user confirming the changes.
• To honor the settings given in the the defaults section of the workflow (i.e., do not disable the Back button)
• Allow to navigate between the (not dependent) steps in a not sequential way (dream)
• Allow to display the steps horizontally, in a subheading row or similar (dream)
• Do not abort without warning the user.
• To provide an interactive settings summary client as the last step of the firstboot execution, before persisting them in the installed system.

[ancorgs]

I think this relates a lot to yast/yast-installation#903

Just like it happens with the normal installation, it would be good to just present a summary of things with the option to modify them instead of a sequence of steps.

The main difference with the installation is that there we have "proposals" which is not exactly the case in Firstboot. But we could either have Firstboot proposals or just present in the summary the current state of the system.

[dgdavid]

I think this relates a lot to yast/yast-installation#903

Yes, it is. Indeed, this is why I proposed it.

Just like it happens with the normal installation, it would be good to just present a summary of things with the option to modify them instead of a sequence of steps.

Fully agree.

The main difference with the installation is that there we have "proposals" which is not exactly the case in Firstboot. But we could either have Firstboot proposals or just present in the summary the current state of the system.

[dgdavid]

So, if the user goes back and forth changing his/her mind, Firstboot will create multiple users in the installed system. Or, even worst, if the user just change the chosen password the system does not complain but, at the time of login, the first password is the correct one. The same apply if Firstboot is aborted and executed again.

This is not longer true after #123, #126, yast/yast-users#319, and yast/yast-users#323.

Updating initial description.