On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 5:16 PM, Dave Anderson <[email protected]> wrote: > To be fair (which is a bit difficult given the tone of the original > message) he has identified what may be the only place in the install > process where a single wrong keystroke can do major damage. Everyplace > else I can think of there's at least an opportunity to abort the > installation after making a mistake but before the damage is done. > > I've no great love for 'are you sure' questions, but they may be > appropriate where they prevent a single easy-to-make mistake from > causing serious damage. > > Dave
I have to apologize to everyone on this list for the tone of that first message. I was angry and venting, and I apologize if it offended anyone. I understand that the installer works the way it does because that's what's useful to the OpenBSD community and it should not change just because some random guy flames about it. I also agree with those who pointed out that doing experimental OS installs on a machine you care about is not a particularly smart thing to do. That being said, I think Dave understands the problem very well. That is probably the most dangerous point in the installation. It's dangerous even for experienced users (anyone can get distracted and screw up), but much more so for those who come from a different background, and the reason for that is that it's unexpected. As someone else pointed out, most Linux installers nowadays will give you a "big fat warning" before they do anything irreversible to your disk, and the users get used to and rely on these warnings. It seems to be different with OpenBSD. Maybe the OpenBSD philosophy is just not for me. Regards, - Leonardo
