Bug 30459

Summary:	drakrpm-update: message about which post-update configuration file to use is confusing
Product:	Mageia	Reporter:	Omnio Torr <storage>
Component:	RPM Packages	Assignee:	Mageia tools maintainers <mageiatools>
Status:	NEW ---	QA Contact:
Severity:	minor
Priority:	Normal	CC:	fri, zen25000
Version:	8
Target Milestone:	---
Hardware:	All
OS:	Linux
URL:	https://postimg.cc/HJg0gz0f
Whiteboard:
Source RPM:	rpmdrake-6.32-1.mga8.src.rpm	CVE:
Status comment:
Attachments:	drakrpm message about config files message about rpmnew

Description Omnio Torr 2022-05-21 09:08:24 CEST

Description of problem:


Of course, different users have different levels of knowledge about package management (and not all the users are native English speakers). Simplified, I guess, the theory sounds like: "rpmsave" files are always the old configuration files and "rpmnew" files are always the new files. But when a beginner user sees a message like "If unsure, keep the current file (remove .rpmsave)" (s)he might think that "the current file" means the existing (old) file - especially since the message suggests to "keep" it. Changing the message to something like "If unsure, use the new file (remove .rpmsave)" should avoid this confusion. 


Screenshot: https://postimg.cc/HJg0gz0f

Comment 1 Omnio Torr 2022-05-21 09:10:40 CEST

Created attachment 13265 [details]
drakrpm message about config files

Comment 2 Lewis Smith 2022-05-22 21:32:47 CEST

Thank you for the comment.
Indeed, I always thought "keep the current file (remove .rpmsave)" *did* mean 'keep what you previously had', despite the contrary implication of the last bit. The screenshot was useful: the whole message is admittedly not very clear.

Assigning to the Mageiatools group.

Severity: normal => minor
Assignee: bugsquad => mageiatools
Summary: drakrpm-update: message about configuration files may be confusing => drakrpm-update: message about which post-update configuration file to use is confusing

Comment 3 Morgan Leijström 2022-05-22 22:34:26 CEST

I have reported this previously as

Bug 4671 - Dialog about changed configuration files after updating is unclear - please rephrase

CC: (none) => fri

Comment 4 Barry Jackson 2022-05-23 12:33:12 CEST

There is also no explanation of what "do nothing" means.

I have always assumed that it changes nothing and keeps the original file.

This has always been and still is very confusing even for native English speakers.

/OT but related..
The graphical display used to initially show part of each file in view, with the available space split into 3 sections, but more recently it only shows the diff with the others collapsed, as in the screen shot at #1 above.

It is not at all obvious now that the other sections can be expanded and viewed especially if you have never seen it the original way.

CC: (none) => zen25000

Comment 5 Morgan Leijström 2022-05-23 13:36:35 CEST

Also the diff format is incomprehensible for normal users.

There should at least be a link to how to decode that, by normal eyes, mess.

Comment 6 Omnio Torr 2022-07-26 09:50:43 CEST

I'm attaching a second screenshot, this one showing the complementary case of the "rpmnew" file. Why am I doing this: in the first screenshot "the current file" refers to the new configuration file. However, in the second screenshot, "the current file" means the old configuration file. I guess we should either have a consistent meaning of the term "current" across cases or (better) get rid of "current" and use "old/new" instead.

Comment 7 Omnio Torr 2022-07-26 09:51:52 CEST

Created attachment 13349 [details]
message about rpmnew