User Feedback :: optional menu appearing twice in 1.3



roberts,

I may be in the minority here, but I still use the /optional myDSL functionality.  It may no longer be needed, but it is still being used by some.

It allows me to easily and selectively load individual extensions in a seemless manner.

Call me lazy, but I like the ability to have a bunch of menu choices for extensions that I can fire off without using up my free RAM by default, especially on older computers.  I also set up livecds and in some cases pendrives for my friends via this method and they can intuitively figure out the rest without using emelfm to dive into the filesystem.

1.  Can be addressed by still creating the menu in "toram" and also adding a lua dialog message "myDSL load aborted - Please insert original myDSL source media and try again".

2. Rename the directory name to something besides /optional  Maybe "noautoload" or something else that cannot be confused with the normal linux filesystem hierarchy.

3.  Yes, it is possible to use emelfm instead of Fluxbox menu, but this is relatively cumbersome to do and it is not newbie friendly.  At least "the Grandma test" level of newbieness.

4. myDSL directories is a nice new functionality relative to the old "/optional" concept, but in some areas it does not compare favorably.  As I understand it, you cannot selectively post-bootime load INDIVIDUAL extensions via the mydsl directories.  You either load all of the extensions in that directory, or you do not.  I suppose you could create a bunch of small mydsl directories as a workaround but that could become unwieldy especially if you decide that you need to load a different extension after the bootup is complete.  Also, you must specify all of that information on the boot command line, while the "/optional" stuff just works out-of-the-box even for novice users.

5. It is up to the user's preference as to how many optional extensions he chooses to install.  The same thing (unwieldiness) can also be said about the base myDSL submenu if the user autoloads too many extensions.

As usual, this is just my opinion and is subject to my personal leanings and misunderstandings.  You know the drill.
Quote (cbagger01 @ July 18 2005,17:55)
I may be in the minority here, but I still use the /optional myDSL functionality.  It may no longer be needed, but it is still being used by some.

Although I have not much experience, I too have found value in the current /optional scheme (although it could certainly stand to be renamed).

I am running on an older machine and like to load as few of the mydsl packages as possible. Those that are absolutely necessary and should be loaded every boot, I place in hda3 (which I have specified in mydsl=hda3).

Those that are not necessary, but which I do like to install and use on occasion, go into hda3/optional. They appear conveniently in the menu and I do not have to go through a file manager or, worse yet, download them again to use them.

I really have come to appreciate the /optional functionality in just a short amount of time.
O.k., lost my post, hope things
don't appear twice..
I'd hate to see /optional menu go
also.I use it a lot.

:O
Ye Olde Software Axiom: Tis easy to Giveth but nearly impossible to Taketh away  :D
Ok. It stays.
Quote
Yes, it is possible to use emelfm instead of Fluxbox menu, but this is relatively cumbersome to do and it is not newbie friendly.  At least "the Grandma test" level of newbieness.

Really?  If we are approaching that level of friendliness, then that is truly an achievement.
Roberts, I am glad you decided to leave optional in because I too really like that feature.  Since it is so quick to reboot DSL, I can load a ram hog program, use it, reboot and it is gone until next time I want to use it.  This is real handy for ram challenged older equipment.

Thanks for a great product and your concern for us users!
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