Feature changed by: Karl Cheng (qantas94heavy) Feature #312750, revision 24 Title: Make Yast2 stay open after installing packages - openSUSE Distribution: Evaluation by engineering manager + openSUSE Distribution: Done Priority Requester: Important Requested by: Ursan Marius Bogdan (creatura85) Partner organization: openSUSE.org Description: As we all know YaST2 has the best Software Management around and as title says, can we make it even better by keeping it open after one or more packages are installed? (just like Synaptic for e.g.). I know this can be done adjusting some setting http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10573557/SUSE%20Misc/yast-at-close-action.jpeg but i was thinking if it is possible to make it a default setting for versions to come. Use Case: 1) User is exploring openSUSE software offer. Using Software Management installs package. Module performs installation and without giving feedback about results closes. Other similar applications stay open until manually closed or give a message in a window that stay open until user dismisses them, or both. openSUSE user is confused with lack of feedback. In case that installed application, for one of many possible reasons, doesn't work, user is left with 1 more possible cause (that missing feedback means broken package management). 2) User is exploring openSUSE software offer. Installs package, checks how it works. If happy with first impression package will be kept, if not it has to be removed. With package management closed after installation, to remove application user has to open it again, remove application, wich will close Software Management again, then open it again and continue to explore. User compares that with some other similar software management tools and finds behaviour annoying. 3) New to openSUSE, but otherwise experienced Linux user is running custom compilation installing dependencies as reported by configure script. He learned that compiler will need packages suffixed with - devel, but configure exits with error on each required headers missing, so it is done one by one. Closing Software Management is slowing him down. Now he has to learn that he can change default and how to change it. Go online ask Google, mail lists, forums, IRC to find out that simple change in /etc/sysconfig/yast2 PKGMGR_ACTION_AT_EXIT="summary" will change Software Management default to what he wants. Not overly happy with few hours spent on something that is not really bug, but it is not expected from application that can't know when user is done. 4) Experienced openSUSE user is exploring software offer. He knows that he can install and remove multiple packages, but he configured openSUSE few months ago. After first use of Software Management he wants to change default to see summary, but now he has to find out where he did that. Go online ask around. Few minutes or hours later thing is fixed. Business case (Partner benefit): openSUSE.org: This feature will reduce the time of opening the package manager for any operations: install, delete and upgrade. Setting default on "summary" would be good as it gives feedback about success or failure of operation, and options to quit, or continue. Discussion: #1: Elmar Haag (hans_linux) (2011-08-20 08:41:37) - Start Yast -> Software Managment - Select application to be installed - Click "Apply" button "Summary of changes" Window opens - De-select "close software manager when done" (Tick Box on left of lowest text line) #2: Rosanne DiMesio (dimesio) (2011-08-20 14:34:19) (reply to #1) The button on my screen says "Accept" not "Apply", and I do not get any "Summary of changes" window when I click it; Yast just starts installing the package(s). There is no "close software manager when done" tickbox anywhere that I can see. This is in KDE, so I am using the qt interface. #3: James McDaniel (jdmcdaniel3) (2011-08-20 15:53:32) (reply to #2) <P>I normally set this for summary which would be my suggestion. I voted yes, but it is not much trouble to change this setting,if you know where to look.</P> #4: Rosanne DiMesio (dimesio) (2011-08-21 02:55:11) (reply to #3) IMO, "summary" would be a more sensible default than "close", but even that would not help KDE users. I changed the setting to "summary" in /etc/sysconfig so now I do get a summary page after the packages have been installed, but in the QT interface there is no checkbox to keep the package manager open. #5: ursan marius bogdan (creatura85) (2011-08-21 11:45:54) (reply to #1) Thanks for the info Elmar; i know to adjust it but as i said, i was thinking in terms as a default option activated by the distro developers :) #6: Rajko Matovic (rajko_m) (2012-03-17 08:50:59) YaST Software Management (YSM) has settings and search history that don't survive restart, so with current default user must start from scratch each time. YSM should not exit after package installation as user may: * want to search for more similar packages * add repositories and try to install more packages * run configure script and add more -devel packages * check files in a package when something doesn't run as expected * remove software right after one run when it is not fit for task There is a lot of ations that user may want to do, after one package or groupd of them is installed, so exiting is in essence usability bug. #7: Mark Goldstein (markgo) (2012-03-18 19:39:27) Just some history. This behavior (exiting after installation) has been introduced (IIRC) in 11.0 or 11.1, without any option for the user to change it. I think I opened the bug on it (or commented on existing bug - I could not find it right now). The response from some of SuSE managers was quite harsh, something like "other users requested it; don't waste our time; yast startup time is very short now and it makes no sense to forse user to press "close" button". After that both me and other users added comments, suggesting that when such drastic changes are done, normal practice would be to keep the behavior configurable. After all they agreed to add an option "in the next version". We asked whether there is a chance to get this change in the current version. Again there was fruitless arguing. Fortunately the developer (Ladislav Slezak) just built private version and gave us access to it and even re- built it when yast has been updated. Funny... we are back there now. #8: Rajko Matovic (rajko_m) (2012-03-18 22:48:09) (reply to #7) We still have that option, but we want different default. My guess is that default to "summary" is a good one as I can see that package is installed correctly, before I quit Software Management, or go to next round of exploring openSUSE software. #9: Mark Goldstein (markgo) (2012-03-19 06:23:38) (reply to #8) I also prefer "summary". And I agree with James that when you know where to change the option, there is no problem with any default setting. #10: Graham Davis (cloddy) (2012-03-19 09:56:11) Actually, I don't see this as a request for a new feature but for the return of an old one. Many years ago, it was possible, from an item in the menu-bar, to set YAST to stay open after installing a set of packages. As I recall, it was not the default setting and needed to be selected on each entry if required. Perhaps someone could explain why this feature was removed from the menu and hidden away where almost no-one would think of looking for it - assuming that they even knew of its existence. #11: Dustin Falgout (falgout) (2013-05-12 04:59:05) This needs to be looked at again because IMHO the finish-to-summary should without a doubt be the default behavior without any user configuration at all. Yes, YaST Software Manager load time is faster than it has ever been, but that is irrelevant. Faster than ever load time is still "load TIME" nonetheless, and time is valuable. Just about everytime I run an install, I think of something related that I forgot or remember a package I read about earlier that day. The default setting would have the package manager closing and me going through the hassle of running it again, typing my password (again), and depending on the mood of my internet connection, waiting anywhere from 5-30 seconds for it to load the repos. (I realize I can just set it not to refresh at every start, but my point here is that I should not have to do that) One more common scenario is after installing a package and going to use it, you realize that you want to use a feature that requires some lib you don't have installed. No biggie, let me just click over to my yast summary, damn it closed. So here we go again with entering password and waiting those 5-30 seconds after that. Go through that 4 or 5 times in a row and you will see what I am talking about. This post is getting longer than I intended, but what it boils down to this: openSUSE along with our YaST tool is known for being easy & convenient to use while remaining just as powerful as the next distro out there. (I'd argue more powerful because that power is presented to the user in a way that is easily understood.) Keeping that in mind, changing this default behavior has ZERO impact on power users (they can change the behavior) and is important for a normal user. When its a choice between an extra configuration step being placed on either the user or the power user, the answer is obvious. Phew..*steps down from soap box" lol. Sorry if I rambled! Hopefully this can lead to some productive discussions on not only this setting but about becoming more user friendly in general. + #12: Karl Cheng (qantas94heavy) (2016-11-15 12:52:35) + It seems that finish to summary is now the default, marking this as + done. -- openSUSE Feature: https://features.opensuse.org/312750