Yum to Dnf
I noticed a frustrating design choice while running trial tests of updating from Fedora 21 to Fedora 22. The dnf updater deletes all packages from the cache. The keepcache option is set to a default of zero.
For people on data caps, and that the Fedora developers do not update their official ISO images, updating in this manner results in the loss of all rpms and required repeated downloads.
Likewise, for new users trying to learn Fedora are trapped into continually downloading packages.
More confusing is the keepcache option needs to modified in yum.conf as well as dnf.conf. I do not know why. I needed two attempts at updating before I realized I needed to edit both configuration files.
Geek presumptions again prevail.
The default should be keepcache=1. The geeks know how to change that option. The non technical users do not.
As usual, the solution is simple: provide users the choice. The updating process, controlled by fedup, should ask users before prompting to reboot.
I appreciate that Fedora is targeted toward technical users and not the non technical 80% bell curve user. Yet simple things like this are continually ignored in the Linux world. Hence, the never-ending claim that Linux is too complicated or too hard to use.
Posted: Category: Usability Tagged: Fedora
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