Bugzilla – Bug 329637
Better way to access YaST
Last modified: 2008-06-11 21:19:34 UTC
Currently, the YaST configuration stuff is deeply hidden behind either the control-center or application windows. Someone who is looking for a way to change system settings will probably never find it, because it doesn't make sense to hide this as an application or gnome control center applet, and you would need to know that the old suse config tool is called YaST. Instead, I would like to see a link to YaST being integrated into the main menu. I would change "Control Center" to "Preferences", as it is desktop centric stuff and the same name is used in upstream gnome (also the same icon is used for "Preferences" in GTK applications). Then, add another entry "Administration" (using the preferences-system icon) for starting the new YaST shell. This works nice: there are currently 2 launcher shells (Applications, Control Center and YaST), it makes sense to have them all accessible from one place (main menu). One could argue that the yast tools are only meant for administrators, but let's face it: openSUSE is mostly used by individuals who need to use the system tools once in a while (or more often), so it makes sense to show this. Perhaps integrate it with the GNOME lockin settings to disable it in environments where users are not supposed to change settings.
Created attachment 175618 [details] Mockup This is how the modified menu would look, note that the new entry doesn't really make the menu more complex or difficult, but the gained use and discoverability of YaST (which people should not need to know the name) would be huge improvement
This is not a "simple enhancement", it is a huge usability problem!
Many of the YaST modules that one would expect desktop users to need are exposed directly in the control center at this point. Note also the left column in control center has Open Administrator Settings under Common Tasks. I'd say it's definitely a problem that for some reason the GenericName for YaST isn't showing up on mouseover. If that were working, it would be more discoverable than it currently is. The problem with giving YaST a name that is more descriptive is that the veteran SUSE users will skip over it and continue searching for something called YaST. I'm afraid we need to expose that name, though we should expose a more descriptive name as well.
>> Many of the YaST modules that one would expect desktop users >> to need are exposed directly in the control center at this point. Well, I don't think merging user preferences tools and administrative tools is a very nice idea... the way upstream GNOME separates the two makes sense. >> Note also the left column in control center has Open >> Administrator Settings under Common Tasks. Thanks for pointing out, but this is totally undiscoverable... >> I'd say it's definitely a problem that for some reason the >> GenericName for YaST isn't showing up on mouseover. GenericName has failed and has been removed from most GNOME .desktop files over the last few releases. >> The problem with giving YaST a name that is more descriptive >> is that the veteran SUSE users will skip over it and continue >> searching for something called YaST. Well, I understand this... kind of. Sure, some "veteran users" would prefere the name YaST over anything new. But then again, the name had its use when it was used as an actual command line name in the days of yast1. Now YaST2 even has it's shell modified to look like the GNOME control center... you can't have it both ways. If you want to integrate with GNOME, don't use names like YaST, Totem or Epiphany. I have made my own launcher "Administration" and added it to the system section of the main menu. Try it, it works great.
Changing to component GNOME. Sorry for the spam.
*** Bug 372829 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Stanislav worked on this in bug 302324. *** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 302324 ***