"ext James Sparenberg" <james at linuxrebel.org> writes:
> 1. the "update packages" event. Every action requires that a full
> on rescan of the system be done. Each one taking between 30 to 60
> seconds to complete.
If it takes this long, you probably have the "Show all packages"
option activated. Yes, if your lists contains many packages, the AM
is not nice, as you have observed. Updating the display takes too
long and searching, which is important with long lists, is not
convenient enough.
How important is it to fix this? I'm working on the assumption that
you would only activate "Show all packages" in an emergency, but would
usually leave it off (precisely because it decreases the useability so
much).
> 2. Searches that return me to the wrong screen. If for example I want to
> install pidgin. I search for pidgin and rightfully get a number of packages
> (many I need to install some I don't want period) I have to do the following.
>
> a. open AM
> b. get asked if I want to update package lists.
This does not need to happen every time. You can switch this off with
"Tools > Settings".
> c. click to browse installable packages.
> d. wait for update packages (why it just did an update.)
Ideally, the wait should be short. Also, there is no duplication of
work: it is getting the list of packages in the background immediately
after the "apt-get update". It just takes so long that it hasn't
finished when you switch to the "Browse installable applications"
view.
> c. search for pidgin.
> d. chose to install 1st package.
> e. click yes I want to install
> d. Click yes I know it doesn't come from Nokia
> e. Click OK for the install
What is step "e"? I don't think there is another confirmation after
"d".
> f. package gets installed
> g. click for placement of icon in menu
> h. wait for update packages.
> i. search for pidgin.
Yep, that's a short cut we took in the implementation. Instead of
redoing the search, we just returned to the "Browse installable
applications" view. When thinking about improving search, we should
have incremental searching ("search as you type") and/or filtering.
> j. etc etc etc etc until all 6 or 7 packages are installed.
I blame that on pidgin that you need to install so many individual
packages.
But although I am being defensive here, it is good to hear that people
are stretching the AM beyond it's intended use. There is clearly lots
of room for improvement.
Feel free to play with the code:
http://hildon-app-mgr.garage.maemo.org/devel.html
Everything that only affects red-pill mode or optimizes performance
should be relatively easy to squeeze into the official version.
