CachyOS Installer GUI: Installation routine based on user knowledge level

[rorar]

As CachyOS and Linux generally are getting more and more popular:
Have you thought about defining your usergroups (beginners, intermediate, advanced users) and offer them a installation routine based on their knowledge level?

This would satisfy every user entry level and minimize burdens for every user group to challenge the installation.
Especially the beginners.

To begin with:
Ask users for their experience with Linux/Arch/generally with OSes

• Beginners
  • Define the user "Beginner" in a short sentence
  • Offer them a "Click, click straight to happiness" / "Klick, klick zum Glück" installation guide.
  • Hand out a recommendation for ease of use:
    • Packages
      • "Install most needed packages (recommended)": Installs more packages (e.g. with print support) for an effortless installation experience in trade of memory and disk usage
      • "Install fewer packages": Base Installation + Handpicked Add-ons; warn users that there's little learning curve and inform them what might missing and what might not work out of the box
    • Desktop Environments (DE)
    • Offer a DE guide OR a list
      • DE guide
      • ask users about their preferences as selection to avoid being overwhelmed by choices
        • "I'm coming from Windows and want a similar experience": Choose from KDE (for example)
        • "I want a MacOS-ish experience: Choose from Gnome, Plasma
        • "I want to try out something new with a bit of a learning curve": Choose from wayland, wayfire,...
    • Display short preview videos and picture about how the DE looks and feels.
    • If possible: Offer an option to try out the DE and it sets the DE live in Calamares.
• Intermediate
  • Define the user "Intermediate" in a short sentence
  • Use the current installation guide with selection boxes
• Advanced users
  • Prompt them first, if they speak the language of gods (for the lulz)
  • Give them the pure base distro and a link to the CachyOS KB.

As I don't know the needs for "Advanced users", please feel free to discuss their needs below. :)

[ptr1337]

Hello,

We already considered doing some kind of "beginner" calamares version, which would basically not have any selection screens and just show password/username/partitioning + encryption

[rorar]

Hey @ptr1337

Thanks for letting me know.
Having such a "beginner" Calamares version is a very practical approach.
To consider: On the other hand it cuts off the flexibility and the freedom to choose what I (as user) am and what I want (in one place).

I recently watched a video from "The Morpheus"¹.
He introduced a web based Linux Chooser² with a public GitHub Repository³.

Adapting @TheMorpheus407 idea could be a way to download a pre-made/pre-generated .iso with all the features the user wants.
In a broader sense; the idea behind is a bit "NixOS-ish" using a Web GUI for configurations 🙂

This opens ways...

• for better decision making what the user actually needs even before using the LiveOS/installing CachyOS
• to see examples of DEs as Videos/Images in action and choose one of them
• to choose whether to install pre-installed/pre-packaged programs
• (optionally) for choosing alternatives from closed source software to make the shift to open source software
  (For example User used Adobe Premiere Pro --> Propose "KDEnlive" or "Shotcut)

... without bloating Calamares base at all.

Also, after asking the user for allowance to use the data for allows getting know your userbase, their needs and where the project could shift to.

Let me know what you think, I'm very curious about your thoughts and which ideas you would add!

---

¹ https://youtu.be/DhVOkm8B9z4?t=1251
² https://themorpheus407.github.io/LinuxChooser/
³ https://github.com/TheMorpheus407/LinuxChooser

[ptr1337]

Hello,

This is not that easy for an operating system basing on archlinux. Specially since we also depend on an online installation there needs to be configurable option as we have right now. We do not want to swtich to offline installation due various reasons.

Immutable would generally work, but we dont think there is for the average user really a good improvement of using immutable versus mutable + snapshots.

I think just offering an option for "Advanced" and "Basic/Default" would be better.
Advanced would stay as it is right now, give users all options we provide. Basic/Default would be that the user does not have to select anything. It will be only asked for partitioning (possible encryption), username, password. The selection would be likely BTRFS + Limine + KDE.

[vnepogodin]

I don't think it make sense to rework whole calamares for that instead of doing own installer which already had that planned

[ptr1337]

I don't think it make sense to rework whole calamares for that instead of doing own installer which already had that planned

I dont think there would be a full rework needed. We could either implement in Calamares that at first selection screen smth like "advanced or basic" or just use yad/kdialog and then it pulls specific cala in