Thread: Seriously: don't send users out of Extras without a big warning
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AVee is offline AVee
2009-10-11 , 09:46
Posts: 24 | Thanked: 32 times | Joined on Oct 2009
#10
Originally Posted by rcull View Post
I agree and ( although not yet aimed at the N900 ) to that end I have just added the following to the top of the first post of my announce thread:-

WARNING

This is software under development. Do not install software from either Extras-Devel or Extras-Testing unless you know exactly what you are doing.

Unless you are a developer or an experienced tester you should not have these repositories configured.

Until informed otherwise all software refered to in this thread is suspect and may seriously effect the utility of your device. Although not dangerous to it physically, it could damage the utility or battery life of your device in lots of as yet, unknown ways.
Personally, I hate those kind of warnings. They are addressing the issue from the wrong (=negative) angle.
Suppose I'm not a developer, I'm not an experienced tester and I really don't know what I'm doing. How is that ever going to change if I follow warnings like this? The only way to learn what is going on is to ignore warning like this and try it anyway. The only way to become an experienced tester is to test software which actually has bugs, etc.

The warning should really be phrased positive, e.g. "Feel free to play with this software, but be aware that..." And add the 'Restore factory image' instructions in there, doing so will scare more people away then any warning will.
 

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