RAM Usage During Installation of Lubuntu (was: zRAM)

[Nio Wiklund]

Hi Iberê,
See inline text
Best regards
Nio

On 2013-06-09 05:54, Iberê Fernandes wrote:
>     Hi everybody,
> 
>     This discussion is about *really low RAM* according to today's standards
>     for computers.
> 
>     Aere, you may be right. I have been thinking that many people, who want
>     to use such old hardware are prepared to run a few text mode or terminal
>     window commands, at least if they are guided to it from a tutorial or
>     wiki page. Am a wrong?
> 
>     What about the alternate installer, is that easy enough to run (it's
>     text, but in a very guided way)?
> 
>  
> 
> I' ve just tried the alternate installer instructions today:
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/Alternate_ISO
> 
> The first link "here" at "Instructions here
> <https://help.ubuntu.com/11.04/installation-guide/i386/howto-installation.html> and here.
> <https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/Documentation/AlternateInstall>"
> is 404. Can anybody tell me the correct link so I can fix it?
> 
> The second "here" links to:
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/Documentation/AlternateInstall
> 
> And  Karl video is linked on the page. It is extremely detailed/friendly
> to get the message:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi-VPj4jzrg
> 
> Besides video, written instructions are ok too. 
> 
> However, I believe navigation until the final instructions to the
> alternate install is a bit tricky. It's just my opinion, but I invite
> you to check where things begin:
> 1) suppose user starts here: http://lubuntu.net/
> 
> I'm not sure if our users start from 1. Do we track where are the main
> distribution channels?
> 
> 2) supose now that from 1) the user now needs the alternate installer
> and he clicks at " Install
> <https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/GetLubuntu> Lubuntu on your
> computer and start..." will lead to
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/GetLubuntu
> 
> 3) great, on checklist section there's the alternate installer " If you
> have any problems, or if you're comfortable using a keyboard interface,
> try the alternate installer
> <https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/Alternate_ISO>"
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/Alternate_ISO
> 
> 4) Humm, but no further instructions... a user needs another click at
> "Instructions here
> <https://help.ubuntu.com/11.04/installation-guide/i386/howto-installation.html> and here.
> <https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/Documentation/AlternateInstall>"
> 
> Now, finally on the last "here", I
> got https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/Documentation/AlternateInstall.
> 
> Let me try Google instead:
> 1) https://www.google.com.br/search?q=lubuntu+alternate+install
> 
> (I suppose the user knows what exactly query to type.) Do we know the
> queries that lead to us/our installers?
> 
> 2) on Google search results page, for me here in Brazil, the 5th link
> leads to:
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/Alternate_ISO
> 
> 3) now the user must download and go to step 4 above.
> 
> Again, those are just my impressions of how I get the info you're
> talking about. Just my 2 cents if usefull.
> 
> 
> Cheers,
> Iberê
> 
> PS:  I'll introduce myself in another thread once I've already talked
> too much here. :)
> 

It's a great idea too try to understand how a newcomer might navigate in
our wiki pages.

I think you are right, our wiki can be improved. It is important to add
links, shortcuts to the alternate installer, and probably also to other
things in our wiki pages. I learned to hate cross-linking in the file
allocation table (FAT) during the old days of DOS and Windows ;-) But in
wiki pages, I think cross-linking is a very good thing :-D

> 
>     Are we losing many users because the desktop installer fails for many
>     people, when there is low RAM? What about the chance to get a lot of
>     computers converted to Lubuntu at the end of life of Windows XP? I think
>     several of those computers have really low RAM.
> 
> 
> Question: How do we track failed or successfull instalations? Besides
> the examples (Ubiquity, slides) above, do we know where else on the
> installation our users are giving up?
>

It would be very valuable to know. But hard because it is free. If
people pay, that action is the first feed-back. And they will be more
prone to complain, if it is not working, and demand help to fix it or
money back.

*Who knows if there is any counting* of people visiting our wiki pages
or downloading our iso images.

I guess we must use whatever feed-back there is in the different fora
for help and discussion: our mailing lists, the Ubuntu Forums, the
Facebook pages, AskUbuntu ... and use our imagination.

> 
>     In that case we should
> 
>     - make an automatic option to use swap or zRAM. This would be easy for
>     the end user but hard for us to make it.
> 
>     - recommend a GUI method to prepare the system with swap. I'm thinking
>     of running gparted before the installer. Is the easiest non-text method
>     to activate the new swap to reboot? Newcomers are trained to reboot from
>     Windows ;-) This is harder but still possible for those who just don't
>     type commands in a terminal window, but easier for us (only a tutorial
>     or wiki text about it).
> 
>     Best regards
>     Nio
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> abs e bons estudos!
> iberê