Data retention reminder on live CD

[Joseph Piché]

>  I think the closer the warning appears to the potential dataloss, both
>  in time and space, the more effective it will be. So a note at the
>  beginning of startup wouldn't be as effective as a notification bubble
>  at the end of startup. A notification bubble at the end of startup
>  wouldn't be as effective as a watermark on the background image (because
>  the latter would be more persistent). And a watermark on the background
>  image, while helpful, wouldn't be as effective as something that happens
>  right when you're about to save stuff in a non-persistent place.
>
>  So in addition to a watermark (which I guess would need to show tiled
>  text in multiple languages), I suggest a warning message (with a
>  mini-exclamation icon) appear embedded into the Save dialog whenever the
>  current folder is a non-persistent one. As soon as you switch to a
>  persistent folder, the message should disappear.
>
>  Similar text could appear in a notification bubble whenever you create
>  an item in, or move or copy an item to, a non-persistent location using
>  Nautilus.
>
>  I also think consistently using the the phrase "test drive", instead of
>  the jargon "live CD", would help more people understand what they're
>  doing when they use Ubuntu this way.

While I agree in theory that a warning message is most useful when
"closer to the potential dataloss," I think that the method should be
looked at more closely.

I think a watermark is really bad idea unless it is done properly.
Just setting a SVG (or something) with text on the background does not
allow from proper internationalization. One "correct" way to do it
would be allowing in nautilus a second layer of background to be set.
This would a bonus to users and developers overall. It is in the
"second" or "top" layer of background that you place the watermark
text which is automatically chosen per language.

But while we do want to make Ubuntu usable by anyone, let's try not to
scare away current users. I think a watermark, and a notification
bubble, and a help icon might a little too much.

However, I do think that a notification both at the start of the
session and then a confirmation dialog at the end of the session is a
good idea. And that changing the wording from "live CD" to something
else might be a big help too.


Joseph J. Piché