Lousy setup program defeats users with disabilites.

Garrett Serack gserack@experientia.org
Tue Jun 18 08:42:00 GMT 2002


                                                                          
I'm writing to plead with the developer of the setup program for Cygwin.

Imagine for a minute that you are somewhat disabled, and can't move a 
mouse all to well.  Typing is a chore, but managable, and one tends to 
stick with console utilities. (like, cygwin.)

Now, Imagine that someone has put an installer in the way to these 
tools. The installer not only *requires* the use of a mouse, but also 
*requires* about a thousand clicks in order to install all of the tools. 
There is no option to use the keyboard, nor is there an *install all* 
option (something that devleopers of real windows applications figured 
out about a decade ago)

I just recently downloaded the most recent version of this 
discriminating peice of software, and noticed that now, the text doesn't 
even fit in the window, again *requiring* more use of a mouse, and you 
can't even resize the window.

Some of the column headers are unreadable, and require the user to 
resize them in order to read what they say.

I find the use of this setup program deplorable. Not only does it cleary 
disciminate against users with disabilities, it tends to speak volumes 
about the state of Open source software.

I keep checking to see if these deficiencies are ever addressed, but 
every time I check, the damn installer gets harder and harder to use.

Even the FAQ acknowledges this :


      How do I just get everything?
      <http://cygwin.com/faq/faq_toc.html#TOC14>

In the past, the default was to install everything, much to the 
irritation of many users. Now the default is to install only a basic 
core of packages. At the moment, there is no easy way to get everything. 
In the current version of Cygwin Setup, if you want everything, you must 
do the following:

   1. When the Cygwin Setup says "Select packages to install", click on
      the "View" button until it says "Full".
   2. Wherever it says "Skip", click twice until it gives the version
      number of the package. That means it will be downloaded and
      installed.

Gee, I like to click twice for every single package. Makes me *soooooo* 
happy.

Now, granted if you read enough dribble on the Cygwin.com homepage , 
you'll find the sentance:

For instance, clicking on the "All" category will provide you with the 
opportunity to install every Cygwin package.

Which when I tried clicking on "all", simply opened and closed the tree. 
Turns out that you need to click on the goofy icon (which is a VERY 
small target) or the word beside it. In this case "Default". Hardly 
clicking on "All".  Now, the large pause between clicking on it when it 
is set to "Default" makes me think that I missed the click, therefore I 
need to click again. It then SKIPS over "Install", settling on 
"Reinstall". Clicking once more quickly sets it all to "Uninstall", and 
once more sets it quickly to "Default".  Funny, without trying for many 
minutes, I never found the "Install" option.

So, I finally got it to install, by clicking on the word, and waiting to 
see whether the gods dictated that I actually did click, and it updates 
the display.  A quick scan thru the list shows some options STILL set to 
"SKIP". I expected that "All" set to install, actually meant Install 
all! Silly me. (although it does appear there is only a couple of 
packages that seem to be affected).

All in all, this installer, while beatifully allowing users to 
individually select packages to conserve download space (a VERY laudable 
goal, as space and speed are limited for many) it fails to deliver that 
feature for those who have limited physical functionality.

Now, I realize that this has been quite a rant.  I work with people who 
have limited abilities with their hands, but can often be quite 
brilliant otherwise.  I encourage them to work problems out for 
themselves, and I hate to see these types of things causing them to give 
up on Open source tools due to the hurdles involved.

On a tangental note, software that fails to meet the needs of disabled 
people can be disallowed from working in some government institutions, 
by law. Again, the last thing the Open source community needs, is to be 
ripped from some of the very people it needs to help the most.

Garrett




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