[Freedombox-discuss] observations of a semi-technical user

[znoteer at hailmail.net]

Hi all,

I've just installed fbx 0.6 with plinth 0.7.1 on sid.  I thought I would
share the bumps I encountered along the way.

The first I have already mentioned on irc, and Sunil has responded.  I
include it here for  completeness.  I think that asking users on install
if they want to activate macchanger is beyond the technical skill of a
part of the targeted audience for freedombox.  MAC addresses will be
confused with IP addresses.  I think it would be better to choose a
sensible default for the user, or offer more of an explanation of what
macchanger is and why someone might want, or might want not, to use it.

Second, since applications can be installed via Plinth, I think it would
make sense that they also be uninstallable via Plinth.  So far I've only
installed mumble-server, but I noticed there was no option to uninstall
if I change my mind about wanting to run a server.  I can disable it,
but that isn't the same as removing it.

Lastly is the fbx user.  Currently, users are told that if they don't
have hardware corresponding to the available images, they can have
freedombox by installing it on an existing debian system.  It's
recommended that it be a fresh install.  But, they need to be warned to
setup that fresh install using fbx as the username of the first user
account created during install.  I got locked out of my box and had to
reinstall debian because the user name I created for that first account
during install was not fbx.

At the same time, I wonder if it's wise to have a known user name that
is the same on all fbx's.  It seems like an attack vector.  Would it be
possible, given all the setup you do in the background on first setup,
to not have to use that name for the admin user? In other words, would
it be possible to let the person setting up the box choose the name of
their admin user?

Anyway, I'm super stoked about how fast you guys are making progress.  I
can't wait to play more in the coming days.

Thanks for all the help you given so far, and good luck as you move
forward.
-- 
  
  znoteer at hailmail.net

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