Feedback Requested: Notifying user of migration away from ~/.tomboy

[Sandy Armstrong]

Hey folks,

I could use your input on something that needs to be done before
string freeze, which is tomorrow.

I'm working on http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=518585 ,
which is about getting rid of ~/.tomboy and following the freedesktop
standards on Linux (and other appropriate standards on Windows and
Mac).  Here's a quick summary (on Linux):

1) Notes are moving to $XDG_DATA_HOME/tomboy, which defaults to
~/.local/share/tomboy.  This one can still be overridden with
$TOMBOY_PATH.
2) ~/.tomboy/addin* and some other config files are moving to
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/tomboy, which defaults to ~/.config/tomboy.
3) Some sync-related stuff (temporary files and FUSE mounts) are
moving to $XDG_CACHE_HOME/tomboy, which defaults to ~/.cache/tomboy.

Tomboy will run a migration from ~/.tomboy to the new directories if
the new note directory does not exist and ~/.tomboy does.


Here's what I need help on: letting the user know that their data has
moved.  My current plan is that instead of forcing the user to dismiss
a dialog of some kind, we generate a new note that gives them all the
info.  They can read it at their leisure, or ignore it, or delete it
(since probably 95% of users do not care where their note files are
stored).  Still, I feel a little weird about putting this note in the
faces of a ton of users who will just consider it an annoyance.  What
do you think of this content?

-----
Your Notes Have Moved!

In the latest version of Tomboy, your note files have moved.  You have
probably never cared where your notes are stored, and if you still
don't care, please go ahead and delete this note.  :-)

Your old note directory is still safe and sound at ~/.tomboy/ .  If
you go back to an older version of Tomboy, it will look for notes
there.

But we've copied your notes and configuration info into two new
directories, which will be used from now on.

Notes can now be found at ~/.local/share/tomboy/ .

Configuration is at ~/.config/tomboy/ .

You can install add-ins at ~/.config/tomboy/addins/ .

Have a lot of fun!
-----

I didn't bother mentioning cache stuff because I don't think the user
needs to know.  But a lot of Linux users are "advanced" and will care
about their note files and ~/.tomboy/addin* moving.

I was thinking about mentioning that it is now safe to use dropbox,
rsync, or some other method to sync your note directory, as long as
you enable the NoteDirectoryWatcher add-in.  Maybe this whole note
should be replaced with a short "Tomboy 1.0 Release Notes" note
instead?

Any feedback on the contents of this note (or the bug in general)
would be very helpful, and I need them before tomorrow.

Have a great weekend,
Sandy
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[Sandy Armstrong]

One more thing,

I forgot that ~/.tomboy.log should probably move, too.  The XDG base
directory spec doesn't have any advice about where log files should
go.  Banshee puts its log in ~/.config/banshee-1/log.

I think it makes sense in either the cache or the config dir.  It's
not configuration, but I don't want to encourage users to look in the
cache dir, ever.

So I'm thinking we move ~/.tomboy.log to ~/.config/tomboy/tomboy.log.

Opinions?

Sandy
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[Sandy Armstrong]

Latest version of migration note.  Now using full paths instead of ~
(each of these paths is dynamically generated, and of course would
look different in different environments or different operating
systems).

-----
Your Notes Have Moved!

In the latest version of Tomboy, your note files have moved.  You have
probably never cared where your notes are stored, and if you still
don't care, please go ahead and delete this note.  :-)

Your old note directory is still safe and sound at
/home/sandy/.tomboy/ .  If you go back to an older version of Tomboy,
it will look for notes there.

But we've copied your notes and configuration info into two new
directories, which will be used from now on:

• Notes can now be found at /home/sandy/.local/share/tomboy/
• Configuration is at /home/sandy/.config/tomboy/
• You can install add-ins at /home/sandy/.config/tomboy/addins/
• Log files can be found at /home/sandy/.config/tomboy/

Ciao!
-----
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[Andreia Gaita-3]

On Sun, Aug 23, 2009 at 3:28 PM, Sandy
Armstrong<sanfordarmstrong@...> wrote:
> Here's what I need help on: letting the user know that their data has
> moved.  My current plan is that instead of forcing the user to dismiss
> a dialog of some kind, we generate a new note that gives them all the
> info.  They can read it at their leisure, or ignore it, or delete it
> (since probably 95% of users do not care where their note files are
> stored).  Still, I feel a little weird about putting this note in the
> faces of a ton of users who will just consider it an annoyance.  What
> do you think of this content?

+1
I think it's a very good idea, what better place to put a notice than
in a note? :)

andreia gaita
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[S Krupa Shankar]

Hi Sandy,

Will this note be deleted automatically when the next update of Tomboy is released? If it does not, then after a few releases, there might be quite a number of such notification notes.

When I started using Linux, I was scared to delete anything. I still have the default notes intact as it has become a practice not to delete what has come with each release :-( Of course they are quite handy and useful.

Would it be possible to have a notification area in Tomboy application? some place where the summary will be shown and the desired users can click a "more" sort of link to read it further? This might be useful for any such important future updates also.

Krupa

--- On Sun, 8/23/09, Sandy Armstrong <sanfordarmstrong@...> wrote:

From: Sandy Armstrong <sanfordarmstrong@...>
Subject: [tomboy-list] Feedback Requested: Notifying user of migration away from ~/.tomboy
To: tomboy-list@...
Date: Sunday, August 23, 2009, 7:58 PM

Hey folks,

I could use your input on something that needs to be done before
string freeze, which is tomorrow.

I'm working on http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=518585 ,
which is about getting rid of ~/.tomboy and following the freedesktop
standards on Linux (and other appropriate standards on Windows and
Mac).  Here's a quick summary (on Linux):

1) Notes are moving to $XDG_DATA_HOME/tomboy, which defaults to
~/.local/share/tomboy.  This one can still be overridden with
$TOMBOY_PATH.
2) ~/.tomboy/addin* and some other config files are moving to
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/tomboy, which defaults to ~/.config/tomboy.
3) Some sync-related stuff (temporary files and FUSE mounts) are
moving to $XDG_CACHE_HOME/tomboy, which defaults to ~/.cache/tomboy.

Tomboy will run a migration from ~/.tomboy to the new directories if
the new note directory does not exist and ~/.tomboy does.


Here's what I need help on: letting the user know that their data has
moved.  My current plan is that instead of forcing the user to dismiss
a dialog of some kind, we generate a new note that gives them all the
info.  They can read it at their leisure, or ignore it, or delete it
(since probably 95% of users do not care where their note files are
stored).  Still, I feel a little weird about putting this note in the
faces of a ton of users who will just consider it an annoyance.  What
do you think of this content?

-----
Your Notes Have Moved!

In the latest version of Tomboy, your note files have moved.  You have
probably never cared where your notes are stored, and if you still
don't care, please go ahead and delete this note.  :-)

Your old note directory is still safe and sound at ~/.tomboy/ .  If
you go back to an older version of Tomboy, it will look for notes
there.

But we've copied your notes and configuration info into two new
directories, which will be used from now on.

Notes can now be found at ~/.local/share/tomboy/ .

Configuration is at ~/.config/tomboy/ .

You can install add-ins at ~/.config/tomboy/addins/ .

Have a lot of fun!
-----

I didn't bother mentioning cache stuff because I don't think the user
needs to know.  But a lot of Linux users are "advanced" and will care
about their note files and ~/.tomboy/addin* moving.

I was thinking about mentioning that it is now safe to use dropbox,
rsync, or some other method to sync your note directory, as long as
you enable the NoteDirectoryWatcher add-in.  Maybe this whole note
should be replaced with a short "Tomboy 1.0 Release Notes" note
instead?

Any feedback on the contents of this note (or the bug in general)
would be very helpful, and I need them before tomorrow.

Have a great weekend,
Sandy

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Tomboy-list@...
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[Paul Cutler-3]

Sandy,

+1 for adding a note at startup for users upgrading, especially calling out to the user to delete the note manually after reading it if they wish too.

If you want any help crafting the language letting me know.

As I'm working on the GNOME 2.28 release notes, I'll make a note to add a bullet about this.

Paul

On Sun, Aug 23, 2009 at 2:55 PM, S Krupa Shankar <shankarkrupa@...> wrote:

Hi Sandy,

Will this note be deleted automatically when the next update of Tomboy is released? If it does not, then after a few releases, there might be quite a number of such notification notes.

When I started using Linux, I was scared to delete anything. I still have the default notes intact as it has become a practice not to delete what has come with each release :-( Of course they are quite handy and useful.

Would it be possible to have a notification area in Tomboy application? some place where the summary will be shown and the desired users can click a "more" sort of link to read it further? This might be useful for any such important future updates also.

Krupa

--- On Sun, 8/23/09, Sandy Armstrong <sanfordarmstrong@...> wrote:

From: Sandy Armstrong <sanfordarmstrong@...>
Subject: [tomboy-list] Feedback Requested: Notifying user of migration away from ~/.tomboy
To: tomboy-list@...
Date: Sunday, August 23, 2009, 7:58 PM

Hey folks,

I could use your input on something that needs to be done before
string freeze, which is tomorrow.

I'm working on http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=518585 ,
which is about getting rid of ~/.tomboy and following the freedesktop
standards on Linux (and other appropriate standards on Windows and
Mac).  Here's a quick summary (on Linux):

1) Notes are moving to $XDG_DATA_HOME/tomboy, which defaults to
~/.local/share/tomboy.  This one can still be overridden with
$TOMBOY_PATH.
2) ~/.tomboy/addin* and some other config files are moving to
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/tomboy, which defaults to ~/.config/tomboy.
3) Some sync-related stuff (temporary files and FUSE mounts) are
moving to $XDG_CACHE_HOME/tomboy, which defaults to ~/.cache/tomboy.

Tomboy will run a migration from ~/.tomboy to the new directories if
the new note directory does not exist and ~/.tomboy does.


Here's what I need help on: letting the user know that their data has
moved.  My current plan is that instead of forcing the user to dismiss
a dialog of some kind, we generate a new note that gives them all the
info.  They can read it at their leisure, or ignore it, or delete it
(since probably 95% of users do not care where their note files are
stored).  Still, I feel a little weird about putting this note in the
faces of a ton of users who will just consider it an annoyance.  What
do you think of this content?

-----
Your Notes Have Moved!

In the latest version of Tomboy, your note files have moved.  You have
probably never cared where your notes are stored, and if you still
don't care, please go ahead and delete this note.  :-)

Your old note directory is still safe and sound at ~/.tomboy/ .  If
you go back to an older version of Tomboy, it will look for notes
there.

But we've copied your notes and configuration info into two new
directories, which will be used from now on.

Notes can now be found at ~/.local/share/tomboy/ .

Configuration is at ~/.config/tomboy/ .

You can install add-ins at ~/.config/tomboy/addins/ .

Have a lot of fun!
-----

I didn't bother mentioning cache stuff because I don't think the user
needs to know.  But a lot of Linux users are "advanced" and will care
about their note files and ~/.tomboy/addin* moving.

I was thinking about mentioning that it is now safe to use dropbox,
rsync, or some other method to sync your note directory, as long as
you enable the NoteDirectoryWatcher add-in.  Maybe this whole note
should be replaced with a short "Tomboy 1.0 Release Notes" note
instead?

Any feedback on the contents of this note (or the bug in general)
would be very helpful, and I need them before tomorrow.

Have a great weekend,
Sandy

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Tomboy-list@...
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[Sandy Armstrong]

Hey Paul,

Thanks for adding to the 2.28 notes. String freeze is tomorrow, so if you have any comments on the updated migration note contents I posted, let me know.

The latest version can be found on the patch on the bug.

Sandy

On Aug 23, 2009 2:08 PM, "Paul Cutler" <pcutler@...> wrote:

Sandy,

+1 for adding a note at startup for users upgrading, especially calling out to the user to delete the note manually after reading it if they wish too.

If you want any help crafting the language letting me know.

As I'm working on the GNOME 2.28 release notes, I'll make a note to add a bullet about this.

Paul

On Sun, Aug 23, 2009 at 2:55 PM, S Krupa Shankar <shankarkrupa@...> wrote:

> > Hi Sandy, > > Will this note be deleted automatically when the next update of Tomboy is released...

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[Sandy Armstrong]

Krupa,

The note should only be created once (if the new note directory does not exist and the old one does). I mention in the note that its ok to delete it, but if they don't, no big deal, its informative.

Sandy

On Aug 23, 2009 12:55 PM, "S Krupa Shankar" <shankarkrupa@...> wrote:

Hi Sandy,

Will this note be deleted automatically when the next update of Tomboy is released? If it does not, then after a few releases, there might be quite a number of such notification notes.

When I started using Linux, I was scared to delete anything. I still have the default notes intact as it has become a practice not to delete what has come with each release :-( Of course they are quite handy and useful.

Would it be possible to have a notification area in Tomboy application? some place where the summary will be shown and the desired users can click a "more" sort of link to read it further? This might be useful for any such important future updates also.

Krupa

--- On Sun, 8/23/09, Sandy Armstrong <sanfordarmstrong@...> wrote:

From: Sandy Armstrong <sanfordarmstrong@...>
Subject: [tomboy-list] Feedback Requested: Notifying user of migration away from ~/.tomboy
To: tomboy-list@...
Date: Sunday, August 23, 2009, 7:58 PM

> > Hey folks, > > I could use your input on something that needs to be done before > string freeze...

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Tomboy-list@...
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[Sandy Armstrong]

On Sun, Aug 23, 2009 at 7:28 AM, Sandy
Armstrong<sanfordarmstrong@...> wrote:
> Here's what I need help on: letting the user know that their data has
> moved.  My current plan is that instead of forcing the user to dismiss
> a dialog of some kind, we generate a new note that gives them all the
> info.  They can read it at their leisure, or ignore it, or delete it
> (since probably 95% of users do not care where their note files are
> stored).  Still, I feel a little weird about putting this note in the
> faces of a ton of users who will just consider it an annoyance.

As you may have seen in the 0.15.6 release email, I decided *not* to
notify the user about this change from within Tomboy.

After the discussion on this list (many thinks for everyone's input),
in IRC, and with various other GNOME folks, I became convinced that
this is really not something that the user should be bugged about.
Imagine thousands of Tomboy users upgrading their distro this fall,
and on their first log in, they are greeted by a note with a bunch of
information that is completely meaningless to them, but which they'll
probably read because it must be important if it popped up after they
upgraded.  ;-)  This would be especially lame on distros where Tomboy
is in the panel by default, and the only notes a user has are the
default ones.

So, instead I decided to follow the advice of Michael Hutchinson and
place a YOUR_NOTES_HAVE_MOVED! file in ~/.tomboy.  The idea is that
anyone mucking around in there should already know what they're doing
is unsupported, and hopefully they will notice this text file.  The
contents of the file are the same as the note contents would have
been.

It's not too late in the cycle to change how we do this, so comments
are welcome.  I just wanted to let you guys know the current behavior.

Thanks,
Sandy
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