Make services within a qube's settings easier to understand #6098
Labels
C: manager/widget
P: default
Priority: default. Default priority for new issues, to be replaced given sufficient information.
ux
User experience
The problem you're addressing (if any)
There doesn't appear to be any concise documentation that explains the "Services" tab when configuring a qube's settings. Users may not know what it does or what it's for. I have only seen references to enabling or disabling a particular service depending on a task a user may be executing following along in other documentation.
Describe the solution you'd like
Updates to the User Interface that allows a user to make a more informed decision on services they'd like to enable, disable, or leave at the default. Also, a short description of the service and its default (based on the AppVM type) would allow the user to be more informed.
Where is the value to a user, and who might that user be?
Qubes OS gives exposes lots of control to the user. The Services tab is one such example. However, a user who does not investigate may only know "services can be controlled" without knowing much else. They may typically avoid this panel in the Settings simply because they are unaware of what capability it provides.
By providing simple improvements to this interface that quickly enables the user to make an informed decision over the configuration of their system would be beneficial and reduce optics that some users feel makes Qubes OS confusing or difficult to work with.
Describe alternatives you've considered
The best existing form of documentation that describes VM services is located in the
qvm-service
man page (https://dev.qubes-os.org/projects/core-admin-client/en/latest/manpages/qvm-service.html). It describes the list of services, and their default value depending on the type of AppVM. As an example of a discrepancy, it shows thatqubes-yum-proxy
is deprecated, yet the Settings/Services tab displays 5 such options related to "yum" or "updates" with no additional context which certainly would cause user confusion and likely remain an unused tab.And while the Services tab does indicate "Unlisted services will follow default settings" there is no indication as to what those defaults are within the UI, or within Qubes website documentation that most users would read first.
A user who seeks more information about this tab likely will not come upon the
qvm-service
man page, unless they are already somewhat familiar with available CLI commands.Additional context
Relevant documentation you've consulted
https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/qubes-service/
Related, non-duplicate issues
#3948, #4402 describe some enhancements to
qvm-service
but do not address User Interface and improving user interaction.The text was updated successfully, but these errors were encountered: