Re: yum.postgresql.org user experience

Hi Christoph,

On Wed, 2020-11-11 at 13:12 +0100, Christoph Berg wrote:
> I just wanted to activate the yum repo on some centos box, but
> failed.

:( Sorry to read this.

> Here's what happened:
>
> * go to yum.postgresql.org
>
> * look for the "repo packages" link that used to be there all the
>   years

It's still there, with the same name (repo RPMs), but:

> * find the version number links under "AVAILABLE POSTGRESQL RELEASES"
> * click on 13
> * click on RHEL/CentOS 8 - x86_64
> * realize that this is the package listing, go back to the main page

Looks like you clicked the next link on the right :(

> * find the "Repo RPMs" item in the top menu bar
> * copy the CentOS 8 - x86_64 link
> * yum install
> https://download.postgresql.org/pub/repos/yum/reporpms/EL-8-x86_64/pgdg-redhat-repo-latest.noarch.rpm
>
> * try to install postgresql13-server
> * try to install postgresql13
> * run yum search postgresql and realize that there are tons of
>   extension packages available, but not any server packages
>
> * try to edit /etc/yum.repos.d/pgdg-redhat-all.repo, but all repos
> are
>   already enabled including the "common" on
>
> * give up and install "postgresql-server" from Centos (which is
>   version 10)

This is pretty bad :( In the last few months, we improved the downloads
page at pg.org a lot, but then I did not show enough love here.

> So: while I think I did everything correctly, the single most
> important command in that chain is "dnf -qy module disable
> postgresql",
> but it isn't mentioned anywhere. It is only reachable via this click
> path:
>
> * click on "Yum Howto" in the top menu bar
> * read a length text
> * click on "Download" (while I don't want to download anything at
> this
>   point, I just want to enable a repository)
> * scroll down
> * click on "Centos 8"
> * copy commands from textbox.
>
> To fix that, I would suggest some improvements:
>
> * On the yum.pg.o front page, move the paragraph with instructions to
>   the top (don't hide it below the "common" announcement)

That was intentional back then, it was a potential breakage for the
people who do not update to the new repo RPMs. I agree that it's not
that important now.

> * Get rid of the /howto page and put the single paragraph it contains
>   right on the front page
> * When linking to the Download pages, label it as "installation
>   instructions"
> * Put a prominent note somewhere that the SCL postgresql module needs
>   to be disabled (this is the part I was missing, and I guess most
>   users who have used yum.pg.o before will be very surprised by that
>   step.)
>
> * On the front page, label the links to the packages listings as such
>   (the current heading "AVAILABLE POSTGRESQL RELEASES" is misleading)
>
> * On the /repopackages page, include the "module disable" note, like
>   the "common" note that is already there
>
> * Include the Instructions link in the QUICK LINKS bar on the left

Looks great to me. Let me push tomorrow's releases first, then will do
these changes.

Thanks for the feedback.

Cheers,
--
Devrim Gündüz
Open Source Solution Architect, Red Hat Certified Engineer
Twitter: @DevrimGunduz , @DevrimGunduzTR