after applying updates the only available options are "help" and "cancel"

Thanks for the report.

Which version of update-manager are you using? Could you attach a screenshot if possible?

||/ Name Version Description
+++-==============-==============-============================================
ii update-manager 0.42ubuntu1 GNOME application that manages apt updates

I'm running dapper, so I probably won't have to wait too long for the next set of updates to turn up. Then I'll make a screenshot.

I think this is intentional. The changelog to the affected version (0.42ubuntu1) includes the following:

  * improved the HIG comlicane, thanks to Sebastian Heinlein:
     - Rename the button "close" to "cancel"

I didn't read the HIG on this one but I found the old caption (Close) more appropriate.

A screenshot of the update manager

I think this window should probably have a 'Close' and a 'Cancel' button. Cancel makes sense when there are updates available, close when there are not.

http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/hig/2.0/windows-utility.html

I can see that if there are updates pending, and you chose not to install them then you are "cancelling" the installation. But once the updates have been applied you are no longer cancelling anything. The "install updates" button gets greyed out once there are no updates left to apply. Perhaps at the same time the "cancel" button should be renamed to "close", since it's no longer possible to cancel the operation.

the update-notifier window (in UK English)

Software Update on the Mac solves this particular problem by putting up a separate alert saying "Your system is up to date. Please try again later", with an "OK" button that closes both the alert and the main window.

Even better would be to change the "Cancel" and "Install Updates" buttons to a single "OK" button if there are no updates available.

I checked the HIG ( http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/hig/2.0/controls-buttons.html ) and there doesn't seem to say that changing the text on a button should be avoided, so that's probably the best course of action.

Yes, you are right: at the moment there is no clear separation between update-manager being a system wide preferences dialog with explicit apply or application on the one hand and an informational alert box on the other.

Possible solution that I see:

1. Following the dialog style: Closing the update-manager after all updates have been installed. One possible issue: what if not all updates have been installed? The user chose to not install particular updates. So why should we bother him again with the update dialog? He still gets informed about outstanding updates by the notification bubble. If the user has chosen all updates, we are fine after the installation process. We could remember if the user has chosen all updates or not. If all updates were selected we can relabel the last dialog "update complete. your system is now up-to-date". In the other case we could use something like "Update complete. Your system still misses outstanding updates". I myself feel better if my system tells me explicitly that it is up-to-date.

2. In-between dialog: Return to the main window after the installation process and exchange the buttons. Because something is not denied by the HIG, does not mean that it is encouraged. The HIG also discourages from showing and hiding widgets. Renaming is about hiding the old and showing another one. See the section about insensitive widgets. Another issue is a11n. Changing widgets on the fly creates confusion in this area.

3. Following the application style: Move the "Install" button away from the global button box at the bottom from the dialog next to the updates. In the lower button box we would only use a button "reload" and "close". One problem: could a user think that closing the dialog is enough to install the updates? You have already seen this concern, because there was a confirmation dialog in earlier versions.

4. Stay with cancel. This one is out, since that is what this bug report is about. :)

So I would be in favor for solution one.

Since this dialog is about naming buttons: Should the label of the install button be "Install" or "Install Updates"? The latter one seems more clearer but needs a lot of space, especially in the German translation. So the button box would include: "Hilfe", "Neu laden", "Abbrechen" and "Aktualisierungen installieren" - this would result in a monstrous dialog covering my whole screen :). This issue has come to my mind not until today.

Regards,

Sebastian

Should be fixed in the current dapper version by implementing solution 3.

The install button is separated from the close button. So I think that it should be clear, that the updates are not installed. Furthermore the notification bubble still bothers the user.

Sebastian

Thanks Sebastian for your great work on this. I think this bug can be closed now because the close button is back and the install button is clearly seperated now.