Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2020 13:12:33 +0100
From: Christoph Berg <myon@debian.org>
To: PGDG RPM Packages <pgsql-pkg-yum@postgresql.org>
Subject: yum.postgresql.org user experience
Message-ID: <20201111121233.GB390706@msg.df7cb.de>
Mail-Followup-To: Christoph Berg <myon@debian.org>,
	PGDG RPM Packages <pgsql-pkg-yum@postgresql.org>
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Hi,

I just wanted to activate the yum repo on some centos box, but failed.
Here's what happened:

* go to yum.postgresql.org

* look for the "repo packages" link that used to be there all the
  years
* 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

* 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)

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)
* 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

Thanks,
Christoph