We're often limited to showing progress on a percentage bar UX wise for various reasons, particularly on mobile devices. I'd also give thought that each technical step may as well read something similar to 'reticulating splines' as far as an end user is concerned.
The time a user will read it is when the program stalls unexpectedly on a particular step. A support ticket or forum post which includes the step it stopped at will be easier to troubleshoot.
